Christmas, part 3

Between Brian and I, we are blessed to have lots of family. Christmas Eve we spent with Brian's mom - they have traditionally opened gifts that night and spent Christmas Day in celebration. Christmas Day is spent with my mom and Brian's dad, and then this year my dad was in town as well. He and my step-mom came over yesterday to spend some time with us and the kids, as well as open gifts and stuff our faces! Here are some pics from yesterday:

My dad and Jacob

Jacob with my step-mom

One of the many times Audrey climbed into Grampy's lap

And I just wanted to share this one, which Brian calls Jacob's MySpace pic

Merry Christmas!

I hope you had a nice day with your families! We sure did. Here are some pics:

Jacob on his little quad

The girls on their new scooters from Nana

So much for his little quad!

Terese is an excellent driver :)

And me driving Audrey's scooter the rest of the way to the park, she wasn't quite ready for hers yet. I'm sure it was quite amusing to watch.

What Christmas is really about

An online friend of mine shared this with me, and I was very touched by it so I thought I'd post it here. (Hi Krissy, hope you don't mind!) I had been looking for the words to express how I feel about the spirit of giving, but was at a loss of how to do that in a meaningful way. Each of us has needed help at some point, and we should never forget what that feels like. This Christmas, along with many other things, I am thankful for my friends - including those I've never met in person :)
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We adopted a family this year. It was so overwhelming but so wonderful.
This little boy (a 7 year old~ Caleb's age!) and his 31 year old mother left the abusive father for a better life. But now have nothing. NOTHING.
This precious child asked for gloves, a mattress for his bed and underwear. I can not even wrap my brain around the fact that a 7 year old wants such things. Caleb has a glimmer of how fortunate he is now after learning what this child WANTED. Not toys, not games.... gloves and underwear.
Needless to say, we got him the gloves and underwear and a lot of other things. I would have bought the store if we could have. I was really torn because I wanted to do so much more but money is terribly limited this year.
For the mother, we bought her necessitities and then a lot of goodies like lotions, fuzzy slippers, perfumes and other things to remind her how special she is. And I cleaned out my closet and gave her two big bags full of pants, sweaters, pajamas and all sorts of things that would hopefully help her.
On Saturday, Caleb and I drove into downtown (B A D area) to drop off all of our items for this family. Originally, we were to deliver to the family but after researching, Jamie and I decided the area was not a safe area to visit. So we dropped off at our adoption spot and they delivered.
When we dropped off, we realized we were blocks from their home. So we drove by. I literally had a sick feeling in my stomach to know that not only a human being lived in that home but a child. A child the same age as my son. I can not even begin to describe what it looked like. I have seen poor areas before and this area truly did not compare. It was beyond what you are thinking right now. Much worse.

But out front of this home that looked as though it would fall over if leaned against, was a tricycle that I can imagine this 7 year old riding. Way too small for him but I'm sure he is ever grateful for it anyway. And there was a snowman. It had one enormous body with stick arms and a tiny head on top of his body. Obvious construction of a child. I had visions of this HAPPY child making due with what he has and playing with what he can. As horrible of a neighborhood, this snowman and tricycle made me smile. Especially knowing that inside that house was a home for this boy with a loving mother who is protecting him.

Today, we got a Christmas card from this family. They sent us a card!!!! The minute I saw the return address I started bawling. Caleb ran over and we read the card together.
All it said was "God Bless You". All written in a childs handwriting.
THAT made our Christmas complete. Not that it wasn't worth while in the first place, I'd do it again tomorrow with no thank you at all. But that card will always remind us what Christmas is really about.

Thanksgiving

We just got home from our 8-hour each way trip to TX to visit my dad for Thanksgiving. It was nice to get away and we had a good time, and the drives to/from went as expected. We physically separated the girls by a row of seats on the way there, but on the way home we didn't mess with the luggage rack so all three were in the backseat together. Thank God we had the foresight to reserve a hotel room in Amarillo to break up the drive! Those girls sure do need their space.

We were on my uncle's ranch, where he raises angus cattle and also has a couple of horses. The kids' favorite part of the ranch is riding the ATV's - Jacob absolutely could not get enough of it! Lucky for him Santa has something in mind for him this year :)

The main purpose of the trip, besides seeing family for the holiday, was for Brian to go deer hunting. In TX, you can feed the deer during the year and then conveniently show up to where they eat when you feel like shooting one during hunting season. As unfair as that seems, it's not a guarantee that you'll get one. Brian saw quite a few deer, and one in particular that more than one person told him he was stupid for not shooting. With two racks mounted on the walls at home, he is in the "hold out for a BIG one" stage, which I am thankful for.
A few pics from our trip...

My uncle Jerry taking the kids to feed the cows