Merry Christmas!

I hope that you are all having a wonderful Christmas Day! This past week has been so very busy. Let me quickly recap our activities for you. Last Thursday, we had the 962 Christmas Party at the Bridge restaurant here in Anchorage. Friday was a very hectic day as Nathan's office had a potluck lunch and then we had our Sunday School Christmas party that evening. The kids had a fun evening at the church while the adults gathered at the Anderson's house. That was kinda weird because we didn't quite know what to do without all the children running around us. But, we had a lot of fun playing games and socializing without being interrupted by our children for once. Saturday I had a party in the afternoon and then we had to watch the Cowboys play- GO COWBOYS!!! Sunday was our normal day of church activities. Of course, Nathan was on the hook to fly both Saturday and Sunday, and is currently on the hook to fly today and Wednesday as well. So, we decided late on Sunday evening that we needed some Christmas snacks to have around the house. So, Nathan went to the store for me, and then I stayed up until 11pm making Christmas goodies. First, I made rolls and sweet potato casserole for our Christmas dinner. And then I made chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, spiced tea mix, party mix and puppy chow. Now, those of you who know me well know that I am not known for my cooking abilities, but I would have to say that everything came out pretty well. OK, so back to our holiday activities. Since Nathan could possibly fly on Christmas Day, we had decided to open presents on Christmas Eve. We expected Brianna to wake us up early, but instead she actually slept later than usual- until after 9am, and so did baby Nate. So, we had a late start, but we managed to tear through all the presents. The kids got so much stuff, between their grandparents and aunts and uncles and mom and dad. I gave Nathan the Nintendo Wii for Christmas this year, and he found out about it early (I'll let him share that story if he wants to). So, he hot me the DANCE DANCE Revolution game that goes with it, along with some boots that I have wanted and some DVD's, CD's and perfume. Anyway, we had the Drewry's over for dinner last night, and we had a good time with them. We even all took a turn on the dance mat. It was quite comical. Some of you may ask who the Drewry's are. Well, Ruth is a friend of mine from high school and college. I actually graduated with her sister Rachel, but through that friendship, Ruth became my friend as well. Anyway, she married an air force guy and they just recently moved up here. So, it was really nice to have a bit of home here for the holidays. They have a son, Austin, who is just a couple of months older than Nate, so it is nice for the kids to play together. Really, Brianna just plays and the boys watch her, but it really works well.

So, here we are on Christmas morning. I got up early and made breakfast for everyone. Nathan has taken Brianna out to go sledding, and the baby is down for his nap. I really like not being so busy on Christmas day. It gives me time to think about Christ and how He came to earth as a little baby so that He could one day die for my sins. I hope and pray that each and every person who reads this post knows the love that the Father has for each one of His children. And, if you don't know that love, it is never too late to experience it. HE is the reason we have Christmas!