Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Christmas!... the best time of year!

Well, we survived!! Yes, we made it back home from our "Christmas Vacation" alive with only three congested coughs, two ear infections, and one sinus/ chest infection. Sounds like the end of the 12 days of Christmas. The house is still a wreck, suitcases not quite unpacked, laundry up to my eyeballs, but we're at least able to lay around in our own home while being sick.

We did have a wonderful Christmas Eve: first in the pediatrics "after hours" office, then lunch at a sandwhich shop (just our immediate noncontageous but sick family), and then we took the kids to see "The Nativity Story". Except for the passion, it was the most moving movie I have ever seen, even if I did have to watch it on the floor near the door to keep my 19 month old entertained and quiet so as not to disturb the theatre... and of course there were those three parts that I missed because I was taking a child to the potty. But even with all that, it was amazing to visually see (in a way) Jesus as a newborn baby... acting like a baby (and obviously I love babies) :-). It also really blew me away to see how Mary and Joseph were greatly looked down upon and how this pregnancy was looked on as illigitimate.

I mean Just imagine if this happened to a young couple we knew in our day and time. Here you have a young Godly couple ready to set out and serve the Lord, maybe go to the mission field, and the girl gets pregnant from someone else and then makes up this crazy super-spiritual story that she is impregnated by God. We would say what a kook and a slut. And Joseph we would label an idiot for staying with her. We sort of miss that part in telling the Christmas story don't we.

It reminded me again in such a real way to think Jesus really does understand our struggles. He came into the world as an outcast; first through his people, then through his parents. But those who sought out this Christ child, in faith, were a part of the most amazing act of history, and were written about in the most popular book ever written in history that will live on forever. I cried through most of the movie. (Oh the joys of being a mom of 4 small children. I love it!)

I pray not only I, but you also will be a seeker of the most amazing human in history this next year.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

National Lampoons Vacation

Did you ever see the movie "National Lampoon's Vacation"?... Well we are on our Christmas vacation to Texas and it feels alot like that. You'll have to go to my hubby's blog to hear the narrated version. I will begin the story with some preliminary information.

We prayed and discussed which car we thought would make it to Texas, and which car would cost less to fix if it blew up on the side of the road. The older car, 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager with only 168,000 miles, beat out the newer model, 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan with 254,000 miles, because the older car only had an axel problem and the newer car had a transmission problem... lesser of the two evils. So we chose the older car, and so far we have made it to Texas, but it has been an adventure to say the least and it has had nothing to do with the car.

After getting off late, turning around three times because we forgot stuff, lots of throwup from a flu but that hit the whole family for at least 4 days, having to go shopping for all the things we did forget, a wrong turn costing us two hours with a sick family, bringing all the wrong clothes for 50 degree weather and it being in the 70's and 80's, no air conditioning because all the freeon leaked out of our car, a trip to the emergency room for a dog bite (our oldest son got bit and scratched pretty bad by Grandpa's dog), and... well this is just the highlights and our trip is only halfway done and I just smile and laugh everytime another situations arises. You have to go read my Hubby's blog to get the details.

Even when we were throwing up in ziplock baggies and not even slowing down for someone who got sick... it became quite humorous; especially sitting in the emergency room... it makes me laugh even just writing about it. I can't even imagine that anything else could happen... but I have learned not to hold my breath, because I could pass out and die waiting for "normal" to hit my family.