Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve...

The kids opened gifts from each other...and were very thankful!

 Might be my favorite moment of the day....Abby bought Sophie 'best friends' necklaces for them to wear.  Sigh. 

 We decorated a gingerbread house. 

 All 3 kids were in the Christmas Eve Program at church.  The girls sang in the choir.

 Noah was the Innkeeper.

 Abby was a speaking angel.

 Sophie was also an angel (2nd row, 3rd one from the R)  (Abby is 2nd row, 2nd from the left)

We also had a wonderful dinner and opened gifts with my parents, Laura, Gavin and the kids. 

The night ended with the reading of, 'Twas the Night before Christmas' in front of the tree.  We are blessed beyond words. 

#2000

Although I have not been faithful about updating my blog this fall, I have been recording my gifts.  Earlier this week I reached #2000:  "Remembering what is important and living for it."  In light of the tragic event that took place last Friday, I find myself gathering my children close this Christmas.  Snuggling my family tight, because I can.  Because they are what is important. 
This past week was full of pre Christmas fun:  continuing a Christmas baking tradition with  my parents (cookies and chocolate candy), the Brummel Christmas party, the kids 'readers theater' performance at the library and culture night at their school, and even some sick day snuggles with Noah as he fights an awful cold/cough/fever.  I am blessed this Christmas and I want to live each moment remembering that.

Basketball and Sophie the Student of the Week!

The girls had a wonderful basketball season that wound up this week. Tom was an assistant coach, and they all had a blast! It was so fun to watch them grow throughout the season!

 The picture below is Sophie's first basket!  Sorry for the poor photography!  I was so excited!!  (Abby was high scorer one game earlier this season!)

Sophie was selected to be the 'star student' at school this week.  She has been waiting patiently all semester!  She was thrilled to put up her special pictures on Monday!  Love it!

Blessings!

A new tradition

Ok, it wasn't like you see in the movies....chopping down the family Christmas tree.  It was a busy weekend, but we were determined to make it a relaxing and fun new tradition!  In order to have a more relaxed time, we bumped it to Sunday afternoon.  Saturday was sunny and crisp, but we would have been really rushed.  Sunday started with a few beautiful snow flurries on our way to church.  After church the flurries seemed to be mixing with rain.  After lunch it appeared to have turned all the way to rain.  We didn't let it stop us!  Even though we did not head south to the farm recommended by friends, we still found a wonderful family owned farm, and we had a fabulous time walking the field selecting the perfect tree (ok, we could drive right out in to the field...but we still walked around).  The rain even let up for a few minutes during the search.  Many of the beautiful trees had remnants of the morning flurries hidden in their needles.  It wasn't like the movies, a couple of feet of newly fallen snow...it was wet and muddy but we laughed and we made memories.  We love our beautiful tree. 

We are here and we are thankful!

 The kids spent some time this weekend reading old blog posts in our book.  It made me sad to think that the last post I had done was in early October!  I will admit honestly that this fall has gotten the best of me!  It has been very very busy.  I guess that has made us cherish this Thanksgiving weekend even more.  We have enjoyed baking pumpkin pancakes, "grandma's little rolls" (my grandma Jane Mosher's recipe), and pumpkin pie (my grandma Jane Mosher's recipe).  We enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving dinner here with my parents using grandma Bonnema's beautiful plates.  We enjoyed a great soup 'supper' with the Bonnema's.  (Note:  I struggle to understand the definitions of dinner and supper, I really do).  We enjoyed snuggles, reading, hot chocolate, sleeping in, movies, football, knitting and a tiny bit of shopping.  We are blessed and we are thankful! 
(I tried to post pics but apparently I am over my storage limit.  I tried deleting some of my old posts, which are printed, to no avail.  I have the option of paying for more storage...  Anyone else run in to this?) 

Adventures!

Last week was full of adventures!
I was in DC for a wonderful conference and enjoyed an amazing Indian lunch, a reception of the Capitol (in the fog), and an amazing tea bar at the conference hotel.
Back home in Holland my dad enjoyed a before school breakfast with the kids (and me) on Friday morning.
The kids jogged ~2 miles during their school fundraiser Friday afternoon (so thankful for a flexible enough schedule that allows me to attend many of these events)
Saturday after the football game my parents, my aunt, the kids and I headed to ArtPrize in GR.  The kids really wanted to see the winner....it was a nearly 3 hour process of getting through the art museum...but well worth it! 
Noah spent the night with a friend Saturday night and under the careful watch of the parent, learned how to shoot a bow (sigh).
During the slumber party the girls and I enjoyed a little quality time at Qdoba!
Special hot chocolate with special Sophie Grace. 

Football!!

Lots of football around here these days!  Friday night the Rocket Football teams were recognized at the West Ottawa Varsity Football game.  Noah loved having a special evening with grandma and grandpa Mosher and me!  (Tom was a deer camp)  Saturday morning Noah's team scored their first touchdown of the season (Tom drove back down for the game)!  It was very exciting, despite the rain/sleet!!  The final score was 6-6, but it was still a 'victory' for our team!