Finally!

Way back in the beginning of December Adam & I bought our Christmas present to each other, but of course, it wasn't in stock so we waited thinking it would surely be here before Christmas. And we waited. And waited. And finally on January 11th (yes, a Sunday), it arrived.

We've finally joined techie world of LCD screen's, surround sound, and blu ray discs....and after less than a week, we can already say we love it! We're still figuring out how to do stuff with it and which remote to use, but we're enjoying the process. This screen shot is of MarioKart wii. New toys are fun!

More Christmas

The last of our Christmases in Iowa ended at Aunt Kimmy's where Kabe got some fun table top games.

Presents are always fun, but it was really nice to see Aunt Kimmy and Jerry and get to spend some time with them, eating our favorite pizza....taco, from Godfathers...YUM! We love you Aunt Kimmy!

Christmas Day!

Christmas Day was pretty relaxing for us. Kabe woke us at 5:30am to see what Santa had brought him.









His favorite gift was Guitar Hero for his Nintendo DS.











He even got to play outside in the snow.








And so did grandpa!







Kabe learned how to play marbles and was really good at it!







And at the end of the day, we watched 'House' and had our own sort of slumber party.






My personal favorite of the whole trip...proof that Iowa brings out the hillbilly in all of us! ;)

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve was a busy day with some time spent finishing up shopping and of course, there were presents to open!






We were joined by Adam's brother Andy and his family. Here's Casey (14), playing wii.






Kabe & Casey dueled the Nerf & Strike.








It's hard to get a decent picture of Gene & Connie, Adam's parents, together. This is the best I could do.






Connie starts her day really early, taking care of her chores and when we're there, she gives up her room so we'll have a place to sleep...she insists. So at the end of the day, this is what you'll find.

Where to begin?

Last week when we left Illinois it was cold. We'd had snow and ice earlier in the week, but it had melted rather quickly. We'd gotten word that we were headed toward snow in Iowa....lots of snow, but that didn't really worry us. We've traveled through some pretty severe conditions to see family.


But after being on the road about 45 minutes, we were in complete white-out conditions and after two hours, we were routed off the interstate to some county highway .... completed ice covered where travel was a mere 40 miles per hour due to ice. Not cool. This is the view of the Mississippi River as we crossed.

A little while later as we headed north, we saw a rainbow ... just before we began driving through snow drifts.







Kabe was so excited to see Grandpa Gene...







and Grandma Gene (aka Connie). He had to give them his presents right away.







And Adam was put to work helping his dad put the tree up so it could dry out (covered with snow) and then Kabe could help Grandma Gene decorate.








Of course, Adam was also assigned to figure out the lights.

We're HOME!

Merry Christmas....a few days late! We've been in Iowa at Adam's parents and had a really good visit. We've seen a lot of wind, snow, ice and now it rain. Very strange December weather we're having!
We were in Iowa almost a week ... with no internet =(. I couldn't even get a signal on my blackberry. Very sad how much of our lives we spend..and depend...on the internet.

We're home now & ready to sleep in our own beds. Of course, I'll have tons of pictures to post later, but for now, I'll leave you with this one, that many of my Facebook friends will have already seen. Christmas cards will be sent early next week....better late than never!

Special Friend

Do you have one of those people in your life that you've known forever, a special friend, someone who's always lookin' out for you?

Someone who makes you smile?

Kabe has a special friend.

They've known each other since he was born. Although they live pretty close, schedules don't permit that they see other as often as they'd like.

But when they're together, they talk & laugh and at this time of year, they even exchange Christmas presents!

Kabe is so lucky to have a special friend like Miss Candis.

Christmas Concert

Kabe's Christmas Program at school was last weekend.


He was so excited about the program, memorizing songs and lines.


This particular song was so so cute....Blue Christmas...much weeping occurred, and here they are leaning on each other for support at the end.


Kabe sang a duet during the song 'Silver Bells'. This is a horrible picture...very bad lighting in the old gym....this is the best I could do. Kabe did a fabulous job!

Here is Kabe with his teacher, Miss Prather. He is really enjoying 2nd grade and his class this year.

Greatest Need

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.

Christmas cards. Punctuated promises. Phrases filled with the reason we do it all anyway.

He became like us, so we could become like him.
Angels still sing and the star still beckons.
He loves each one of us like there was only one of us to love.
~~Max Lucado When God Whispers Your Name

Dinner, Presents and a Camel!

**Warning**
This post is long. Seriously. No, I mean, You know those Christmas letters you get that talk about each person in the family. Yep, the one with a paragraph about each member. A looonnnngggg paragraph. Now you're with me.

On Saturday our small group had it's annual Christmas Progressive Dinner. This year we started with appetizer's at Wayne's.
This is Ling & Karen. Doesn't Karen have a great smile?


Next we were at Judy's for salad.


And then on to Lynne & Dick's for the main course.
Here's Lynne showing us she is a cook and here's a shot of Dick too.

Aren't Scott & Stacey cute? Connie & Diane took some time to warm by the fire and catch up.



Next, it was on to our house for dessert and the white elephant gift exchange. For those of you who've been in our home, you'll be surprised to know there were 19...YES, 19 people in the living room Saturday night. Yep, we're a pretty close-knit group. As you can see, we filled every knook & cranny. ;)


White elephant gift exchanges can mean different things to different people, but 'round these parts, it means, wrap up the nastiest junk you possess or want to get rid of, something partially used, don't like, ugly, don't want or whatever....pretty much anything goes. It's good for getting rid of junk, but of course, you'll get some sort of junk in return.
Here are Lynne & Dick obtaining a 'pretty' brass apple...with a face.

Lots of laughter....always a good time.

Deb will now be tranquil and Jay...he's in BIG. TROUBLE. He left this lovely carrot pitcher at our house when he left for the evening. Paybacks Jay. Paybacks.



Here's Adam with his gift....an oreo gift pack. Now don't go gettin' all excited for us. It's Six Year's Old. See....anything goes. We ditched the oreos & kept the mugs.

Wayne won the Seraphim Award for the night. First, he drew the pretty little ditty on top, but then someone stole it from him so then he chose and unwrapped the gorgeous number on the bottom. Now, what more does one bachelor need?

Kevin got a rubber ducky & a load of bath supplies...how appropriate. =)

Thanks to Judy for hauling everyone around!


Oh yeah...here's something you don't see in Illinois everyday. This was just around the corner from Dick & Lynne's...

Luke 2:8-14 (New International Version)

The Shepherds and the Angels

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

** See... I told you it was long! =) A+ If you're still reading this!