Christmas, New Years, and life goes on...

Wow, what a crazy bunch of weeks. Once again, we made it safely in our travels to Spokane and then home again. This is no small occasion anymore. We used to love packing up our small two door coupe and leaving in the middle of the night because it saved us time. We enjoyed stopping at Starbucks and watching movies in the car. We had wonderfully meaningful talks and treasured eachother's company immensely. Sometimes, it was my favorite part of our journeys north.

Times have definitely changed. After packing for most of the day, all of the things that we can't live without for even a week, into many more suit cases than ever before, I made an emergency trip to the Dr.'s office.  Yes, they squeezed me in at 4:30 only to find out that indeed Audree had her first ear infection. Off to the pharmacy I went and then home to drop off my little sickie and head straight to Bunco. Somewhere in the five minutes I was home, we decided we might as well drive through the night again, with the prayer that our little sweethearts would sleep for the drive.

I arrived home from my ill-timed night out to my adorable husband napping on the couch. He asked my why I was "sprinting" around the house. After a short pause, no words...........he sits up. How can I help? =)  Our goal was to leave by 12:00 and we made it out of the driveway at 12:02.  Christmas here we come. This trip was definitely different. Coffee in a thermos, (because it is much cheaper than Starbucks) taking turns napping replaced our deep conversations. I guess that is what happens when you run 100mph every day and then finally, you have no choice but to sit still for 6 1/2 hours.

We had a fun time in Spokane spending time with many family members and getting to see the adorable Jake Beamish....(pics below) born only 6 days before we got the chance to meet him. What a precious little boy.  We ate wonderful food, enjoyed wonderful fellowship, and unfortunately delivered a lot of discipline to our sweet, adorable, strong-willed two year old.  Grandma's + Toys + Cookies + Going to bed late + Getting up Early + Being sick + Doting Aunties = Defiance in the truest form.  I don't blame any of these things more than the others.  It is, however, just an obvious combination for misbehavior. 

We arrived home at 1:00 AM  on the 30th and Nolan was out the door for work at about 6:30. No rest for the weary.  We spent a very fun New Year's Eve with our friends. We played Pit and Apples to Apples. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  We put the kids down at 9 PM thinking they would all lay quietly on their sleeping bags and watch a movie as the drifted into a peaceful slumber. YEAH RIGHT!! They, one by one, would come down the stairs and check in on us. Little Isaac came down to announce that it needed to be quiet, upstairs AND downstairs... Too cute.

January 1 was a really great day. Nolan and I spent some good time thinking about our resolutions. After we put the girls to bed, we wrote down our new goals for our Family, Friends, Business and Ministries.  Our goal ;) is to pray for these together each week and watch how the Lord works in us and through us in 2010. We feel focused and that feels really great.

So here we are. January 7th.  Things are starting to settle down. The toys are organized and sorted in the bedrooms. The house is but back together and the Decorations are packed away in the garage.  My toddler is beginning to obey me again. The new year is off to a good start.

Here are a few pics of our trip...

Christmas morning, Audree wasn't ready to wake up...

Karalee was a little more interested to see what was upstairs...                                  

 

 We also went to the carousel... Audree's first time.