Christmas has come and gone once again. Thanksgiving comes around and we start our "To Do Before Christmas" List...it seems like we have so much time to accomplish all of our "to dos". Unfortunately, the few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas tend to go faster as the time goes by!
We love to drive around and look at Christmas lights - aside from the local lights, we take a few quick trips to see light displays within an hour or two.
This year, we drove to Kewanee to walk through Windmont Park - but we first stopped in Annawan at the Corner Coop for some fun photo ops (lots of Christmas Vacation Props) and a yummy treat!
We stopped for dinner and then headed out of Kewanee - stopping to drive through one of the Kewanee city parks along the way. We needed a distraction for 4 kids who weren't getting along...and I found it (it was a pure God moment!). I stopped on the side of the road and told Will to run out and play on the slide a few times. Kaitee saw the tire swing and immediately ran out to swing - with the other 3 quickly joining her. Within a few minutes, everyone was laughing and having fun with each other.
A few days later, school was out and the kids were home for 2 weeks. First on the agenda - gingerbread houses! I have absolutely no patience for this so I told the kids that they were on their own. Kaitee was gone for the afternoon but the other three worked on their houses. Maddie ended up with more frosting on her hands than on her house. In the end, Alex & Kaitee's houses were sturdy and complete while the twins' houses were falling apart! They had fun though...and ate lots of sugar (could be the reason the twins' houses fell apart...)
Will's House
Alex's House
Maddie's House
Kaitee's House
A few nights later, we headed to Dubuque to drive through Louis Murphy Park.
Christmas Eve - Church and Secret Santa Exchange between the kids
Will - Alarm clock with noise maker & star projector (from Alex)
Maddie - 2 Nike Headbands (from Kaitee)
We all slept in (around 8:30) Christmas morning! Woke up and opened our gifts...
I received a "I was a Cubs Fan before it was cool" car sticker from Maddie & Alex. Absolutely love it!
Maddie & Alex loved the surprise of Bryant & Rizzo wall clings.
Yoga Mat for Alex. She also received some Ugg Boots and a purse lanyard.
Kaitee is pretty excited to watch all 3 seasons of Supergirl
Dunder Mifflin Shirt and some Lego Sets
Maddie was all volleyball! Miracle Season (book, tshirt & DVD). I had a surprise for her a few weeks ago when we met the coach and author of the book!
Her big surprise was a Fitbit!
Will asked for cash - all of the new Lego sets come out early January. I wanted to get something for him to open, other than money. The second gift was a shock and he was super surprised! It was Sir Meows A Lot (from Dennis Daily YouTuber, Will's favorite)
I received a beautiful gift. Matt and I get each other a gift for Christmas, but it is typically very limited and small. Not a lot of time or energy put into the gift, just something to open on Christmas morning.
This morning, Matt had the kids do a scavenger hunt. At the end of the scavenger hunt was a letter for me.
So, backtrack a few months...remember earlier in the year when I decided to scan and digitize ALL of our pictures? I had piles and piles of pictures that were destined for the garbage. Matt and the kids each took their turn going through the pictures to save out ones that they wanted. After a while, Matt noticed a pattern. He asked for Maddie's help in pulling out pictures with this pattern. This was in May or June.
Over the last few weeks he dwindled down the pictures and started to write clues for the scavenger hunt. He gave Kaitee the first clue, when she found the next clue, it was on the back of a picture of Alex. Alex read the next clue and then located the third clue...on the back of a picture of Will. This went on for 24 clues. Around the 23rd clue, Kaitee says, "hey, do you guys realize that in most of these pictures at least one of us is wearing a Cubs shirt?" (Remember that pattern I mentioned earlier).
The 25th clue was given to me.
I am so touched and blown away by Matt's gift to me. He has saved his birthday money from the past 4 years for this gift.
I look forward to our time in Chicago. We'd already talked about heading to Chicago last year, but ran out of time. We know it will be a bit more pricey than our other Cub games. We plan to stay downtown for a few nights and see the sights...showing the kids things they've never seen...but Matt and I have. And of course, Wrigley.
We made our usual breakfast fare - egg casserole and monkey bread. We then headed over to my parent's house for the Barman Christmas celebration.
The Barman Tree Skirt Singers
Grammy's annual Christmas Pageant - Shepherd Matt wore his grandfather's robe which he received when he traveled to the Middle East, years ago.
Gifts & Stockings to Open
We ending our time with a game of Christmas Pictionary. Ironically, we ended our game (all out of clues) with a tied score. We had fun and lots of laughing!
Matt explains his "Clark Griswald" - plugging in the lights and standing next to Cousin Eddy.
As 2018 comes to a close, we are so thankful for the past year of blessings, health and many great memories. We look forward to 2019 and pray for more of the same.
Hello to our family & friends! Thanks to a winter storm that dumped 14 inches of snow on Moline a few weeks ago, we feel like we've been in the thick of winter for a while now! The cold temps and snow on the ground definitely help with the building anticipation of Christmas!
The highlight of 2018 was time spent out west with Matt's family. We traveled to Grand Teton National Park (where we met up with Matt's parents & his brother) then toured the Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. Our country is so beautiful - to see it with his family made our trip & memories all the more special.
Other highlights included heading north to Canada to visit Banff & Jasper National Parks as well as taking a tour through Civil Rights history over Spring Break. The trip was heartbreaking but it was so important to teach the kids this ugly part of our American history. We also traveled to Cincinnati to watch the Cubs vs. Reds for a double header (we got to "Fly The W" for one of the games!) and to Michigan for the Hart Family Reunion in August.
Matt is in his 3rd year with Northwest Respiratory Services. He drives many miles but enjoys caring for his patients. He continues to serve at church on the security team and has weekly meetings with friends to study the bible / Hebrew. I am in my 8th year with Chick-fil-A! Hard to believe that it has been that long! Besides working, I love being involved in the kids' school activities (they keep me busy).
Kaitee - here's my 525,600 minutes in review. In January, I sat behind a steering wheel for the first time. Driving hasn't really become a major part of my life, not quite yet. This year I turned 16! My big birthday gift was quite possibly one of my favorite gifts/experiences of all time: I got to see the musical Hamilton in Chicago! Granted, the performance was two full months after my birthday, but it was still amazing to get to go to an actual theater to watch an actual performance of one of my favorite musicals, in person! Definitely a highlight of 2018. Other highlights included visiting the town of Rouleau ("Dog River" in the Canadian sitcom Corner Gas) during our big trip this summer, sitting down to read (whenever I could) and just hanging out with family and friends.
Alex - I am 14 years old and just started high school. I don't have a busy schedule like last year, but I am still active with things. In school, I am a part of pep band and jazz band (playing Flute & Tenor Saxophone), Bible study and I am taking French. In band, we have to audition for chair placements. I was placed in first chair (Flute) and am super excited that I get the opportunity to have solos. I started babysitting this year and am really enjoying it. It is also helpful that they live only a couple minutes (walking distance) away, so it is easy to go back and forth. I also still volunteer to watch the kids at church. I normally help two weekends a month and am really enjoying it.
Will - I am 12 (almost 13 in one month!). This fall I started 7th grade. I have been involved in Cross Country, First Lego League (we just had our annual competition), Chess Club and Band. I enjoy learning new music for Jazz Band and had my first experience with Marching Band. I still collect Legos and love building and rebuilding sets / creations. Dad & I started participating in Trail Life this last Spring and I really enjoy the things that we do as a troop (camping, fishing, projects, etc). I also am involved with Tech Team at church (that is one of my favorite things)!
Maddie - I am 12 years old and in 7th grade. This year I get to be involved in more clubs and more sports because I am a 7th grader. I decided to do Yearbook, Newspaper and the Musical. For the sports I wanted to do volleyball so I worked really hard to accomplish that. After surviving 2 days of try outs, I made the team (out of 40 girls)! By the end of the season I could play all around and I won the Hustle award! I just tried out for the winter volleyball league and made it! We start tournaments in January. This year has been really fun and exciting.
Matt & I enjoy a weekly date night while all four kids are at youth group. Usually involves dinner and errands, lol. As we look forward to 2019, we realize that all 4 kids will be teenagers! As is the case with teenagers, we are on the cusp of lots of driving lessons, late nights, new adventures, after school jobs, braces (Kaitee is now done! Alex, Will & Maddie are just starting!) and growing independence. Fun times, fun times!
We pray that your 2018 was full of joy and fun-filled memories and may 2019 bring more! Remember to take a moment to reflect on Jesus this Christmas, the Light of the World - come to bring us everlasting peace! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
