CHRISTMAS 2009

As I sit here and plan in my mind how exactly this post will go, I feel a sadness. I wish I could look over and see my kitty asleep in the rocker or feel her weaving in and out of my feet, but earlier this week, her life ended. She had been sick for a few months now and wasn't getting better. We made the difficult decision to put her out of her pain. Matt and I talked to the boys and explained to them that because she was sick and couldn't get better, she was going to die. Just before Matt took her to the vet's office, they sat on the floor next to her, stroked her fluffy coat one last time, and said their goodbyes. They didn't cry, but I did. The next day Gabe asked where the kitty was. I reminded him that she died and didn't live with us anymore. He said, "That makes my heart hurt." I told him, "Mine, too." Although difficult, I am grateful for the lesson that came out of the situation. It opened up doors to have conversations and answer questions that the boys had that may not have come up otherwise. I'm relieved that what we've taught them about dying doesn't scare them. They know that after death, there is peace.

Thank you, Phoebe (aka Key Key), for the devotion. We miss you already!

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Saying I was anxious for the Christmas celebrations to begin is an understatement! Matt spent 2 weeks in Japan for work and arrived back on the 11th of December. I refused to think too much about Christmas until our whole family was together!

The weeks he was gone were hard. Taking care of the kids and keeping up with the house were no different, but come the end of the day when the house was quiet, I missed my husband! Our chats were short due mostly to the time difference and a few of them ended with me in tears...not necessarily because I missed him, but because I realized how much responsibility he has around here and how little I know about what he does for us! Ironically, that's a lesson that I've been wanting him to learn for years! I had to pay the surveyor who's been working on the land we're buying and the architect who's working on our house plans; and the bank wouldn't let me move money from our savings to checking account without a 'special' code. When I called to find out what the code was, they said they couldn't give it to me without the 'special' code! Are you kidding me? "That's why I'm calling," I told the manager. After giving her a sob story about how I was taking care of 3 kids alone because my husband, who usually handles things like this, was out of the country, my father in law had just had open heart surgery, my 6 month old had a double ear infection and wasn't sleeping at night, my cat was throwing up all over the house and I had already gotten two calls from my son's school that week, she gave in. Did I mention there were tears? Relunctantly, she gave me the code and moved the cash. After all of that, I got the check back from the architect...I hadn't signed it before I mailed it to him! Nate summed the whole two weeks up by saying, "Things just aren't the same when Daddy's not here." Amen!

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A family from our church hosts a Christmas celebration where you can have some quiet time with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Santa told the boys that Christmas is about love and that loving your brother and sister is so important because that's what Jesus would want us to do. I don't remember what he said, but Nate argued slightly with Santa...not suprising!

I thought for sure that Adrianna would put up a fight about sitting with a strange man in a big red suit, but as usual, she sat there calmly and quietly, and let me take a picture.

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The boys spent some time on stage during a church service on the 12th. And of course, there were more tears shed by Mommy! I did get a few laughs, though, when Nate informed the congregation of the time in between songs. He was sure proud of the watch Daddy brought him back from Japan!

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On the 22nd, we invited our nieces and nephews to Snapperz as a Christmas gift. Good times were had by all, I think, and the evening ended with three very tired kids in the Martin house! Matt and I also drifted off to sleep fairly easily that night!

Nieces Kali and Morgan playing a roller coaster game.

Nate and our nephew Caleb Michael playing a motorcycle game.

Our great nephew Ethan.

Niece Ali and her soon to be husband, Scott.

Our neices Brianna and Ashley and nephew Jeff (still getting used to saying that!)

Our nephew Caleb with Nate and Gabe on the blow up slide.

I tried to be intentional about getting pictures of everyone, and still failed! It was hard carrying around Adrianna all night with the camera and still trying to do fun things myself!

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We spent Christmas Eve day at Matt's parents house. His mom and dad both had heart surgery in the last few months of the year, so we had a great time celebrating the holiday with them, thankful that they are both recovering well.

Christmas Eve evening, we had a visitor. He brought PJ's for the kids and told them how important it is that they go to bed early and stay in their beds until morning...works like a charm every year!

Nate mentioned about 10 things he wanted for Christmas, several of them being items that he never mentioned to us before! One of them being a Rocky the Robot Truck. Sorry, kid, you didn't let Santa know in time!

Gabe just kept asking for a crane and an ambulance. "What else do you want?" Santa asked. "A crane and an ambulance," Gabe said. "Okay, but what else." "A CRANE AND AN AMBULANCE!"

"I love my new jammies, Santa. They have cupcakes on them because that's what Mommy calls me. By the way, what is a cupcake?"

The kids got their jammies on quickly and after the company was gone, they were off to bed...without hesitation!!! Now, time for Santa to get to work!

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Christmas morning began with opening presents at our house.

Most of Gabe's presents were Imaginext things...a dump truck, ambulance, fire truck, fire station, police car and police station.

Nate's been asking for a remote control R2D2 since August! Good job Santa!

A teaset!

A Nintendo DS! Yeah!

"I'm so happy!"

I have no idea how much candy he ate that morning! Matt said early in the afternoon, "Lets stop worrying about it...it's Christmas!"

That afternoon we went to my grandma and grandpa's house for some more presents and a BIG ITALIAN FEAST! YUM YUM YUM!

Yes, that's right. We do open presents in their garage! I must add that their garage floor is cleaner than most kitchen floors...including mine!

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While discussing the upcoming New Year's festivities with Nate, he asked, "What's so special about New Years Eve?" I added, "It's the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 so we get to stay up late and party." "Why haven't we done that before?" "We have," I said. "You just don't remember." He finished with, "I would remember getting to stay up late. You and Daddy just like to party without your kids!" Although that statement couldn't be more accurate, I only remember one New Year's Eve since he's been born that we 'partied' without him!

We brought in the new year with good friends and some Guitar Hero and Mario Cart on the Wii! Of course, I didn't get any pictures that night! What was I thinking? I left my camera at home. You'll just have to take my word for it...a great evening!

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To sum up this lengthly post, our holiday was more than perfect! Our family is happy and healthy and we got to spend a lot of time with people that we love. There was much laughter, playing in the snow, good food (including cinnimon rolls), and MANY memories! Cheers to the end of an amazing year and the beginning of an even better one!