Christmas Program

Christmas Sunday at church is always fun because it's a kid's Christmas program. The Tater Tots had their own little choir, along with Hannah Strandberg. Caleb and Hannah were both in that group. They all wore sheep ears and the cutest song was "Baa La La La" So cute, especially because they had no idea how cute they were. They were just singing their little song.

Caleb is in the middle of the top row and Hannah is the second from the left on the bottom row.

Abigail was able to read a passage of Scripture and she and Elijah were both in the bigger kids choir. The boys wore Shepherd's coverings and the girls wore pretty, sparkly head wraps. They all did a wonderful job. I just love watching all their faces.

Red Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle Jon, Aunt Erin and the boys all came to church that morning. It was wonderful to have them all there with us for the Christmas program.

 Elijah is the 2nd boy from the right.

 Abigail is the first one on the left, third row up. 

After church the kids obliged me and smiled for some pictures in front of the Christmas tree. They even posed for individual pictures or with siblings. It was SO nice for this Mama's heart! ;) 

As well as a couple silly ones too! ;) 

A favorite Christmas Tradition

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we pull out the Christmas boxes and begin decorating the house for the holidays. My favorite box is the one with the Christmas books. December 6th is St. Nicholas Day and we celebrate by giving the kids a new Christmas book, some oranges and chocolate. It's a favorite tradition for me. I love seeing the special books each year and reading them with the kids. I love that they come out at Christmas time and then get put back away again until next year...hoping to keep them special that way.

 

   

  

Some are board books, some are just picture books, and now some are chapter books. A little bit of everything is tucked in there and I like them all!

  

 

When they wake up early, they can turn on the lights, get a Christmas book and blanket and read by the tree. I just love it!

Thanksgiving Week

This year was a snowy trek to get to Grandpa & Grandma's house for Thanksgiving. It started snowing around Zig-Zag and didn't stop. We had already planned on meeting them for dinner at Applebee's in Redmond, so we stuck with our plan. We didn't get there until 7pm and there was a good foot and a half on the ground. Our van did so well in the snow and the kids had their movie players in the back so thankfully, there wasn't too much grumbling with the extra-long drive. At one point they started watching "Frozen" and switched the language to Spanish which made it new and really funny to listen to!

Our first full day there was my birthday and it was fun to have some beautiful, snow-covered scenery to take in and enjoy during our down time. The kids had fun playing outside for a short time, but it was below freezing, so they got cold quickly. Caleb was the first one outside and played by himself for about an hour, he had a great time! Joel and I got out for a walk all by ourselves, it was so pretty and "still" --I like how the snow creates "stillness".

 

We all had fun playing Wii games.

 Thanksgiving dinner was simple and scrumptious! 

 

The day after Thanksgiving, the weather was still below freezing and covered with snow, but Joel and I ventured out for some Black Friday shopping together. Really, it was just fun to get out for a little time just the two of us. We didn't really have an agenda or plan, so we were relaxed, took our time and just enjoyed the time out.

A Very Special Easter

Just a few days before Easter, my Mom was given the greatest blessing for our family this year. In October, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. It's a cancer for which there is no cure and can go from bad to worse very quickly. From everything that I read about it...once it's discovered, it's usually too late to do anything about it. Not so, with my Mom though. The Lord decided to give her some more time on Earth and her Doctor said that her cancer is in remission after just 6 months of chemo! All the tumors that were present in October, are now gone or barely there! It was such great news and reminded me again of the HOPE that Easter offers us.

Jesus didn't stay dead...he rose again! He came back to life and offers LIFE to us! Hope, peace, rest and life...and so much more. It was a wonderful reminder!

My parents had already planned on joining us for Easter this year, it just made it even more special to have my Mom with us for this one. Since October, I went through each holiday wondering, "is this the last ... with my Mom?" That question did not enter my heart or mind at Easter...it was replaced with HOPE!

We saved coloring the Easter eggs for their time here so we had fun with that. Mostly just watched the kids do it by themselves this year, but it's always fun to see their joy as they color the eggs. They also joined us for church Sunday morning. Many people at church have been praying faithfully for my Mom since October, so it was encouraging for them to see her in person to share in all of our joy.

After church they stayed for Easter lunch/dinner and then headed back home. There was just peace as we let the good news of her diagnosis soak in and rest in the HOPE that it offers. Thank you Lord!

 Abby's wearing fake glasses. ;)

Caleb had a matching shirt with Elijah, but in the end he would NOT wear it and I decided it wasn't worth the battle. He just has certain tastes about clothes and if it's at all too big he just won't wear it. ;) Caleb (5) Abby (8) Hannah (3) Elijah (7)

Easter Egg Hunt

This year was our family's fourth year to participate in the church's Easter Egg Hunt at the Pate's house. It's a fun tradition for our whole family!

 The three girls who showed up in braids. Pretty cute!

 Abby & Autumn

 That's a big group of kiddos!

 A little close-up from in the group...Hannah & Emily.

 Hannah was the only one of our four that I got a photo like this of...the rest are all so fast now!

 This is what I got of Caleb...an action shot! Love the flying baskets though! ;)

 Our traditional family photo....a fun tradition for Mom especially. ;)

And a silly pic of Dad & the boys!

Valentine's Day Split!

Valentine's Day was on a Saturday this year, but it felt like it should've been on Friday. The kids had parties in their classes at school that day. I was planning on taking the girl's to visit my parent's over the weekend, so I got out our Valentine dinner plates we started enjoying the fun of the holiday earlier in the week. Including doing a couple heart hairstyles with the girls.

I'm getting a little more venturous with trying things with the girl's hair. I've learned how to French Braid this year, so I'm trying to do that more as well as try new hairstyles. Hannah sat real still for me as I tried a couple new hairstyles.

 She also got real silly at bedtime one night!

 Abby and her friend, Daniela after school on Friday. They've been friends since Kindergarten.

 Matchy-Matchy heart hairstyles. ;) Love sisters! <3 p="">

So the morning of Valentines, I made our traditional heart-shaped pancake & bacon breakfast. Hannah wanted "purple" hearts this time, so that's what we did! We quickly cleaned up and got packed and the girls and I were on the road to Gramma's house by 10:45. Monday following the weekend was President's Day so there was no school, giving us a long weekend to spend time with Grandma & Grandpa.

 These two...they spend most of their time together like this. Not always with Dad sleeping/napping but Hannah in his lap either reading books, playing on the ipad or Dad's phone. Dad told her as we were leaving on Monday, "Well, thanks for cuddling with me for two days."

Mom Sorensen was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October--I haven't done a post about it yet. We've been treasuring all the time we can get with her and will continue to do so for as long as the Lord gives us time with her. Hair or no hair...she's still beautiful! 

Originally, I was going to take all 4 kiddos but the Monster Jam was going to be in town and Joel has been wanting to take the boys, so we did a little split over the weekend. The boys had a really, really fun time at Monster Jam! They called me afterward and Elijah told me all about everything. First thing out of his mouth was how much he enjoyed watching the tricks the guys did on the motocross bikes. Uh-oh! He's already learned how to ride his bike down the street while standing on the seat...I'm not sure I want more ideas in his head! Yikes! 

On President's Day Monday, Joel took the boys on a hike down in Troutdale, to the top of Broughten Bluff. I've climbed that with Joel before and remember it being an easy climb up but difficult to get back down. He managed to do it though and the boys really enjoyed it! They ate lunch at the top and had fun climbing around.

This image is from the internet and you can see what a straight wall it is. Yikes! I'm so thankful they made it up and down ok! ;) I love that Joel builds adventure in our boy's hearts! <3 br="">