How it all went down...

I changed a few things this Christmas morning. I decided to put their stockings and their first gift in our bedroom. I really thought they would come in to wake us up, but I heard them just whispering and organizing presents quietly at 8a.m. I called them into our room so they could do their stockings (picture above). They simply LOVE doing their stockings from Grandma and Grandpa. Then their first gift (below) is their own box of cereal that they picked. We wrap them up just like any gift and they love it. Then off they went to eat breakfast while Brian and I took our time getting up. :) We like this new plan!
The kids learned a LONG time ago who Santa Claus is -- their Aunt Nar. Life becomes a buzz around here when they get a Thanksgiving e-mail - from Aunt Nar - asking for their wish list. Aunt Nar takes their list and goes above and beyond everything these kids dream of. Thank you Aunt Nar!!
A book that Austin wanted from Aunt Nar..
Here is a robe that Grandma and Grandpa gave Lindsey...
Nerf guns from Aunt Nar..
Complete joy on this guy's face!
Love this picture and the utter mess!
Reece's remote controlled jeep from Aunt Nar..
Could not wait another minute to try it out.
I love that I still have a "little guy" who likes play dough creations.
Thanks to Aunt Nar and Grandma and Grandpa - these kids had a wonderful Christmas and played all day. I believe they went to sleep with smiles on their faces for sure!

It was around 9p.m. and the Lord really laid it on my heart to call my college buddy, Allie, who had lost her husband (plane crash) this past summer. This would be her first Christmas without Mark. We talked until Dec. 26th. Three hours of sharing. I told Allie that this "life's journey" she would not take alone and I would be with her through it all. She shared some things around the time of Mark's death.

I'm so very proud of her (she credits the Lord) that, at the viewing, she was able to tell the man -who inspected the plane- that she didn't blame him. (He could barely walk as sobs shook him.) She told him that God knew the day Mark would die before he was born.

A man also approached her to say that he was the man that was going to buy their plane. (They hadn't been able to get in contact with him.) She was able to hug him and tell him that she was glad he hadn't bought the plane yet and that he was alive. She spoke at the funeral as pilots and air traffic controllers flew in, from all over the country, to be at the funeral. She made them hear her that you just don't know when you are going to leave this earth and that you had better be right with the Lord. I'm SO proud of her strength.

In this journey with her...she read me the autopsy report and we cried. We rejoiced that Mark could not have lasted a second during that fatal crash. This week she has to go and see the wreckage that's been in storage. The autopsy leads us to believe that it's going to go down as another hard, hard moment in this journey.

It is possible to laugh over the strangest - trust me - things. A few days before Mark's death he suggested that Allie get rid of her Mary Kay business as she possibly had 5 customers. She just couldn't. Well...this would be a long story, but I'll just say that her business is now booming because the funeral director says Mary Kay has the best foundation and is being taught, by Allie, which ones to use for people with pink undertones and yellow undertones. When Allie has shared this with people...so many think it is just plain morbid, but as she shares: She's had the worst ever happen to her and she's earned the right to find some humor in her "booming business" because Mark would have LOVED this story and found it hilarious. We laughed....oh did we laugh!

We prayed....I prayed..this is not uncommon in our friendship. We can now say that we have been through thick and thin together. I looked at the clock and told her that it was Dec. 26th and I could hear an audible sigh. She had made it through her first Christmas with just she and the kids. We hung up and I went to look out the window and there was light snow falling down and strangely it brought joy and comfort to my soul as I ache for my precious friend in Maine.

Then we woke up to this!!!

Pastor Horner had called to tell Brian that church had been canceled. He had suggested that we meditate on Psalm 145 so we gathered the kids, around our table, and each of us read several verses and shared which ones stood out to us and why. It was a good time of "home church"..

We don't get this very often so the kids then went out and simply piled up snow just to knock it down. They had a ball! You can tell that we might be the only ones, from the North, because we passed our shovel around the cul de sac to share with our neighbors.
What a sweet Christmas indeed!