Warroad Branch Christmas Party

I almost didn't post about our Branch Christmas party. I had high hopes to catch amazing pictures of the nativity put on by the primary children and young men/young women, but alas, my picture taker was a little too shy. But just know that it was a wonderful event. As I sat at the organ and watched the children re-enact the birth of our Savior more than 2000 years ago, my heart was touched, and it really made me feel the true meaning of Christmas.

Here's one of the angels.

And a few shepherds...

Every year our family acts out our own nativity on Christmas Eve. It has always been a special part of Christmas for us. I was grateful that this year we could broaden it to our little branch and that we could all feel those special feelings of love that began in a humble stable so long ago.

Following the nativity we had a wonderful potluck, and then a surprise visit from Santa! Even Steven got a chance to sit on his knee.

 



Polar Express Party

We have made it a tradition at our house to have a Polar Express party every Christmas season. This year didn't disappoint. We love to get our pj's on and snuggle on the couch with our hot chocolate (and cinnamon rolls this year) and watch The Polar Express.

I couldn't help but notice that this year we were quoting the movie and finding quirks, making evident the number of years we have actually watched it. But the family togetherness and the memories we make still make it worth doing - someday we'll probably have it memorized word for word.

We have two other movies that are a must for our family during the Christmas season - Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. I love the fact that my older kids are the ones scheduling them in and insisting that they happen. One even was overheard saying that one of them was their favorite movie. And I have to agree.

Halloween

We had a fun time carving pumpkins again this year. In spite of the fact that it looks like only these three were involved, these are, in fact, the youngest three kids' pumpkins. They, excepting Ethan, had been involved with the designing, but apparently once the hard work happened, they scattered until the final product was done. We'll have to plan a little better next year.

Somehow these are the only two pictures I ended up with of the pumpkins. Olivia's is the silly face, Eli's is the bats, and Ethan/Leah's was an awesome design that I can't remember right now. It was amazing though. (Serves me right for not posting about this for so long!)

Trick-or-treating happened again this year too! We had three kids dress up this year - I guess Leah and Alex are officially too cool to do it anymore. Ethan was a cowboy, or maybe an outlaw. Thanks Dad for the face job.

Eli chose to be a very muscular Spiderman, and a cute one at that!

And Olivia was the cutest witch you ever did see. Thanks Leah for helping her with her costume.

Here's to another successful Halloween.

 

 

 

 

Catching Up - Fall

Life got away from me this fall, and I couldn't let some of these good memories get away, thus the randomness. One of our family traditions every year is going to the fair. I grew up raising sheep for 4-H, and although that also brought some very bad memories (my mom has pictures as proof), I'll admit it: I LOVE the fair! I'm not alone: here in Roseau, the fair IS summer. People plan their family reunions around the fair, and people who have moved away, return just to attend.

We have to see the animals - all of them, and pet ALL of them, except me because I would spend the rest of the fair sneezing, with red eyes and hives all over my arms.

I think Eli pet every single horse there.

And probably so did Lilly.

And of course, the fair is not complete without going on a few rides. Except when you choose the wrong time, and end up spending almost 2 hours standing in line for one ride --ask Lilly, Leah and Ethan about that. Summer would not be complete without the fair. One year we were in Utah during fair time, so we had to go to the Lake of the Woods fair (an hour drive) to make up for it. Yes, we

love the fair.

Another favorite family activity is the Corn Maze. The corn maze in our community began small, but has grown into a big event with a large maze as well as a kid's maze, a petting zoo, and many fun games. This year we had tons of fun, especially Alex! The maze was of dinosaurs.

These girls are the best!

 Alex wouldn't let me take his picture, so I had to shoot this one behind my back, upside down. He was thrilled!

This dude loves getting his picture taken - thanks Ethan!

These boys are trying to find all the dinosaurs in the maze to get a prize - and believe me, they did it way faster than their old Mom.

Of course Olivia found the ONLY flowers in the corn patch and picked them for me.

I taught Olivia how to let a calf suck your thumb like I used to do as a little girl. She liked it as much as I used to. She's a regular cowgirl!

And look what I found while we were there!

Yikes!

Fun times on the haystack!

Fall is the best!









 

Saying Goodbye

Well, it had to happen eventually -- one of my kids leaving home.  I had tried to prepare myself mentally for this, but the emotions that come to see your child actually go out on their own are incredibly hard to cope with.  At least for me. How do you know they're ready?  How do you know you've done all you can do to prepare them, and will they be ok?

 

Lilly's time to leave on her mission finally came.  Preparing to go was a feat in and of itself - maybe that was good because I was so busy helping her, I didn't have a lot of time to mourn. Since she is going to a third world country that is 90 degrees with 90% humidity a lot of the year, there is a bug problem.  So we spent a good deal of her last day at home spraying all her clothes with a toxic pesticide that dries odorless.  Believe me, it was not odorless going on!  I was dressed in gloves and a balaclava to protect my hands and lungs from poisoning.  A few whiffs of it almost did me in.

 We set up a clothesline, and loaded it, the woodshed, and the ATV's with all of the clothes she will be wearing over the next 18 months.  We'll just say we were glad to be done when that was over!

 Then it was time for packing, with a little break in the evening for one last time ice skating.  Everyone went, but not everyone skated -- Alex and I used the excuse that we don't own any skates.

 

 The chair makes things even more fun!

 

I got some pictures to document the evening - and everyone else had a super time playing freeze tag on the ice.

After an olympic effort at packing, we went to bed in the wee hours of the morning.  I told Lilly customs would have a time if they actually opened her suitcases.  She had bottles of all kinds of things: apple cider vinegar, olive oil, coconut oil, essential oils, and to the untrained eye, many of them probably looked like liquor bottles! Little did Lilly know we slipped a bag full of Halloween candy with a goodbye card from the family in one of her suitcases.  Lilly got a total of 4 hours of sleep, but got up bright and early to take a last look at everything and say goodbye to her dogs, with last-minute instructions to Leah and Ethan who will take over their care.

 And we were off to Fargo!

 It was nothing short of a miracle that her suitcases came in under weight. Olivia insisted on helping Lilly with this one.

Ethan was feeling as sad as I was to see his big sis go.

We had to get in a few last pictures...

 Of course Eli had to try to add in a little humor to this situation.

 A few last hugs - so hard for us all.

 Even as hard as this was for me, I am so proud of all she stands for and her reasons for going to serve the Lord. What an amazing example she is to me.

 Everyone got a turn.

 These kids really will miss this girl - she has been so amazing with them. She's the party in their lives.

 I was a little late on the draw on this picture, but these two are best buddies.

 As are these two.

 And Alex has such a good example to follow in a short time.

 One last look for the next 18 months.

 And all at once that was it - she was gone. We spied on her through the security doors, and then went out to try to watch her plane take off. 

 There goes my beautiful, brave, determined first-born, off to work miracles in the lives of the people of Honduras. From my arms to the Lord's hands. We love you so much Lilly!

School Started

Yes, I know, school started a long time ago, but I have been too crazy busy to put all these family happenings on this blog.  So I'm catching up.  And I couldn't miss posting these cuties on the first day of school.  I am still homeschooling - and these guys make it all worth it.

Ethan's in 5th grade this year! He's 10.

Eli's in 2nd grade this year and he's 7.

And last but not least, Olivia's in Kindergarten and is 5. We could pretend this is her personality...

...but in reality, most of the time this is.

Alex and Leah are dual-enrolled at Roseau High and home.  Alex is a super senior,

 

 and Leah is a sweet sophomore! Here's to an awesome year.