Category: Family

The day after Christmas, we left to go to Pittsburgh. We visited Aunt Mary and checked out the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker. I met Jordan, a friend from Joffrey South who's in the graduate program, and had breakfast with her. After staying there for 3 days, we headed to Erie to visit Nana, our great grandmother.

When we got there, she was having her daily walk. She wanted to show off and so she did a little extra that day. After that she looked us all over and she said "I'll take this one" and pointed to Jonathan. She took Jonathan's hand and we walked (she scooted in the wheelchair) around so she could show us off. We took some pictures in the hall and finally coaxed her to go back to her room. In her room we told her each of our names. She told me and Jonathan "Don't forget". She said that it was good to see us and then we left.

Walking through the nursing home, made me not want to get old. But getting old is inevitable. And whatever age we are, we can still find ways to glorify God. As we get older, we also have the opportunity to grow closer to Him. Each breath we take brings us closer to where we will spend eternity. It is up to us to use those breaths wisely. We can use them for ourselves or for God. I don't know how I'll spend my last days but as I grow older, I want to keep glorifying God no matter what.

From our visit to Nana, we got a hotel and visited Aunt Sis, Grandma's sister. Then we made our way over to Ohio and met Jonathan's pen pal, Peter. After that we came home. Our trip accomplished a lot, we had time together as a family, saw new places, and met new people. I hope your Christmas break was relaxing and that you are ready for a great 2009.

Happy New Year!

Here's a snapshot of what Christmas looks like in our home.

Every year, Gran makes all of her grandchildren matching pajamas. This year's pajamas had penguins on them and that was the theme. We watched Happy Feet and had a white elephant gift exchange. Here are the highlights.

Eating goldfish. Just like penguins without any hands.

Caleb enthusiastically receives candles in his white elephant gift.

Joshua carefully chooses his gift. (and he chose well–an itunes giftcard–sadly, it was taken)

On Christmas Eve we always go to Grandma and Grandpa's. We ate lasagna for dinner and then opened gifts. Cutter probably had the most fun when he attacked everyone with silly string.

The aftermath of Cutter's attack

Cutter

Hope you had a Merry Christmas as well!!

…Christmas!!!

One of my favorite family activities is decorating the Christmas tree every year. We decorated this year's tree last night. We used to have a real tree every year but after Gran moved in with us we took on her fake tree. It doesn't smell as good but it's cheaper, cleaner (well, you still have to vacuum after it), and it stays green for the whole season. Here are some pics from last night.

Me and Boo sorting branches.

The boys. (sorry it's blurry) We decided to try putting the branches  in from top to bottom instead of bottom to top. It actually worked quite well.

And finally here's a video of how to decorate a tree in under 2 minutes. 🙂

Merry Early Christmas!!