25 January

Now that it has been a month since Christmas, I figured it was about time to post something about our lives since that time. Zach helped set the mood for Christmas by participating in the Ugliest Holiday Sweater Day at school- he came up with this lovely creation with help from the dollar store. 

You can see just how into the holiday's we were this year by our pathetic tree which we threw up the week before Christmas and took down right after. The lighting issue from last year was still not remedied so half of the lights didn't work and we never made it around to decorating it, with the exception of the star and a few snowflakes that the kids would place on there after they finished cutting them out; not exactly the most festive year, however, the kids dreams did come true and we had a white Christmas, it finally snowed after months of prayers (from them)!

We did capture a wonderful little moment when Spencer opened this special gift from his daddy. There is a toy maker that uses the scrap lumber from OSI to make these rather remarkable toys- this one happens to be a dodge ram truck with some spectacular tires. His face tells it all, he was delighted with it!

 This has to be the most stellar picture we have taken in a while, but I figured I would post it anyway because you can see that Zach and Kaija are wrapped up in their special gifts from Grandma Nielsen who has been working all year to create these beautiful quilts for the grandkids (she is working down the line throughout the next few years). They are beautiful and have that wonderful minky cloth inside which makes them want to be wrapped up in them all the time! Not only that but they are all wearing their jammies that she made for them as well! Thanks Grandma!

Zach made pots or whistles for everyone in ceramics- he is really enjoying it!

We spent a good portion of Christmas day in the company of the Hoopes family who invited us over for a real meal- it is the small things that we are so grateful for! After spending some time there we went to the Sawatsky's for some great treats. 

Marion makes a lovely pecan tart. 

How we love all these dear people that bring such joy into our lives!

Izzi, Eli and Spencer have had a great time in the snow and would trek out there everyday to work on their Igloo- they never quite finished before it melted.
We had some storms this last week which brought 15" but it has just been too cold to have any desire to play in it. The other day I nearly froze off my appendages while I was out shoveling the driveway and digging out the van, it registered 8* or rather -25* with the wind chill- yuck, I am so glad I don't live in North Dakota or any other place like unto it!

Eli likes his new hat and I love going outside to find he has created another snow angel.

Over the holiday Zachary worked on some art projects which he took photos of (I should really have someone going about with the camera all the time so we don't leave this part of our lives undocumented). This sculpture was just to be a face mounted on a board that was designed after the style of any particular artist you wanted; Zach opted for Charles Rennie Mackintosh which I thought was a lovely choice. The face ended up being almost a self portrait. He said that he has glazed and fired it now but I have not seen the final product- I guess it will be in the spring art show so we can see it then!

He worked on some new skills- drawing hair and ears.

And he finished it off with a commission from his Aunt Jessie to draw a pic of Gollum. He did a great job looking at a pic from the internet. So the auntie has her precious!

We did finally make it to see the film of the Hobbit as a family and it was a good time (all scattered through the theater)!

We have just come off of the most difficult year of our lives- difficult for so many reasons, but amidst all of the trials we have been truly blessed and we are grateful that we have been able to fight the battles together and because of that we have seen blessings come in very unexpected ways. We are indebted to kind friends and family who have shown us true charity and who have given comfort and aid on so many levels. We know God is mindful of us and He leads us on in spite of our weaknesses and shows us hope. We are recognizing more and more that hindsight is a valuable tool to help us find the place of peace that we long to be in now, and in the future.
Onward and upward, and thank heavens it is a new year!!