Christmas '08

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! The Jackson six had a fantastic day together. This pic was taken Christmas Eve.

Family...What's Not To Love?

I saw this on one of the blogs I follow, and just had to share it. I know many of you out there will relate to it. It's so funny, and yet maybe they're onto something here... *wink* Enjoy! (Please pause the music player below before playing the video)

Keep Your Socks On!

Despite what the calendar said, it wasn't officially "Christmas time" until I wore my rockin' Christmas socks :) Now that I have your attention, I have something else I really wanted to share today.

Okay, I'm switching gears quickly here, so get ready. 14 years ago today I received a phone call that pretty much changed the rest of my life. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was getting ready for choir practice, when my mom came in and told me I had a phone call. She kind of had a quizzical look on her face, but I didn't think too much of it. Once I realized who was on the other end of the line, I quickly understood what it was all about. It was my youth pastor's wife's brother (did you follow that?)....who lived a couple states away. Little did I know that the young man who called me that day in 1994 would later become my husband in 1998. Well, that's not entirely true. I knew very early on that there was something extra special about this guy and within 3 months of dating (long distance dating) I knew without a doubt that this was the man God had saved just for me.

I need to give a shout-out to my sister-in-law who played a pretty good matchmaker :) There's a lot more to the story of course, but I don't think I could really write it all out. But it's crazy to think that phone call led to a marriage and the birth of 4 little girls. We've had our ups and we've had our downs, and we are still learning what it means to love selflessly. But, I am so glad he called me! I now know that he started to dial my number a few times, but then quickly hung up because he was nervous. I'm glad you finally got the gusto to call, hon :) I love you.

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a first this past Thanksgiving. And it was a good first. While living in Ohio, we would usually travel to Wisconsin to spend the holiday with my husband's side of the family. And there were a couple years where we spent Thanksgiving with my side of the family. Then last year we had our first Thanksgiving without any family....but we had a wonderful day of feasting with some fantastic friends. This year, however, we stayed home and celebrated Thanksgiving with just the six of us. It was so relaxing! Well, after six hours of cooking it was relaxing :)

This was my first year of cooking a turkey and all the "good stuff" to go along with it, completely unsupervised, and without any help. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. I do believe my husband and children (except Emily) were very pleased with the outcome :) Emily apparently would rather have peanut butter and jelly instead of turkey and mashed potatoes....who knew??? Before our meal, we all took a turn expressing what we were thankful for. It was very sweet to hear my kids listing the things they thanked God for. It's always so touching to hear the younger ones lists of joys. For example, Emily was thankful for flowers. I love the innocence and true gratitude of children!

After indulging (over indulging?) ourselves in our meal, we played games with the kids and just relaxed. I even took a nap, which is just unheard of. It's definitely a different kind of experience doing Thanksgiving with just our immediate family, but I absolutely treasured it. It was a great memory for me....and hopefully for the rest of the family too.

Hope you all had a very pleasant and relaxing Thanksgiving. I have so very many things to be thankful for. God has blessed me in so many ways that I don't deserve. God's grace and unchangeable love are definitely some of the things at the top of my thankful list. My family is definitely one of my favorite sources of joy. I can't imagine life without any one of them.

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is well on its way! Can't wait!

Here are a few pictures of our Thanksgiving Day in the Jackson house.

Preparing for the feast!

Lynds and Hannah with the wishbone

No, I really didn't eat that all

Adam taking care of leftovers

Girls playing a game together

Thank You Lord!

An "event" took place a couple weeks ago in our kitchen, and I knew I had to capture it on camera and then blog about it.

One afternoon I was upstairs having a "lively discussion" with Hannah about something. I didn't want her sisters listening in on our talk (they were just waiting to hear what their sister's punishment would be...) so I asked them to go downstairs and color/draw until I was finished dealing with the situation upstairs. Just a few short seconds later, I heard a gigantic CRASH from the kitchen. I raced downstairs and this is what I saw.

All of the supports holding up the shelves gave way, and everything came tumbling out onto Gracie who was getting coloring books off the bottom shelf. Thankfully, she wasn't seriously hurt, but, oh my goodness, it could've been so much worse! There were broken bottles all around her bare feet. One canned good knocked her on the head on it's way down, but other than that, she was ok. Gracie was crying a little bit, but mostly because it just scared her so much. I told her not to move, as I picked her up and carried her away from all the shattered glass. Upon placing her in a safer spot, I noticed her jeans were soaking wet. A large broken bottle of red wine vinegar had poured all over her. Then I noticed the "sparkles." Looking closer, I realized there were super tiny shards of glass stuck to her wet jeans. I didn't even know where to begin. I needed to get these wet, glass-covered pants off of her without cutting her legs and bare feet. I tried to stay calm, but had a hard time doing so.

To make a long story short(er), I did get her pants off okay, but found a few little pieces of glass sticking out of her toes. She didn't even know they were there! So after a very thorough search of her little body, I got her bathed and dressed, and then proceeded to clean up this enormous mess. Fortunately my husband came home soon after to help me. I just kept thanking God over and over again for protecting her. She could've had some serious cuts, or even broken bones from heavy cans and bottles landing on her feet.

I just thought it was such a sight, I had to show it on my blog. Just for clarification, Gracie is absolutely fine...I think she dealt with it better than her mom did! It sure made for an eventful afternoon! Come to think of it, I don't think Hannah ever received her "sentencing!"

More.....Stuff

I realize it's been some time now since I've blogged, so my guilt is the driving force for this post *grin* Over the last several weeks, little things have happened here and there that made me think "Oh, I really need to blog about that." However, at this point and time, I cannot remember what any of those things were. I guess that's the downside of aging. I always say "If it's not written down, it doesn't exist!" I'm a list maker, it's just what I do. As I told a friend last night...making lists is a sign of organization, not senility! It made for a good laugh, but I'm not sure how much truth there really is to that! LOL.

As I said earlier, I don't really have a topic to blog about, so, as usual, I will rely on pictures to fill this post ;) These pictures consist of our trip to the pumpkin farm, Mt. Hood, a family walk through the woods, and our church's Harvest Party. We've made wonderful memories this fall!

Little Things

Sometimes it doesn't take much to make me happy. Finding the coffee already made as I come down the stairs in the morning, watching my girls delight in the company of each other, the times when it's quiet and my husband and I can talk without interruption....these are small, but very meaningful things to me.

This past Sunday our family made our annual trip to the pumpkin farm, just as we do every October. The weather was cold and rainy, but we still had a great time. We saw goats, horses, baby chicks, piglets, baby cows (one tried to take a bite out of Gracie's arm), and lots of pumpkins. We also enjoyed a fun hayride together and then warmed up with some fresh hot cider and homemade donuts. Yum! And then of course we took on the serious quest for the Jackson family pumpkin. Our search paid off and we found the perfect one; just the right size, shape, and color! We ended our time at the farm a little wet and muddy, but happy :)

Just as we were leaving, a couple with a little boy asked if we would take their picture for them. My husband agreed and then asked if they would please take ours. Getting all 6 of us situated can sometimes be a difficult task. And getting all 4 girls to look at the camera and smile all at the same time is sometimes next to impossible. However, this time we had a much different outcome. Everyone was looking and smiling...no one's eyes were closed, and no tongues sticking out (good job Adam!). This family picture is another little thing that has made me happy lately. What do you think?

I look at this man and these four beautiful girls, and am so glad I'm in the picture with them. My family...a really big deal that really brings me joy! Happy Fall everyone!