Saying "Good-Bye"

It's been a sad day.  This morning, we said "good-bye" to our dog Rollie.  He was 15 years old.  We've had him since Jenica was a baby, and we gave him a home when Chad's cousin wasn't able to keep him any more.  It seems really strange to go outside and not have him at our feet, rubbing against our legs or giving Jillian a kiss.  We have great memories with Rollie, but he's left a big hole in our hearts today. 

A Hallelujah Christmas

As soon as Thanksgiving was behind us, I started listening to Christmas music.  My family has gotten used to this about me.  It's one of my most favorite things about the Christmas Season.  (#1099)

And because our local My Bridge Radio station wasn't playing very many Christmas songs yet, I decided to check out K-Love.com to see if they had more Christmas music playing on-line.  

What I discovered was so exciting! 

They have an on-line Christmas Channel that plays Christmas Music constantly.  (#1100) As I was listening, singing along, and enjoying their music, my ears perked up when they said that they were giving away several Christmas CD's from top artists to some of their listeners.  The only thing I had to do to enter was type their code word that day to 21947 (yes, I have it memorized).  That was it.  I could only enter once per give away.  But they gave away a new CD every 3-4 days. 

And guess what? 

I won!   Twice!  (#1101)

Hillsong and Mandisa - Oh, yeah!  Thank you K-Love!

K-Love's Christmas channel has been playing one particular song that Chad and I both really like called "A Hallelujah Christmas".  We're sharing it with you today




Here's the blurb about it from K-Love.com:   

A band named "Cloverton" recently surprised their fans by releasing a Christmas song titled, "A Hallelujah Christmas." For the song, the band changed the lyrics to Leonard Cohen’s "Hallelujah," and turned it in to a beautiful holiday rendition that speaks of the miraculous birth of Jesus. "God created everything. He created each of us. He created our voices. He created our ears, our emotions, our tastes, our creative spirits. Each of these is related to music, whether it's enjoying it or creating it," Lance said. "We want to shed light on His truths while reaching people creatively with melodies that seem familiar and songs that touch souls. We are messengers, hoping to creatively communicate the truth of God's word and love for us."   (#1103)

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Ice Skating

Jenica's been wanting to take a few friends ice skating at the Event Center for a few weeks now, but it just hasn't worked in our schedules. 

Until yesterday. 

After another great message in by Pastor Paul, we ate a quick lunch, picked up a few friends, and headed over to the ice rink.  (Blessing #1097)

Jenica, Ashlyn, Bailea, and Madi

Jacob, Sami, and Jillian

All done, still smiling, and no broken bones. (#1098)

They had so much fun, I think we'll try and go again over Christmas Break.  Here's the public skating schedule in case any of you want to join us. 

An Elf named "Feathers"

We have a new house guest that's been living with us this month. 

 

She's an elf who came from Santa's workshop (wink), and she has become a fun little hide-and-seek game that we are all having fun with.  (Blessing #1094) In fact, Jillian decided to keep a tally of who finds him her the most times.  (I keep forgetting she's a girl.)



She made snow angels out of sugar.

Jillian has several friends with similar elves, and after hearing about the fun and sometimes mischievous things the elves do, Jillian decided to add an "Elf on the Shelf" to her Christmas list.  However, elves arriving after Christmas aren't much fun since you'd miss out on all the fun leading up to Christmas.  Which is precisely why we woke up one morning to find an elf sitting under the tree.   She held a book telling us all about our new house guest and the reason why no one is allowed to touch her.  

 

Chad is currently brainstorming of how we could come up with a silly "elf-like" idea of our own.  Check out this article on Foxnews.com on how they turned a simple family tradition into a multi-million-dollar business and a house-hold name.

 

As the story goes . . . Each night after everyone's asleep, Feathers uses her magic to go back and forth from the North Pole, and we awake to find her in a new spot each morning.  According to the story, you are not supposed to touch her or she'll lose her magical powers.  Here are a few of our elf discoveries.   

 

She TP'd our tree!

 

She roasted marshmallows.

Holding Baby Jesus.

And then there's the picture below. . . this is the spot where Jillian accidently touched Feathers when she bumped her and knocked her over, to which Jillian right away wrote a note to Feathers to appologize.

 

Sending a message with Lucky Charms.

And this is the spot where she found Feathers the next day, along with a little note back to Jillian from Feathers, explaining that she is forgiven and that Santa shows grace, just like God shows us grace.  This led to a sweet conversation between Jillian and I all about God's grace.  (#1095)

Feathers found her favorite movie in our cabinet.
She wrote a note to Jillian in response to her apology.

As a P.S. to her letter, Feathers mentioned that she loves the movie "Elf" and would love to watch it together with us.  Which is exactly what we did this afternoon.  Spending time with my family, watching Christmas movies together, is a great way to spend a cold wintery day. (#1096) 

One is Silver, the Other Gold

"Make new friends, and keep the old.  One is silver, and the other gold."

I've made so many great friends since we moved to Holdrege . . . gosh, let me see . . . has it really been 16 years ago?  Wow, how time flies!  And I treasure all these friendships.  Friends who've been with me when I had babies, when I tried to figure out this thing called "parenting," when I sat by my child's bedside before, during, and after surgeries, when I received the news from my doctor that I needed to stop working for the benefit of my health; friends who encourage me when I'm feeling a bit discouraged.  I wouldn't want to go through life without them.  (Blessing #1081)

And then there's my old friends.  Not "old" in age, but "old" because I've known them since I was a little girl.  We know each other's families; we remember the teachers, the birthday parties, the pets, and all those little details from the deep past.  (#1082)  One friend, in particular, will always have a special place in my heart.  We went to college together, were in each other's weddings, and vowed to keep in touch forever.  Even though our lives have taken different paths, and we live in different areas, we still find time to get together a few times each year.  (#1083)

Last weekend, Lanise & I cleared our schedules, met in Lincoln, and then headed to Kansas City for a much-needed girls getaway.  (#1084)  It was so great to spend time together ~ more than just a couple hours over lunch, which is all we usually get. 

We had GREAT weather (#1085) and really didn't need our coats much except at night. 

The view from our hotel room.

We were able to meet up with my cousin Crystal and her hubby Jay for a late lunch at The Yardhouse one day, which was a blessing, because they weren't able to come home for our family Christmas the weekend before.  We heard about Crystal's fascinating medical mission trip to Tanzania last summer and the really cool way God used her while she was there.  (#1086)  And because Jay & Crystal live in KC, they were full of great tips of where to eat, shop, park, and how to get from point A to B.  (#1087)  However, their good directions were offset by an out-dated Garmin which led us astray a few times.  We saw it as a well-rounded tour of the city instead of an annoying delay.  (#1088)

They told us about Happy Hour at The Melting Pot on the Plaza, where we enjoyed some amazing fondue at half-price.  (#1089)  The lights in the plaza are just awesome, and it was such a beautiful evening that we were able to just walk around and enjoy the sights and sounds of the season.

They told us the best place to get sushi, which is something I've never tried before for two reasons.   #1 it's expensive.  And #2 it's raw fish.  However, I learned that it's not expensive when your friend has a gift-card she wants to spend (#1090 - Thanks for sharing, Lanise!), and that it's not all raw fish - some of it's fried.  They recommended the Drunken Fish Restaurant, which had an hour-and-45-minute-wait when we arrived. 

We took that as a good sign (it must be good with the long wait), and since they said they'd call us when a table was available, we were able to check out at a nearby Dueling Piano bar while we waited.

Check out our table at the Sushi place.  The table glows!  Red!  (Perfect for Christmas.)  It was a really fun experience, and I discovered that I DO like sushi.  (#1091)

We enjoyed our table, the company, and our sushi!  We ordered the california roll (with crab, cucumber, and avocado)  and fried philly roll (salmon, cream cheese, & avocado, covered with eel sauce, but don't let the word "eel" scare you - it was yummy).   Would Chad have liked any of it?  Probably not.  It's so much fun getting to choose a restaurant when I don't have to think, "where can we go that the kids will find something on the menu they'll like?"

We stayed at the Westin Crown Center (with great rates (#1092) thanks to Lanise's skills with Priceline.com) and had a great view of a Christmasy Union Station from our room.  It was so pretty!

Union Station from our hotel room.

It was a great, relaxing weekend with my dear friend.  It's hard to get away with a girlfriend when family activities are at a high, but God carved out a gorgeous weekend for us to travel, and there were no parties, programs, or activities holding us back.  And that in itself is a miracle.  (#1093)

Singing Christmas Tree

When your 20 yo son asks if you can all go to the Singing Christmas Tree this year, you do everything you can to fit it into the schedule.  And that's just what I set out to accomplish.

It was a bit challenging to find a time when the performance was scheduled, that would also work into our schedule.  But I found one.  (Blessing #1075) 

However, first things first. 

After church last Sunday, we headed to Minden for Christmas with my mom's side of the family.  (#1076)  As they looked at their growing family standing in a big circle, my grandpa and grandma had tears in their eyes. 

Grandpa Don and Grandma Bernie

They have friends whose family members don't get together any more, and the thought of that happening to our family makes them sad.  But at the same time, they recognize it as a special blessing each time we all spend time together as a big group.  (#1077)  It's truly something to treasure.

Grandma has a rule . . . if you're still in high school, you have to be in the "kids" picture by the tree. 

Grandkids and Great-Grandkids

After we left Minden, we headed to GI for the 6:30 performance of the Singing Christmas Tree.  (#1078)   This is thier 39th year, and next year they're planning something extra special.  

It's always an amazing, heart-touching performance, and it really gets your mind and heart set for Christmas.  (#1079) The singers are in the tree behind the actors and the lights are constantly changing with the music. 

The performance tells the wonderful story of Jesus' birth.  I love the part where the wise men show up!  Their costumes, all the actors big and small (there must have been close to a hundred total), and the animals all make you feel as if you're right there watching it all unfold.  They use real animals - sheep, goats, horses, and even a camel and a zebra.  But it doesn't stop there.  It also tells the story as Jesus grows up, performs miracles, is arrested, and goes to the cross.  One of our dear friends from college, who also happened to be Chad's roommate one year, plays Jesus. 

  

Like always, it was awesome!  And it was just as special traveling to and from GI as a family, listening to Chad and the kids chattering all the way there and back . . . until Jillian fell asleep on the way home.  It was way past her bedtime when we got home.  But it was so worth it.  (#1080)

O Holy Night

This is my latest Pinterest Project.  I saw it in a friend's home over the weekend, and she shared her secret with me.  If you want to know what it is, keep reading.

I used an old picture that I don't have up any more. (So glad I didn't get rid off it -- Blessing #1073)

This is my picture before:

And here's my picture after:

And here is my PINspiration:

The secret:  Black Chalkboard Contact Paper.  Yep.  Easy peazy lemon squeezy, as Jillian would say.  And the best news is that you can get it at True Value, right here in town. Jenica and I put it all together last night. It does take an extra hand getting the contact paper smooth, so I was glad she was home to help me.  (#1074)

Kicking Off the Season

We had our first Christmas Celebration last weekend in Minden.  I know it's early, but it worked perfectly in everyone's schedule, and it coincided with my brother's return to Nebraska from Arizona.  (Blessing #1069)
 
Even though my grandparents have been celebrating Christmas in Heaven for the past 11 years, we always try to get everyone together once during the Christmas season.  My mom and my aunt always take turns hosting each year.  This year was my mom's turn. 
Everyone was able to make it, including my brother's family, and the 26 of us met at my parents' church for a feast, some games, and a lot of laughing.  (#1070) 

The bonus was that we could look out the church window and see the Courthouse lights on the town square.  (#1071)  It always warms my heart when I get to see the lights that I grew up with.  It takes me back in time for a moment. 

And I love sharing this "gift" from my past with my own children.  It's much prettier in person, and we always roll down the windows to hear the bells playing Christmas songs from the square. 

Ahhhh......Christmas has begun.......now if we could just get some snow.

On Saturday, we gathered at my mom and dad's home (#1072) to enjoy Runzas and watch that dreadful Husker game.  Jenica tried to get her dad to smile, which became easier once the game became more and more out of control and we shut the TV off. 

Even though the game was embarrassing for Husker fans, we were able to share many laughs.  For example, Xander (left) and Adam (right) found a way to look like Jacob with the help of grandma's old wigs. 

 

And Jillian and her cousin Lily enjoyed picking on Paul, who's always a good sport. 

 

 

It was a great weekend, and we always look forward to having Paul and Alimah and their kiddos home again.  It was a short visit for them, but we packed alot into their time in Nebraska and sent them home with lots of great memories.