Christmases One and Two

This holiday season we began with our first Christmas celebration on December 14th with the Johnson family. John and Jan hosted Jan's mother, her two sisters and their families. There were eighteen of us all together and it was a great way to start the festivities.

Isaiah and Jentry are five this year and Claire is three. They have so much fun together. Of course, the little ones are spoiled by all and receive way too many gifts. Baby Mack even received a few presents this year and he's not even here yet!    

Grandma Johnson is 90 this year and she keeps threatening her last Christmas, which makes me think of my stubborn Grandmother Bose and smile.  She looked great and as far as I could tell she had a great time.  She was opening gifts a bit slow, so Jentry felt the need to assist.

The newest member of the family is Miss Adelynn. She was born in August and thoroughly enjoyed all the attention she was getting at her first Christmas.

Aunt Deb and Uncle Bob gave Jentry a Monster High doll and oh boy was she excited. She has been asking for one all year. As she tore open the package she yelled, "FINALLY!" The doll's name is Frankie Stein, however Jentry renamed her "Asketchia." Don't ask me why, I have no idea!

The next morning Jentry and I were up early for the Christmas program at church. It went much better than I had anticipated and the kids did a great job. I was in charge of keeping eight Pre-school / Kindergartners quiet and in the right place at the right time. I only had one cry for her mommy, so I considered it a success. 

I wanted a picture of us in our pretty, Christmas outfits and Jentry just wanted to show off her new toy cars from the night before. Yes, I suppose the cars can be in the picture too.

Our second Christmas celebration occurred on Friday, the 20th. This was Jentry's last day of school and then she was off to spend a week with her dad, so John and Jan came over for supper and to spoil her silly. The first present was a toy I had never seen before. It is called a Flutterbye Fairy and is basically a helicopter for girls. You simply press the button on her stand to set her a flyin' and then direct her flight by placing your hand underneath her. I have no idea how it works, but it is very cool. Jentry was in fairy-magic heaven.

Next she got a huge stocking with tons of fun little gadgets. I thought she was never going to stop pulling things out of that sock!

Finally, she opened her last present. New clothes and a Christmas dress for her bitty baby, Mary... or Merry. She hasn't quite decided on the spelling and believe you me, I completely understand. Lately I have been wishing that God would send me an angel to tell me what to name this little boy.

It was a delightful evening of family and fun. As Jan said, "Next year the baby will be the real deal!" Jentry and I are so lucky to have John and Jan in our family. They have taken us in with open arms and made us both feel so very special.   

We plan to celebrate Christmases Three and Four on Christmas Eve/Day in Sutton with the McKenzies and then on New Year's Eve/Day in Orleans with the Boses. I am just loving how we can spread out the love and celebration of Jesus's birth in many different ways with all kinds of friends and family this year.  

Cindy Lou Who

The first Monday of December, Sutton hosted their annual Parade of Lights. It was a festive evening of fun to kick of the holiday season. The businesses stay open late and invite customers in for refreshments, music and giveaways. It is truly impressive how much pride there is in this small community.

We began the night with cookie decorating at the bakery. Jentry chose purple frosting because, "It's your favorite color, mom." Ahhhh.

Next, we stopped by the library to meet Clifford and make some purchases at the book fair.

At 6:00 it was time to head up to the school to take our places on the Mack Inc. float. When I attended the lighted parade last year, I was truly impressed. They turn off all the street lights when the parade begins and it is so neat to see all the creative, illuminated, works of art. I hinted that Mack Inc. should have a float and low and behold they took my advice. Jan and John created an amazing Grinch float and asked Jentry to play the star as Cindy Lou Who. I was fortunate enough to get to ride along and it was a night I will never forget. Jentry was so excited and completely lit up when the crowd started yelling her name. I could not help but smile the entire trip down main street.

We even made the Hastings Channel 5 news video-clip and the color page of the Clay County News. Famous in a small town for sure!

After our stunning appearance in the town spectacle, we stopped at the Community Center to meet the big guy and Mrs. Claus too.   

Jentry very softly asked Santa for a Christmas book. Ha! Whose sweet little angel was this? It certainly couldn't be my sassy little five-year-old who recently threw a two hour fit because there weren't any presents under the tree for her yet.  She sure knows when and how to work it!

A November to Remember

I have so much to be thankful for this November. The month went flying by, but only because it was filled with so much love and excitement.

The most exciting day of November came on the 18th.  This was the day that Nathan I traveled to the doctor in Hastings to have our 20 week ultra sound.  We got to see our tiny, 13 oz, bundle of joy on the big screen. Everything looked just as it should which made us both take a big sigh of relief.  The baby was showing off for the camera too.  The doctor and the tech both agreed that it wasn't very often you get a picture of both feet, an arm and a profile!  They did tell us the gender, however we decided to keep it a secret for a few more days.  It was such a fun day and one that I will absolutely never forget.

When I sent the picture to my dad, he immediately called back to say that he was certain it was a boy. He thought the profile looked just like his baby pictures and that he was going to look just like his papa. My mother disagreed and was sure it was a little girl. Nathan's mom said "Fists up...it must be a boy, but wait feet crossed like a ballerina, it is a girl." It was fun to keep them all in suspense, however I would not recommend keeping the secret for long. It was much too difficult.

On the 23rd, Nathan and I got to get all fancied up and attended a beautiful wedding in Lincoln. Nathan's friends, Nate and Nina, exchanged vows in a lovely ceremony at the Station. Neither one of us have had reason to dress up lately, so it was great fun to spend a night in the city with this handsome man.

My family decided to have Thanksgiving at our house this year. Sutton was a centralized location for traveling and we have plenty of room.  I had so much fun creating the menu and making all the preparations. My mother-in-law offered to bring the turkey so the rest was a piece of cake. I have never roasted an entire turkey and I am hopeful that I will never have to do so. Jentry brought home a book called How to Cook a Turkey that her class had made. Each student created a recipe and most were actually somewhat feasible. Jentry, on the other hand, came up with this...

After reading this, my mother-in-law came to the conclusion that Jentry would have to spend some time in her kitchen learning how to cook poultry, because obviously her cattle rancher's daughter of a mother never cooks anything with feathers that has not already been deboned.

My mother, sister, niece and nephew arrived on the 27th. Jentry was so excited to play with her cousins. They really do have tons of fun even though we can't get through an hour without someone crying about something. My mom and sister helped me prepare as many dishes as possible the night before which made Thanksgiving morning so much more enjoyable. My sister suggested the Pioneer Woman's recipe for mashed potatoes made ahead of time and boy was that the way to go. Nathan peeled all 10 lbs of spuds without complaint, however he did throw the peeler across the room and into the sink when he finally finished. My mother was impressed with his willingness to help out in the kitchen. 

My dad, brother-in-law, grandmother, aunt and uncle arrived on Thanksgiving morning. We watched the parade on TV, sipped wine and enjoyed time together. My in-laws arrived right on time with the turkey and we feasted like royalty. After lunch, everyone was begging for the big gender reveal, so I brought out the big present for the kiddos to open. 

The box was filled with BLUE balloons!  It was also blue whipped cream at our house this year as we celebrated a new baby BOY!

I still can not believe it is truly a little boy. I really thought it would be a girl! Nathan is absolutely over the moon. He was so hoping to pass down the family name and share all of his sports knowledge. Jentry is also excited for another brother as she will remain the only princess and not have to share her pink things.

The baby boy preparations have already begun.  However, I will say that naming a girl was much easier and agreeing on a room theme may never come to fruition.  

After all the guests had left, dishes were washed and put away, and table brought back down to a smaller size, we enjoyed three days of just being home.  It was so nice not to have to travel this year!  Jentry helped me take down the fall decor and put up Christmas. The weather has been unseasonably warm so it did feel rather strange to be set out the snowmen.  

Saturday the temperature was near sixty degrees so we took the opportunity to rake up the last of the fallen leaves.  Only in Nebraska can you wear shorts while playing in a pile of leaves on November 30th.  

 

  

It was a perfect day to wrap up a entire month of blessings!