It’s Christmas week. What a glorious time of year. The only thing missing is my family overseas. That part never gets easier.
We’re being purposeful in our home. Choosing to set our thoughts on the things that matter. That truly matter! It’s a hard truth to get in children’s hearts when you live in a country like this–where Christmas is all about having to get the next latest and greatest gadget or toy. We’re talking a lot about the ONE who came in a manger. He matters.
Anthony fired up our one hundred year old wooden stove to see if it would actually work.
Voila! We had fire. And it was wonderfully cozy.
Yes, we’re still struggling to get Hailee’s hair to grow at the back of her head. Five years of banging her head on a crib have left her with a big bump back there–and very little hair. Like most things with our little lovie, it just takes time.
Thank you for the many questions I get asking me exactly how Hailee is doing, and how she is developing. I plan on doing a detailed post about how things are going with our sweetheart in the new year. The one question I get asked a lot is, “Autism?”
I’ll share our journey with you soon.
In the meantime…yes, she is doing amazingly well. Winter cheeks and all.
What a priceless treasure she is to our family.
Christmas just would not be Christmas without the annual cookie bake.
So very sweet. Way too much sugar. But hey…it’s Christmas and there are beautiful memories just waiting to be made. I’ll live with the sugar high for a while. They love it–and that’s what’s important.
The gingerbread man. Perfectly sculptured with love and care by the hands of its little creator. Perfectly imperfect. Just like me. Fearfully and wonderfully made…with more flaws and imperfections than I care to even think about…yet so perfect to my Creator.
Oh how He loves us. Perfectly imperfect.
Some princesses prefer to sit and observe [and eat the fruit of her siblings labor]. Getting our hands messy is just so overrated.
We have a rising Wii champion in our home. Well, sort of. She thinks she has it all figured out. Of course we tell her what an absolute star she truly is…and how there is nothing in the world that she cannot do. We know she believes us.
Go Harpy! Keep living your life with gusto. We cannot wait to see what amazing opportunities Jesus is going to give you to shine. Keep rocking, baby girl.
And finally we did it. The drive around town looking at the Christmas lights. Oh my word! No one in the world does it quite like the Americans. The time and effort that people put into decorating their homes never ceases to amaze me. I appreciate that they do it for people to enjoy. It’s fun for the kids to see. I’m even more thankful that there are people willing to do it so that we don’t have too.
But the best part of the evening was when our delightful eight year old daughter declared in a loud voice that her most favorite part of the evening was the “activity set!”
Ummm, yes, I guess we’re not spending enough time on that baby in the manger navity thing. Fail!
The kitchen is still a mess from the cookie bake, the laundry pile is sky high, the beds aren’t made, some kids are still in their pj’s, the house is messy…but who cares? It’s Christmas. Today we’ll savor our moments together and make beautiful memories for our children to keep forever. Everything else can wait.
Have a very blessed Christmas week, friends.
Praise God the baby was born.
