leftovers from 2008

here are some belated christmas pictures...we had a rather untraditional holiday, since we didn't really know who was coming up for christmas and when, or whether we'd load the car and head to arkansas. 

we did end up having a tender tennessee christmas...my parents (and charlie...that's him on the left enjoying a greenie beneath the tree) made it on christmas night, and we were joined by jess and scott (and annie) on friday 

night. after a "family mexican" christmas dinner, where our wonderful friends at el sombrero treated us to their usual good eats (and drinks), we just hung out. 

dennis learning to make christmas cookies

jon demonstrating how to make "blue spruces" on account of not having the patience to wait for the green icing

max strikes a pose in front of the tree

dennis's introduction to the ornament tradition

dennis enjoying his "big" gift - a ski trip with all the necessary accessories. i know his eyes are closed, but this was too cute. he was so excited he immediately put on his new ski bibs and goggles to model for us.

ready for a new year

i thought i'd blog one last time for 2008. it's been one heck of a year...a brief recap:
- adopted a teenage son
- house flooded, replaced all the floors
- took first family vacation to hawaii
- started looking for a new church
- lost my little love, maggie
- almost lost max - but didn't
- found out my dad has cancer
- found out jon doesn't have cancer
- got a promotion
- found out my mom has cancer

wow. i'm going to call 2008 - "the year where i began to learn about faith." it really has been a trying year, but i know that we're all stronger for it. i am so thankful for friends that come through, for a strong marriage, for a faith that really does grow every day.

for 2009, we pray for lots and lots of good news. dennis will be starting new classes (all honors!) this semester, so let's start with that. we are so proud of our little guy. we are praying that we will be better parents in the coming year. i would love to get to a place where i lay my head on my pillow and say, wow. i was a great mom today. we'll see...

i'm sure that we'll have a new set of challenges in the next 365 days. i pray for grace and mercy, patience and strength as we live each one of them. thanks for walking our journey with us...happy new year!

the ice man cometh

we're cuddled up in our living room. this morning, the little box next to the ticker on the today show said 9. that's 9 degrees. according to the newsman, that was the coldest reading since 1993. max wouldn't even go outside. he put on the skids about a foot out from the back door. i don't really blame him.

only instead of cuddling up sooner, we decided to take dennis to ICE! tonight. that means that after we waited outside in the ticket line in about 20 degree weather, we entered a building that stays at 9 degrees. the same temp that max balked at. i almost felt the same...almost.

i got the chance to hang out with my husband and son at one of the "coolest" places ever - my job. we got to see larger-than-life sculptures of the Grinch and the whos. before you could say "three sizes too small," my immigrant son had grabbed his phone to document the moment.

how fun. i have a "new" son to share the wonder of the season with. and a place to work that is, "the most christmassy resort in america." pretty neat, right?

so, for those that read this that aren't around nashville (because i know that those who are have been to ICE!, right?) the last room is the nativity. i love it. it's a life-size nativity carved completely out of ice. they tell an abbreviated version of luke's story of the birth of Christ, complete with spotlights that shine on the key-characters when it's their turn to "shine." how thankful i am that i have the opportunity to celebrate christmas. even though it looks a little different this year. even though i have NO IDEA how to please a teenager with gifts. even though, for the first time ever, my mom and dad have requested that we not exchange gifts. understandably.

thank you, God. for sending your son. for allowing him to become one of us. so that he would understand my emotions...so that i would know that when i pray for peace, He would know exactly what i meant.

things i need to blog about:

1. tuna does vegas...a christmas tradition is passed to dennis.

2. dennis as buddy the elf in the christmas parade.

3. carrie underwood, little big town...and one happy little moldovan american at his first concert.

real thanksgiving

i don't have a whole lot of time to write this, but i had to update anyone who cares.

my mom doesn't have cancer! that felt so good to type. she has to have a little surgery, but that is OK with me. like she said..."we can handle anything, but that sure is easy to handle."

bless my parents. they deserve good news right now. 

we had a wonderful, last minute thanksgiving in arkadelphia. we drove down on thanksgiving. that confused dennis to no end...there was a parade on TV on the day before thanksgiving? since we were having our big lunch on friday, everyone stayed mixed up about what day it was.

i commandeered the kitchen and made a food network thanksgiving, which i must say i am very proud of. with help from paula, tyler and sunny, mixed with a little bit of me, i got a giant lunch on the table at 2. i had some help from my sous chefs.

dennis seemed to enjoy thanksgiving, but it was hard to explain the pilgrims and all that. he got thrown off by the weird hats. 

it is so good to be part of a family. i feel so very blessed that God has seen fit to bring us through all this. i feel honored that He felt ready to show us that our faith is secure. i feel unworthy of the test, but all the same, i know we will all come through this little time so much stronger together.

shout out to the gas guys, too. we got down to the delph and back for about $45. not bad at all. what bad economy?