it's a wonderful life!

dear emily,

hans and i have been walking with the Lord for 40 years and find His
love and grace to be inexhaustible.  He continues to surprise us with
His goodness and kindness, especially when life is heartbreaking.

both of our parents are enjoying fulfilling lives.  we have, between us,
seven amazing siblings, five precious sisters-in-law, and a significant
other, who we absolutely adore.

hans is still my knight in shining armor, favorite companion, and chief
entertainer.  i am careful not to laugh at all his jokes, so he doesn't take
me for granted.  he is always kind, gentle, and loving, so i won't break.

this is the best part.  we have the five most lovable, intelligent,
respectful, and funny children imaginable plus a prince of a son-in-law
... AND the world's greatest westie!

i was so exhausted with all the pre-Christmas festivities, that i fell back
into bed right before lunch.  hans tip-toed in to check on me and said,
"honey, i just wanted to prepare you that i didn't get you a 'big' gift this
year."  he says that every year. :)

"oh that's all right." i murmured. "you've given me a wonderful life!"

merry Christmas,
lea

roller coaster Christmas

dear emily,

man, can you believe this roller coaster Christmas ride?  we  spent the
day baking, decorating Christmas cookies,  last minute shopping,
wrapping, and fussing up the house in anticipation of  dinner guests...
a lovely family of 25!

i could not have imagined a more delightful evening.  babies crawling
everywhere, toddlers rolling cars under tables, over tables, around
tables, a pretty little princess decorating a gingerbread house, loud
voices, raucous laughter, "white Christmas" playing in the back
ground, and then spontaneous singing of 'sisters, sisters.'

we ordered smoked brisket, turkey, and ribs, but somehow we
received barbecued BOLOGNA! yuck.  i overheard a sweet little
voice ask, "mommy, is this chicken fish?"

an adorable two year old asked me for a cookie, and being afraid
it was too big, i tore off a portion of shelby's browned butter,
caramel chocolate chip cookie.  he looked at it sadly and said, "that
is not a cookie..."  he promptly received the biggest cookie i could
find with a satisfied smile and, "that is a cookie!"

the same little guy deadbolted himself in our guest bathroom.  you
should have heard his uncle trying to explain to him how to unlock the
dead bolt.  why is the 'undoing' of a thing so hard?

later i found the cookie monster/deadbolt boy turning our globe around
and around, saying under his breath, "africa...africa...africa." he's
bound for the mission field...look out africa!

the young parents took their babies home to bed, but the teenaged
siblings stayed much longer, playing games and retelling funny old
stories like, "remember the time when you were two and you got left in
the gas station on a car trip?  your parents didn't notice for an hour!"
which completely spiraled out of control into every 'bad' parent story
imaginable....so i went to bed.

love,
lea