Surprise!

My mother-in-law had a big birthday this year and to celebrate we had a surprise party for her. Only it wasn't totally a surprise since someone sent her a card saying that they were sorry they had to miss her celebration. That's not exactly what I had in mind for an RSVP to a surprise party, but no biggie. She actually seemed pretty shocked even with the warning...
Good thing it wasn't a complete surprise, or she might have had a coronary!

She is a wonderful person and an incredible mother-in-law. She loves to praise the Lord, not only that, she lives to praise the Lord. She generous and gracious. She has seen our family at its worst and not uttered a word of judgment. And she has seen my home in complete shambles and rather than giving me a disapproving glance, she just sits down and starts folding laundry.
She folds laundry perfectly, by the way. No matter how hard I try, I cannot get laundry that flat and perfect when I fold it.

She gave me the best gift ever. Her son, this man...
She raised him, as a single Mom I might add. She worked hard to provide for him. And she taught him about Jesus. A few years back, she also left everything she knew and moved across the country to live near us and I am so glad to have her close.

Two of my sisters were there to love on Mary...
And Lulu got a bit of loving too...
Note to self: if you let the kids have the camera, you will end up with pictures like this...
And just when we thought we were all partied out, we celebrated New Year's Eve with our besties, the Butte family...
We rang in the New year in style...
With games...
And kissing...
And some booty-shakin' too...

Happy Birthday, Grandma. Happy New Year. Happy Family...generally.

It's hard to say goodbye

It was a big year for us. A life-changing year. And it was kind of hard to say goodbye.

In 2009, we took our alter egos public as Sonny and Cher.

In 2009, we got a call that changed our lives...
Followed by the surreal moment of seeing this face...
And becoming believers in love at first sight...
In 2009, we went on our last family vacation as a family of 5. There was no pack-n-play and no stroller. That won't happen again for a few years. But there were plenty of treasured memories...

Like chipmunks eating out of our hands. Something that was fun, but also meaningful since Granddaddy used to tell the kids "Chippie the Chipmunk" stories...
In 2009, we survived lice...
Twice! And, as a result, our boys went from shaggy haired...
to clean cut...
In 2009, we traveled to Ethiopia. A country forever part of the fabric of our family. An amazing country filled with beautiful people. And met the most beautiful one of them all, our daughter...

Luci May Rediet Kollar.

In 2009, we became a family of 6...

In 2009, our house started looking like a daycare, my perfume became "Ode de Spit Up", and these rusty parents had to remember how to change diapers, prepare bottles, and swipe mouths for choking hazards...
In 2009, we had the joy of being with friends old...
and new...
In 2009, the tone in our family changed. We don't know if it was the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than ourselves or the magic of Lulu or simply an act of God, but there has been bitterness between our kids that has melted. Believe me, they still fight like crazy. But something is different. Something intangible, but very sweet. Not only are the older three in love with their baby sister. There has been a change in their love for one another. This fact, along with the addition of our dear Lulu, has made the fall of 2009 one of the sweetest times of my life...

In 2009, we also found out about my Mommy's cancer. With it, it brought the "new normal" of chemo and blood counts and all sorts of medical words I never knew before. But it also brought a heightened sense of appreciation. Life is short. And family is precious...
2009 reminded me to love deeply. To embrace whatever adventure God has in store. And to trust Him in the light of joy and the darkness of fear. I have loved the past year. And though I don't know what 2010 will hold, I am stepping into it with expectation that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

On having a Merry Christmas

1) Have a baby around for Christmas
It makes everything more fun.

2) Celebrate with family

Make sure adoring Grandmothers are around, if possible. And lots of cousins for kids to play with...
And for aunts to play with too...
3) Give up on getting a perfect picture of your kids in front of the tree. Just take what you can get and stop driving everyone crazy with your obsessing...
4) To ensure that there is no mistaking you for "the perfect family" do something dumb to liven things up a bit
This is what I did:
(SANTA SPOILER ALERT)
We've never been huge into Santa. We are not opposed to him, but we just don't talk about him much. In fact, at first Tate learned what he knew about Santa "on the street". He kept referring to him as The Santa Claw. It sounds like a Christmas horror movie to me. But I think Santa is a fun Christmas tradition. Anyway, the two older kids don't believe in him. Jack does. Or should I say, Jack did. Until I exclaimed to him on Christmas night, "Oh Jack! I forgot to put something in your..." Long pause. I hoped that maybe he had missed it. But he got a huge smile on his face and yelled, "Were you just going to say you forgot to put something in my STOCKING???!!!". He knew he had caught me. But i don't think he was even thinking about the secret of Santa. He just wanted the missing present.

5) Have a white Christmas

(Confession time...on that last picture I "airbrushed" my wrinkly lips with the touch up feature. I highly recommend it. I'm way too scared of plastic surgery, but cyber-surgery is a-ok with me!)

6) Have a family church service

Due to the aforementioned snowstorm, our Christmas Eve service was canceled. This turned out to be a special part of our Christmas as we sang and shared together all as a group. Here is my brother-in-law"Pastor Alvin" greeting his congregation...
That night we shared some of our favorite Christmas memories. Jack shared his favorite memory was the service we were having right then. He may have changed his tune as the service went on a little longer than he anticipated. But it will always be one of my favorites.

7) Keep your treasured family traditions

Like opening their presents of jammies on Christmas Eve. I wasn't thinking and waited to have the kids open their jammies until Lulu had fallen asleep...
I'm still adjusting to having a fourth child, I guess. Jack, was so excited about his jammies he decided to change right in the middle of the living room with 20 people around...
Another tradition is all the cousins gathered upstairs on Christmas morning waiting until everyone is ready for them to come down...
They play games to keep busy...
This is how Jack felt about it...
Being stuck upstairs waiting for two hours is not exactly a treasured tradition to my kids.

But they do love the tradition of the kids running down in ascending order of age to find their stockings overflowing...
Lulu was a bit overwhelmed by it all...

Another tradition is Jesus' birthday cake. Is it just me or does it look like someone took a bite out of His cake on the upper right edge?
Was Jack the first one you suspected? Poor guy. But if the shoe fits!

I missed out on our family tradition of singing the prayer before dinner that my family grew up singing. I was feeling sick to my stomach and lying upstairs in bed. From there I could hear them singing...

Thank you God for happy hearts
For rain and sunny weather
Thank you God for this our food
And that we are together.
Amen.

I sighed as I listened (and prayed along) thinking how much I love this family and wanted to be with them. I was sad, but my heart was so full. Then at the end I heard Gunga yell "WE MISS YOU MISSY!" This is not a perfect family by any stretch. But this is a loving family. And I'm so glad to be part of it.

It was a very Merry Christmas for us. And I hope it was for you too!