Merry Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas!

To all who have checked out our blog for the first time, Welcome! Hope this “note” finds you filled with the joy of the Season and Hope for the New Year. We are blessed to have every one of you in our lives!

I know that for everyone 2009 has been a year of unexpected blessings with twists and turns. Our family was no exception.

In January, we had a special visit from Spencer’s mom and dad along with Grandpa Carlson and one of the girl’s favorite cousins, Drake!

February brought change that none of us had expected. Spencer lost his job so; we hit the road and drove around the Midwest looking for what the Lord might have for us. Within a few weeks we had a clear direction and an offer from Ryan Lawn and Tree in Kansas City.

In March, we had three weeks to pack the house, say good-bye and move states away. In the process we celebrated Haydee’s first birthday and even managed a quick couples retreat in the midst of all the craziness!

The month of April was all about adjustment for everyone in the family. Spencer settled into his job and mommy got lost a lot trying to find places in this big city. Payge and Haydee went to Colorado Springs with mommy to celebrate Meemee’s birthday and Aunt April’s wedding shower.

In May, I got a job with the YMCA teaching swim lessons for the summer, we went to Columbia for Memorial Weekend and “us girls” drove back out to Colorado Springs for the big wedding in which both Payge and Haydee were flower girls and I was the Matron of Honor. Spencer joined us later and was a groomsman for the big day.

After the June wedding, we got back home and I learned how to navigate working outside the home with two little ones; they were real troopers and mommy enjoyed teaching and the community of the Y. We also had a special visit from Grammy and Papau Wicks the guys took in a Royals game and the adult women enjoyed dinner and a movie together.

July was hot, but we had a fun visiting in Iowa with Spencer’s family for the 4^th of July and we then drove to North Carolina for Uncle Aaron’s wedding! Phew, it was a looonngg drive, but it was so great to see all of my family again.

August was still full of more work for me and I also got recertified for lifeguarding at the Y. Spencer still liked his job a lot, but it was hard to work so long on those hot days. We got a really deserved and much needed break at the Wicks family vacation in Branson, MO. It by far was one of our most favorite family vacations and the girls had so much fun with their cousins, the pool, a boat day and Silver Dollar City.

In September, the girls and I drove up to Iowa to get canning lessons from Spencer’s mom, go Apple picking, have fun with cousins and make some data transition for Wicks Chiropractic so I could become their new insurance biller!

In October, the girls and I head out to Tennessee to see my parents and sister in their new home. We had stopped there along the way to the wedding back in July, but we only got to sleep there and didn’t get to take in their quaint city of Franklin. It was a special time, but also when my Grandma passed away. So, we headed back to KC and then the next day headed out, with Spencer, to California for the memorial services. It was a special time of celebrating her life and getting to be all together. Spencer also received a promotion and he continues to be so grateful and thrilled with his job, and so are the rest of us!

In November, we got to make another trip to Franklin, TN for Thanksgiving. It was a relaxing and wonderful time. While we were there we got word that Kyle’s (April’s husband) dad had passed away suddenly. It was a heartbreaker for all of us and we headed back to KC only to drive the girls to stay with Spencer’s parents in Iowa so I could drive out to Colorado Springs and be there for the services. It was a short trip, and hard for me to be away from the girls so long, but I was so grateful to be there for my sister.

So, here we are full on in the middle of December, three of our four birthdays this month, and one more trip to Iowa for Christmas with family! I can’t believe all this year has held for us. If you’ve made it until the end of this letter I have to hand it to you; I didn’t know it would be so long!

The girls are growing closer every day, learning how to play imagination together and Haydee, at 21 months, is even potty trained with big sister guiding the way. We miss Colorado, but we have no doubt we are exactly where the Lord has placed us. In this next year, we plan to really plug in and serve at our new church we just love and hopefully we can find some good friends here to share life with.

There’s so much more to share, but if you ever want to read more about this year you can just read my previous posts and get more of the story!

Again, we hope this “note” finds you filled with the joy of the Season and Hope for the New Year we are blessed to have every one of you in our lives!

Thanksgiving

We loaded back up in the car just a few weeks later to celebrate Thanksgiving in Tennessee,even though our last minute trip with my family was just a few weeks before this. This had already been planned as we take turns with our families each year ; one side gets Christmas, the other gets Thanksgiving. It's hard to have to choose between the two, but I am so grateful both families are at least within a days drive. Our time together was sweet and the girls added plenty of funny moments. One of the days was warm and sunny and we took the opportunity to take some pictures at the neighborhood park. We also got to take in a Civil War candle light ceremony and tour an old historic mansion.
Sadly, the end of our trip was marked by another family loss, something at this time I won't go into. Nonetheless, it is a sharp reminder to not take one day on this earth with our loved ones for granted. Our lives are so richly blessed by the love and health we enjoy, thank you Lord and thanks to each of our friends and family who help make this life full of joy.

Happiest Place on Earth

As I mentioned in the last posting my beloved Grandma passed away. We were blessed with the ability to go celebrate her life and say good-bye. My whole family had the opportunity to be together which was unexpected and nice since we had no idea when all of us could be together again. While we were in Sunny Southern California we decided we had to take in Disneyland. Of course this was the girls first time and I don't expect them to remember, but our time there was so special for all of us. To see the wonder through their eyes and all the joys of being a kid was healing for everyone. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but when we got back home and went to the Y where she saw her 'friends" the first thing she said was, "I went to Mickey's House!"

Snippits

Yesterday morning, when I took Haydee up to take a nap in their room I found Payge singing to herself contently as she was cuddled up with her blankets in the laundry basket.
At the work Harvest Festival, Payge was asked what her name was. She looks at this person squarely and says "P-a-e-g-e- Payge," What is sissy's name? " H-d-e-e- Haydee". I guess we've learned how to spell and I didn't know it!
The last week or so at breakfast, Payge keeps telling me "pretty pink". I didn't catch on until today that with the ends of their pink spoons they were "applying" eye makeup.
Haydee loves to sleep in her ladybug costume, the one they didn't have a chance to wear this year. When she wants to put it on she comes up to me with it in her hand and says "fly?"Then she has to got look in the mirror to see how cute she looks. Bribing sometimes comes in order to get it off before meal time.
This morning I argued with my 2 year old, Payge about "who's fault it was" we both were apologizing, laughing and saying 'no it was my fault!" What a glorious moment.

The Best Place

Recently, my Grandma decided it was time to leave this old earth and join her husband, loved ones and best of all Jesus in Heaven. She had stayed with us longer than we could have hoped and we were blessed to have her on this earth for 86 years. Its always hard to say goodbye, but I have much joy in the confidence of her being in the best place of all.
As usual, nothing is coincidence and when she passed I was visiting my parents in Tennessee, naturally this dominated our time together, but with two toddlers they kept things entertaining. They are still learning how to stay in their toddler beds at home so, I was wondering how the sleeping arrangements away from home would work. The first nap time wasn't easy, but eventually they slept. Monday afternoon things were gratefully quiet and I worked hard on billing for my father in law. Little did we know they had discovered white-out, a black ink cartridge and permanent marker. Oh my goodness... you can only imagine! Meemee was gracious and took pictures of our two culprits, but mommy had to take lots of deep breaths as we tried to get the white-out off with a stainless steel scrub. Just this morning I was still seeing it on their feet, over three weeks later!
Well, meemee quickly baby-proofed the sleeping quarters, but as you can imagine... The next morning they woke early and I didn't hear them, but meemee did; just a little late. They had found a bag of makeup, mostly foundation and yes, you can imagine the room smelled of Avon makeup with foundation smeared all over their bodies, the carpet and their "beds". Oh, boy. Then later, forgetting that the makeup wasn't totally put away in a safe place Payge was sent to her room for a time out... it was really quiet, too quiet. Ok, finally I learned my lesson. The girls got the queen bed in the safe guest room and I slept in the office on a air mattress. At least I would sleep without fear!!!
I'll have to get pictures from my mom and post them for a good chuckle.

Around the corner

I think I get more excited about fall every year. I don't know what it is, but for as long as I can remember my happiest memories are during the changing of the seasons and in particular during the exit of summer and anticipation of autumn. I know that Missouri has a couple more months before the leaves all have changed and fall to the ground, but the unseasonably cool weather has helped my homesick heart. Truly a "praise the Lord" is in order. I will try to hold onto this when the inevitable "Indian Summer" happens.
My little girl is 18 months today! Can you believe it? She is growing so fast and I've noticed my gaze drifting to any newborn that comes across my path. NOT that I am ready for a third one, but I realize in time you do forget how difficult that first year can be and the longing starts kicking in.
We survived potty training week with great victory! Praise the Lord- and again I mean it. After two failed attempts I kept my expectations low and my grace level high. Payge is so proud of herself and I almost have stopped holding my breath that she will decide this is too much work and want to go back to diapers. When we crossed the potty training bridge I thought we should add the "big girl" bed along with it. Really, we just took a rail off the crib, but you would have thought it was the most exciting thing. Of course, we still are working on her staying in it after the door is closed, but at least she is still not staying up until 10PM and getting up at 6AM. She and Haydee now enjoy more interaction after prayers are prayed and songs are sung; I try not to intervene too often, because I love to see that friendship develop.
Haydee wants to use the big girl potty too, but after a day of trying to make it work, I've decided we need a few more months. Its such a shame really, all that diaper money I could save, but my little girl is just too little! She was practically falling in the toilet and trying to reach the sink to wash her hands was a joke. It would be more work in the end for us parents if we try to push it now, so I am actually going to enjoy changing her diapers knowing that all too soon, she will be using the potty too. Its funny, already I can understand why the youngest in families tend to get babied!
Well, the quiet has ended for the afternoon and now onto making dinner and remembering to enjoy these days because, they do go so fast.

Busy Summer

Well, I can't believe we are almost finished with August, kids are back in school, but the heat is still up around here. It has been a crazy busy, summer, more than I anticipated, but its been full of good memories and still time yet for more to be made.
I started a new job at the Y teaching swim lessons and also worked on getting re-certified for lifeguarding. April got married in June and Aaron got married in July. We went to Iowa for the 4th and , drove to Colorado for the June wedding, North Carolina for the July one. In one weekend I drove to Tulsa and then to Columbia. We had my parents drive through and stay the night as they moved to Tennessee and one week part of Spencer's family came for a visit. To top it all off we took a trip to Branson to spend a week with all of the Wicks clan. Phew! No wonder we haven't really met anyone in town!
I wish I could say the fall and winter was going to be slower, but it looks like between fishing, hunting, canning visits and the Holidays we will be gone once or twice a month. So, its a good thing we have a comfortable mini-van and I'm working that extra job for all the gas!
In the meantime, Spencer is enjoying his job and the promise of a good future with the business and the girls get more fun everyday. Payge and I have attempted potty-training a couple of times, but this week I think we will have success. I've only got some evening classes to teach so I thought I would enjoy a slow week and get'r done! I am praying through every moment and take comfort that millions have gone before me.
The girls and I found a closer park recently and had a blast feeding the ducks in the giant pond and watching Haydee climb up higher on the equipment every time she got a chance. She is such a little daredevil and thinks she can fly. Both girls have loved to swim this summer and I dread going because they also both believe they know how to swim. Last week we had some milder weather and we went to the Deanna Rose petting zoo again and even though I was sad to not have any friends or family to go with me, the girls and I had an awesome day together.
I am, as I do every year, looking very much towards fall and I think this year will be the best yet. With colors only the Midwest can offer and the joy of the heat and humidity gone, I know it will be good.