Dec. 28

How have your "leftover" days been treating you?  Ours have been quite the opposite of lazy, that is for sure!

Yesterday, David won the Husband and Father of the Year Award.  (Whew!  That was close!)  I had planned to go to Aberdeen and take Teresa with me, but at the last minute she decided she wanted to stay home.  David told me to take my time and enjoy my present from him (uninterrupted shopping with shopping money).  I did and it was WONDERFUL!  I did my part to help Aberdeen's economy (I'm always willing to help out), and came home to find the boys' beds bunked with the former office shelves moved into their room.  Teresa had scored a couple of cabinets from the office, too.  All of the big kids had "new" living spaces and they were so excited. 

Today I got into the mode of cleaning, organizing, and pitching, too.  If you weren't enjoyable to look at, useful, or had sentimental value, you didn't stand much of a chance around here today.  It feels SO good to get organized and ready for the new year! 

 

 

But . . . before we march into 2013, let's take a look back at Christmas 2012!!!

First, we have Melius Christmas.  We have our Santa Baby Rachel, the girl cousins (missing Lydia), John, Jodi, and Avery sharing the Christmas story, the boys' combines from Grandpa, and Dad helping Landen build a very complicated ship model Uncle John brought back from China.  It took him several hours to finish.  It obviously clouded Dad's judgement as he told Nathan he could have Mountain Dew before bed!  Nathan loves it when such opportunities arise!

Here we have Christmas in Eureka with the Joachims.  Just a cute closeup of Rachel, Rachel kissing Nathan, the grandkids with Papa Butter and Grandma Shirley, Landen's FAVORITE present, Aunt Amanda with her nieces and nephews, and Teresa with her new doll that came with matching jammies (they make such a cute pair)!

 Finally, we have Christmas Day at home!  Teresa got a Doodle Bear, Nathan tried out the gift bag, Rachel got into the fun and loved her new phone from cousin Lydia, the big kids kept the secret of a new farm picture for Dad, and Landen got what he asked for--a power strip, which came with the added bonus of an extension cord!  What more could a boy ask for? 

We hope you, too, had a most blessed Christmas with those you love most!