We've reached the end of another year

Here we are...New Year's Eve yet again.  Generally speaking, 2016 was a good year.  It began as the year from you-know-where with Robert, but we are praying that was the low point and we've turned the corner.  We will take each good day that we can get.  It's truly hard to believe that we are beginning the last full year that all of my children will be home with me.  This time next year we will be staring at the year in which Robert will graduate.  I would say that this year was the fastest yet, but honestly at this point they all just fly by at lightning speed.  I am so grateful for all of the blessings of this year, and look forward to each day of 2017!

So much fun

Last evening, Thomas had a great time spending the night at a youth group lock-in.  We are so grateful for this group at a church in town.  It isn't at the one we attend, but there are several other Lutheran youth who have joined as well.  It's a great opportunity for Thomas to be involved with such a positive group.

Andrew and I had a blast as well.  Our friends who moved away years ago are in town, and originally we thought we would only get to see them tonight, and we are absolutely looking forward to that.  However, our friends asked if the three "original" couples of our group could get together last night since there will be lots of others at their house tonight.  They were willing to drive here since we had to transport kids from swim practice.  We had dinner and then they came here to play a game.  We laughed so hard we were crying.  We roared with laughter so much that my voice is hoarse today.  You just can't find friendships like that everyday.  It doesn't matter how long since we've seen each other, we always pick right up and laugh again.  It was so much fun, and there is nothing like laughter to bring peace to the soul!

Getting home was an adventure

It seems as though I rarely write much in the days after Christmas.  Generally we are traveling (as we did this year), and generally we are spending time as a family having fun.  Swim practices have made the family fun part a little more challenging, but we are still enjoying life together.  We haven't been able to do anything "big", but we did make the trip to visit my in-laws.  We were only there for about 40 hours but it was a nice visit.  The trip home however, was a bit of an adventure.  I had fallen asleep shortly after leaving, but woke up when we stopped for gas about 75 minutes into the trip.  As Andrew was cleaning the back window, I noticed smoke coming from under the hood and smelled an absolutely horrible smell.  Andrew raised the hood and we noticed something that seemed to be leaking.  He checked the oil which was dangerously low, so we filled it, and then decided since things weren't running hot, the rpm's were in the normal range and no "check engine" light was on, we'd try to venture further.  We stopped again about a half hour later and while there was still some smoke and smell, the oil was still fine and the van was running fine.  We drove another 90 minutes, and this time when we stopped there was no smoke at all, and only a slight smell.  We were feeling pretty good about life and knew we were about 90 minutes from home...almost there!  We were cruising right along until about 30 miles away when the "check engine" light came on.  We pulled into a parking lot, and sure enough the smell and smoke had returned.  The oil was still fine, so we decided to try to make it home.  The van began sputtering as we continued, and I really didn't think we were going to make it.  As it turns out though, it was fine out of town where it was able to maintain a more constant speed.  We got home, unloaded, and drove straight to the mechanic.  They were able to diagnose the problem and fortunately it was a relatively inexpensive hose assembly that needed replaced.  We are still concerned as to why the oil was so low, but we'll keep an eye on that.  Very grateful that we've purchased that third vehicle so we haven't had to be down to one vehicle since the van is still in the shop.  That drive home was much more of an adventure that I had been wanting!

A really nice Christmas day

Today was really a very nice Christmas day.  My sister was unusually pleasant and we all got along very nicely.  Unfortunately, my uncle wasn't feeling well, and since he is currently battling leukemia it's important that he conserve his energy and keep his weakened immune system focused on fighting his current cold and not pick up anything else.  We all enjoyed the day with baby Ava who is 16 months old and my sister's Old English Sheepdog Rockne was so very well behaved.  In fact, Andrew took her for a walk a couple of times and we all just really enjoyed the day.

I'm battling a migraine and we need to head east tomorrow to my in-laws, so it's time for bed.  I'm so grateful to get to go to bed feeling so blessed!

Merry Christmas 2016!

We are soon headed out to my sister's house.  We will exchange gifts with my sister, mother, & grandmother, and then some aunts, uncles, cousins (& possibly family friends) will join us for a meal, and then some others will join for a visit even later.  I'm looking forward to this and visiting.  I'm just hoping everyone in the family can check their attitudes at the door...we aren't always good at that.

We had a nice morning.  I enjoyed that Robert was actually the first one awake.  He was able to visit with his girlfriend and her family last evening and then he came home and helped Andrew wrap gifts for me after we did the gifts from out-of-town.  I really wanted a trash can, and Andrew was annoyed I wanted something so practical.  He decided to throw me off the trail by wrapping it in light up garland and bringing in the extension cord last night to plug it in.  I was surprised and thrilled this morning.  The kids also enjoyed their gifts, and I was so pleased that they enjoyed even the little things because that is mostly what they received this year.  I love how Thomas was still so surprised and shocked that Santa knew exactly what he wanted.  Andrew fried up some mush and made diced potatoes, and mostly we just hung out.

I'm so grateful for this day, and for the time we are together!

I would love to get that phone call

My dad was a last minute shopper.  The 23rd & 24th were his favorite times to shop, and that is why my sister and I often received gift cards.  My mom did the shopping from "them", but Dad wanted things that were just from him.  In fact, the year he died my mom still went out and purchased a few gift cards for us just so he could be a part of our Christmas one last time.

This style of shopping continued with the kids.  He wanted to find something that would be "fun" and that the kids would really want.  This prompted last minute phone calls and sometimes I would struggle to think of something just right at the last minute...let alone if he could actually find it.  The last year he was alive he called as we were waiting for church to begin.  That means it was mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve...definitely waiting until the last minute.  I remember being marginally annoyed that he was calling at that point as I was in church.  And yet, I sure would've loved to get that phone call today.  I'm so grateful for the memories, and so grateful for the blessings in life.

Today is Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve is a little different this year, but I'm okay with that.  Robert wants to spend a couple of hours this evening with his girlfriend and her family, and I don't blame him for that.  I will however, be grateful when he can drive before too long.  We are attending 4:00 church and then he'll go to her house for a while.  We will do some of our traditional things afterwards, and I'm grateful that he still wants to be a part of it.  Right now I'm spending the afternoon working on getting us packed for our trip to in-laws next week (which means laundry...see earlier post!) and enjoying some football on TV.  The temps are in the upper 40's and tomorrow in the 50's, so it doesn't feel like Christmas, but we are enjoying being together!