Skip to main content

Wednesday Update: 12/26/07

Merry Christmas!!

We had a wonderful and very FULL Christmas weekend…and it was great!!! We were here, there, and everywhere visiting, eating, hugging, talking, laughing, eating, eating, and eating some more!!! Saturday we headed up to McCallsburg for the afternoon at my Grandma Betty and Grandpa Gene’s house. It was a full house with cousins, Aunts, and my wonderful Uncle Larry! We had a nice time hanging out there with everyone. My parents hadn’t gotten to see everyone for a while, and it was good to have them there! Sunday we had some of Matt’s family over to our place…his Aunt Jan and Uncle Denny from the Chicago area were in town for the holiday with their daughter Jessica and her husband, so they all stopped off at our place to meet up with Matt’s parents, sister, and grand parents. It was a full house at our place! We munched on goodies and talked throughout the afternoon, showing them pictures of the new house and catching up. As we lay in bed Sunday night, we couldn’t help but wonder…is it bad that we didn’t eat anything but cookies and chex mix all day? Hmm…still pondering that one!
Monday we packed up the car again and headed up to Roland to Hope and Chad’s for our traditional Christmas Eve with my parents and of course Meghan and Matthew. We enjoyed driving up and back home WITHOUT having white knuckles and driving 45 on the interstate (which is what we had to do on Saturday night…and a few weeks ago when my parents were back for Meghan’s birthday). We had a blast opening presents with the family…the kids are always so fun to watch open, even though Matthew was a little distracted by some of his gifts. Mom and Dad got him a little black cowboy hat, cowboy boots, and a guitar…SO cute!! Of course Meghan got plenty of clothes and toys as well. It was a nice quiet (if that’s possible with two kids) day!
Tuesday we got up early and got things ready for our usual Christmas with Matt’s family at our place. I roasted turkey again this year…it is so nice to have that turkey smell permeating our house! We were joined by Matt’s parents, grandparents, sister and Aunt Linda and cousin Heather from Michigan. It was another great day of laughter and good food! We even played a (pathetic) round of Trivial Pursuit. Is it just me, or is that game just impossible? We resorted to speed play, but my team (namely Matt and Lissa) kept giving me the evil eye as I tried to coax the other team into giving the right answers. I wasn’t CHEATING…or GIVING them the answers…just helping them reach the right conclusion!!! Either way, eventually Lissa wouldn’t let me read the answers!! Needless to say, we lost. I argued that I didn’t want to play ALL NIGHT long…and Matt said ‘if that’s what it takes to win!’ Sore losers!
Today I was back at work…and I’ll admit it was hard to drag my tired bones out of bed this morning and make the familiar trek back to work after such a nice, long and busy weekend. My cheeks are still sore from all the smiling, my throat is a little sore from all the laughing and talking, my tummy is a little grumbly from all the sweets and muchies…it didn’t know what to think of the cereal I had for breakfast today (what IS that!?)…my camera battery is dead from all the pictures I took, the house is a bit of a disaster, the laundry is overflowing, the car is filthy from all the winter driving, and the garbage can is chuck full of wrappings and scraps of food…we collapsed last night, in a pile of contentment and joy. We had such a busy weekend, but it was so full of love, family, and good stuff. I can’t say enough how very grateful we are for our families…they continue to support us in all of our endeavors, accept us – faults and all, and love, love, love us. We are so blessed!!
We are looking forward to the New Year and all the possibilities it holds for us…so many wonderful things are coming soon, and we are just holding on to each other and our faith that it will be a good, good year. I pray for each of you a wonderful holiday season, and that this coming year will be great for you as well. I hope that our paths cross, and we can all take some time to celebrate LIFE together!!!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

WE'RE ADOPTING!!

Bah! I said it…er wrote it…out loud. There it is, in black and white for the world to see. (Pause for a drink and a breath) Matt and I are in the very early stages of planning to adopt. We have had a few meetings with an adoption agency, we are gathering the necessary information, and we are making plans to get this ball officially rolling SOON. It has been a very long and winding road to get us to this point, and honestly I never thought we’d get here. Adoption isn’t what we started out hoping for. It isn’t where we thought we’d end up. But here we are – gearing up for what will surely be a life-changing experience for us with hearts full of hope and excitement. The topic of adoption has come up in the past, but we quickly dismissed it for one reason or another. Matt and I have had our fair share of insecurities about whether or not adoption would be a good option for us. Who would look at our family profile and pick us?? It was a burning question that we probably still have ...

I may as well tell you...

I had a miscarriage. I’ve debated for weeks whether or not to acknowledge it publicly. It’s such a personal thing…and this is such a public medium. But a few months have gone by and I’m no closer to feeling ok about it and truly nothing else on my mind really compares, so here I am, letting the world in on my secret. Over the past few weeks I’ve found very little comfort in the fact that only a small handful of people know about the miscarriage. It became nearly unbearable this week, during all our wonderful family Christmas celebrations. Being surrounded by so many people who love me and support me and have no idea how my heart has been broken – it’s a lonely place to be. Not that I would want them all to bombard me with pity or questions or sad looks in their eyes – I realize I can’t have it both ways. But a little acknowledgement goes a long way and I simply can’t ignore or deny the fact that something major happened in my life and impacted me, impacts me still.   It was a ...

A Glimpse Into Open Adoption

If you had been a customer of the Longhorn Steakhouse on Highway 19 in Palm Harbor, FL last Sunday night, you may have seen two couples walking through the restaurant, oogling a sweet baby boy on the way to their table. You may have commented on how cute he was. You may have thought he looked a lot like the woman carrying him. You may have wondered about the man in the wheelchair. But you likely would not have assumed you’d be witnessing this baby’s biological parents sit down to dine with his adoptive parents. It’s a scene I’ve been playing over and over in my mind as I recount the wonderful experiences of our trip to Florida. The magnitude of that moment, that evening, will never be lost on me. It was incredible to be a part of – and I’m so very grateful we had it. We had met up with Ethan’s birthmother, L, earlier in the day. She hadn’t seen him since he was a few hours old and was anxiously waiting for us outside a local mall. As soon as we saw each other the tears welled up in o...