My Christmas Gift

This is one of the coolest gifts I got for Christmas this year. The photo is not my actual ring, but I found the website to copy the picture for my post. I have wanted a mother's ring for a long time. This one is very nice - it even has two black hills gold leaves. Jon's mom helped to order it and make it a surprise for me. (It takes a bit of work to get a surprise over on me - I usually have to know everything that's going on.) So when she was ordering, she realized there was room for seven stones. She entered the birthstones for Jon, Megs, Karli, Nate and me and then decided to add two "diamonds" for the twins I miscarried before Megs was born. That makes it even more special! Of course, I cried.

Thanks to my wonderful family for the wonderful gift of my best job ever - mother!

It Was A Good Christmas

Well, we survived the big day. Unfortuately, I got so wrapped up in the making of rolladen that I forgot to grab the camera. Sorry, Shari! I'll work hard to remember it next time we make it. :(

Jon and the kids surprised me with a wonderful gift this year. He and his mom worked together to order a Mother's ring for me. It has two black hills gold leaves on it and seven stones. The birth stones are for me, Jon, Megs, Bug, & Nater, and then two more "diamonds" for the twins I miscarried 11 years ago. It is very special to have them included in my family ring.

Santa brought good stuff for the kids. Nate got his remote control jeep - which he had to drive outside while he was still in his pajamas! Karli didn't know what to ask for, so she got an MP3 player - hot pink - and loves it. Megs was only asking for a Nintendo DS, but Santa must have known that Uncle Bear was getting the kids a Wii (remember the post about the lucky find?) because he brought her the High School Musical Sing It game for the Wii.

Every year we say we're going to slow down on the gifts we buy, but it was another huge pile of presents. I sure count my blessings that we are able to do the things we want and that we are healthy.

Here's a wish that you all have continued good health and happiness for 2008!

Family for the Holidays

We have a full house now for the holidays. My brother from Denver arrived yesterday afternoon. He'll fly out the afternoon of the 25th. Jon went up to Garrison to pick up his mom yesterday. We were having a mini blizzard, but he went anyway. He said the roads were dry and mostly clear so it was no problem. Grandma will stay until the 25th also. Then Megs gets to go home with her for a few days. They are both so excited!

This afternoon my mom and I will be starting the preparations for our traditional Christmas dinner - rolladen. I'll take some photos of the process for a post.

Happy Winter!

Christmases Past

Here are some previous attempts to visit Santa at the Mall.

2001:

Bug was a little scared that day. Megs looked so sweet and innocent. Ah, the good old days...

Here is 2004:

Nate wasn't just a little scared, he threw a full-on fit. Again, Megs was ever the sweet little angel in the scene. Notice the serene smile on my face. It was there because I knew someday the time would come when I would show him what a pill he was that day. I don't even recognize the man's hand on the left. It doesn't look like Jon's. Must have been one of the elves.

The only reason I don't have a photo like this of Megs, is because when she was that scared, she was an only child and we didn't even take her to see him that year. Hope everyone can enjoy their trips to see Santa as much as I have.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

We finally were able to go visit the big guy. The kids all made their requests, we got 3 cute pictures and we were off to Grizzly's for supper. There wasn't even a line to wait. The crew working were all about 16 except for one lady. They did a nice job. I'll scan some past photos of our visits to share next time. They haven't all been so smiley...

A Busy Week

Sorry for the delay in posting. I think there are only two people out there reading my blog, but I have been swamped this past week. Life should be slowing down a little - only a little - after today. I think today was the busiest day our family has had in a long time.

Last night our good friends from Minot were down for a swim meet today. After the Christmas Contata at church, we hung out here. The other two moms and I played a game and visited while the guys watched some movie on tv. A fun evening!

So this morning started the busy day. Mel & Tara and their families needed to be up about 6:00 to get ready for the swim meet. Two of the little ones woke up about 5:00 instead of savoring that hour of glorious sleep. So anyway, they made it out of the house by about 7:30. I finally dragged my butt out of bed by about 8:30. The five of us made it through showers and all the daily get-up to be out of the house shortly after 10 for the girls' piano recital. They did a great job. We forgot the camera so I can't share any pics. Sorry. After that, we grabbed lunch and headed back home to prepare a surprise birthday party for my dad. He turned 65 today! Wow - that doesn't seem quite as old as it used to.

About 2:45 Bug and I left to sing for church. Jon took Megs to her dance performance at 4:30. Bug and I went to watch the dance, but just missed it. They close the doors while each team performs so we couldn't tell who was dancing as we arrived, but they came out just as we were about to walk in. Oh well, there will be other shows to see.

So we got back home by about 5:30. Then we headed to Johnny Carino's for supper about 6:15 or so. Bad idea with 6 kids 9 and under with a projected 45 min to an hour wait. The good news is that they under promised and over delivered. We only waited about 15-20 minutes for a table of 11! Good food, good friends, all in all a good day.

We all rolled out of the restaurant since we were so stuffed. I think we had 6 or 7 to go boxes. That must be some kind of record or something.

Tomorrow is a light day with only a Christmas carol sing-a-long at Sunday School and the lovely piles of laundry calling me. I'll be glad to sit around folding clothes all day if I don't have to run around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Good night!

What a Lucky Duck!

My sister-in-law happened to be in the right place and the right time - twice! She is an expert shopper of Christmas gifts and found what we have been looking for. I can't say what it is here because my kids like to check out my blog, so if you want to know, you'll have to email me and I'll let you know.

We had given up hope of finding this special much-desired item. Then Michelle saved Christmas for us. Oh happy day!!

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday Megs asked if I knew when we would have about 2 inches of snow because she couldn't wait to go sledding. Well, ask and ye shall receive: