Christmas Eve Snow in Abilene

The kids enjoyed playing in the snow in Abilene. They were not properly dressed because I had no idea that it was going to snow. Where was I during all this fun? Inside - I sent the camera out with my nephew, Drew.










I LOVE the snow penguin that they made.

Sleeping Accomodations

Nate and Cade slept in this tent most of our trip :)

Dog Food Fight

Some of the other dogs Maggie had so much fun with. They were fighting over a dog treat

Puppies in the Snow

We headed to Abilene for Christmas. It snowed and snowed on Christmas Eve. Maggie had a great time playing in the snow. She had a great time the entire time we were in Abilene because she had a lot of other dogs to play with :)

Cade's Latest Obsession

Cade's art teacher taught him how to make a house out of a piece of paper. To say that Cade enjoys doing this would be an understatement. Here are just a few of his masterpieces.

Family Christmas

We exchanged gifts with each other before we headed out of town. I know that some people get upset about the focus on material things during Christmas, but I think that there is nothing sweeter than watching my boys trying to pick out the perfect gift for their brothers and for their dad. I think that learning the joy of gift giving is a wonderful thing to watch.

Excited boys in front of the tree.
Maggie joined in on the fun
Nate was so excited!
Daddy and Cade
Presents!
Chase being goofy
Nate with his pile of presents. The boys really enjoyed shopping for him.
My sweet Dylan
Cade was serious about opening his present

The boys loved shopping for Mark. We won't talk about the fact that Mark had to take his things back. It is the thought that counts, right?
I am so proud of my Chase


Not the best picture of Mark, but very cute of his boys.

My Resolution

Do you ever feel like you need to make some changes, but you just are not sure what those changes should be? I have felt that way for a while. Things have been brewing inside me, but I don't know what the final product is supposed to be. I don't know what direction I need to take; I just know that I need to take a new one. I feel that I am working too much and shortchanging everyone. I am not doing my best in any area because I am spread out too thin. I know this. I don't want this. I don't know how to change this. Change is always a tricky thing anyway. I like the status quo. If you change things up, then things could end up being worse. Plus, change often requires work and pain, not in my top 5 of things that I enjoy. I am not a big fan of growing through experiencing pain and difficult circumstances. Give me the body in great shape without the annoying exercising. Let me have strength of spirit without any grief or difficult circumstances. Is that too much to ask? Am I lazy? Let's call it easy-going, shall we? Tim's death has shaken me. It is a shocking reminder that we simply don't know how long we are going to be here, so we better live well every second that we are here. It is time to take steps forward and to force myself to grow. It is time to try and figure out what direction God wants me to go. It is time to stop trying for security. It is time to get uncomfortable.

Which leads me to my biggest obstacle - fear. You know when speakers share their stories about how they prayed for patience/humility/peace/some other desirable trait and then their circumstances changed/became difficult which taught them patience/humility/peace/some other desirable trait. Then the speaker jokes about when they prayed for that trait they didn't mean that they wanted it that way. Then everybody but me laughs. Because I fear this. I don't want to pray for x (insert one of the many areas that I need to improve) because of what God may do to me to teach me x. I want to be a better person without the pain and work. I don't want to lose any of my blessings just so that I can become better. Fear dominates way too much of my life. I fear losing my family. I fear something bad happening to my children. I am afraid of what people may think about me, or that they may not like me. The list could (and does) go on and on. The thing is that fear does nothing but prevent me from living the life that I should be living. Bad things happen to everyone. I can't prevent bad things from happening to me or my family, but I can rely on God to show me the way and to help me through the hard times. So, my main resolution for this year is to be bolder. To really listen to God and follow the path that he is pointing out to me, even if it is uncomfortable. To embrace growth and change. To open my heart up more to others. To do a better job of telling others how much they mean to me. (And yes, I know that those were incomplete sentences - see, I am getting wild and crazy already) Bring on the New Year - no matter what happens, I am blessed.

Cade's School "Winter" Party

The next day was Cade's Winter Party at school. He was very joyful.


Nate came along to help.
Cade's buddy (bonus - his mom is my friend and his brother is one of Dylan's friends)
The book exchange
Cade's present - quickly followed by, "I already have this one, but I already have this one, I already have this one." Guess it is time for another lesson in present opening and gratitude.
Nate made a friend.
Bingo
Nate played so well with his new friend.
Cade giving his teacher a present.
Cade's class

Nate's Christmas Program

Look at his cute little wave.

Can you spy him on stage? He did a good job singing his songs. I thought he was pretty cute.

The exit. That is one of his teachers behind him.

His new "smile". Let's hope that it makes a quick exit.