What a Christmas it was for our family! Our family was blessed by our church youth group on the Wednesday before Christmas, and our children were ecstatic with the gifts they received. They received Legos, and nerf guns, matchbox cars, and candy, and a stuffed horse for Emma. They also received a few other gifts, and of course, I cried! It is humbling to be on the receiving end so often of people's generosity, but we are very thankful for all that have showered our family with gifts, love and prayers!
Hannah and Josh came the week of Christmas for a few short days. It was great to have us all together again, but my parent's house did seem a tad squished! We celebrated Christmas on Tuesday, December 22, with Hannah and Josh. We also had a few other close friends join us for dinner, and it was a fun time of food, fellowship, and celebrating Christmas. Hannah and Josh had to leave on Wednesday, and it was hard to see them go. However, I am thankful to know that in a few months we should be close enough to get together for special times with family.
On Christmas Eve, we attended the candlelight service at our church, and then came back to my parents home for Christmas with my sister, Jen. One of my favorite gifts this year was from the boys. My dad spent some time with them on a woodworking project. It's not up to my dad's standard of perfection, but I see the love and hard work that four boys put into it...I love it! Another of my favorite gifts was from Garett. There was a definite change in his gift giving this year as he moved from thinking about what he would want to what someone else would want. He spent his own money, and asked Roger to take him shopping. Garett told Roger that he wanted to buy mom some lotion. So Roger took him to Bath and Body Works. Garett picked out the lotion all by himself. How did my little boy grow so quickly! Roger purchased a new Bible for me with my name on it. I haven't had a new Bible since my college days and this one has my married name on it! I was blessed and spoiled by my family! It was a good time with family, and of course, lots of food and gifts! Christmas Day was a quiet day in the morning, but after lunch we went to play some games with another family from our church. I'm thankful for the opportunity to spend time wit dear friends and family this holiday season. The day after Christmas was the Prahl family get together. We headed up to Wausau for the afternoon as that is where most of my dad's family lives. It was another opportunity to spend time with family and reflect on the blessings of the past year.
We finally had our first major snowstorm on December 29! We had some very excited children when we woke up to about ten inches of snow! But oh, how the muscles worked on that day! My dad, Jenn, and I spent quite a bit of the day shoveling, and Garett drove the four-wheeler with the plow. He did a good job for the most part and stuck with it for quite a while. I was proud of him. The boys have built snow forts, wallowed in the snow, dug tunnels, and spent about six hours outside every day playing in the snow...and they aren't tired of it yet! However, they are sleeping fabulously at night!
On New Year's Eve, we attended the activity at my dad's church. They had a sledding activity, followed by a potluck dinner and devotional and family games at the church. We had a good time playing dominoes, quirkle, and other games with the families in the church.
Our Christmas break passed by entirely too quickly, and I'm not ready to go back to school on Monday! I'm thankful for the memories we made, the opportunities to share about Christ, and the love of so many this Christmas season. As our children grow, I treasure these memories as a family even more. I was in tears this past week as I thought about how fast they are growing, how much we want to teach them yet, how many failures I have as a parent, and my desire to see them grow to become Godly young men and a young lady. It's definitely not a small feat, but I can see the hand of God at work both on them and on me. God is good.
Roger is gearing up to head to his job in Maine. He is hoping to leave the end of this month, but it just depends on how the pieces fall in place. We are going to miss him terribly when he is away, but it's not for forever. We are looking into houses, properties and rentals online and hoping to have some lined up for Roger to look at when he arrives in Maine.
So, in a nutshell, that was our Christmas break. How was yours?
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