Christmas Fun!

Here's a little Christmas fun!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?  Hot Chocolate
2. Colored or white lights on the tree and house?  White.
3. Do you hang mistletoe?  No, wouldn't even know where to get it.
4. When do you put up your decorations?  Usually Thanksgiving weekend, but the more we have to put out, the earlier I start.  It's just too much work to only have up for a few weeks!
5. What is your favorite holiday dish? Cherry Cheesecake.
6. Favorite holiday memory as a child?  Orange Cinnamon rolls on christmas morning and stockings!
7. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Not sure how old I was, but I remember sitting at the top of the stairs watching my parents put out the presents.  I put two and two together :)
8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?  Sometimes I think.  I like the idea of giving Christmas pj's on Christmas Eve every year.
9. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White lights, lots of Barbie ornaments that my grandma has been giving me for years, red and gold ornaments and Mike's ornaments from childhood.
10. Snow!  Love it or dread it?  Love it over Christmas, could be ok without it after that.
11. Can you ice skate?  Yes
12. Do you remember your favorite gift?  I've had a lot of great gifts.  Can't name just one.
13. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Time with family and celebrating Jesus on his birthday.
14. What is your favorite holiday dessert?  Cherry Cheesecake, Cinnamon pudding.
15. What is your favorite holiday tradition?  So many!  But we're trying to start our own traditions with Tenley.  We are going to go look at the lights on the 23rd, read the Christmas story out of the Bible on Christmas morning and I would like to bake a birthday cake for Jesus too! 
16. What tops your tree?  Nothing :(  We don't have a tree topper this year.
17. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving gifts?  I love to give!  I try and put a lot of thought into it.
18. Candy canes ... yuck or yum?  Ehh..they are okay. I like the ones that are flavored instead of just mint.
19. Favorite Christmas show?  THE CHRISTMAS STORY!!!
20. Saddest Christmas song?  Oh my word.  I heard one the other day with a little girl singing about how all she wants is her dad home for Christmas because he's in Afganistan.  I lost it.  So sad.
21. What is your favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night
    
    

It's Beginning...

...to feel like Christmas!  The tree is up, the house is decorated.  Christmas presents are starting to pile up waiting to be wrapped!  I love this time of year.  I love it even more watching everything through Tenley's eyes.  This year it's so important to me that we start our own family traditions.  Tenley's eyes light up when we turn on the lights on the tree, I can't wait to take her to look at the Christmas lights in Winding Brook.  I know that she might not remember this year, but I will never forget it.  This is the year she will actually be interested in the presents (or the wrapping paper and boxes!) and she can sit and listen as we read the Christmas story out of the Bible.  I need to remind myself to slow down this holiday season and soak up every moment!

I took some pictures of Tenley recently for our Christmas cards.  Here's one of them that you'll see on our cards!

Thankful

It's a big trend on facebook this week to list something you're thankful for everyday of November.  While I haven't participated, I love the idea.  It's not just at Thanksgiving that we need to remember to thankful, but it's still a great reminder.  So in honor the spirit of thankfulness, I'm going to list 10 things I'm so thankful for in my life.

1.  I'm so thankful for the men and women that fight for our country every day.  You do what I could not- and you serve so that my family can worship together, play together and pray together without fear.  Thank you.  A special thank you to the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice for fighting for what they believe in.  Especially our dear friend Travis.  He taught me the true meaning of a hero.

2.  I'm thankful for a church family that I can feel connected to. 

3.  I'm thankful for the family I was born in to.  My cousins are some of my best friends.  My parents are two of the most forgiving people I've ever met.  My grandparents are true role models.  I'm so proud of my brother. We are family.  No matter what.  Forever.

4.  I'm thankful for the family that I married in to.  I have always felt comfortable with them and they welcomed me into their homes and lives from the very start.  I appreciate their acceptance, generosity and love.

5.  I am very thankful for my job at the district office.  Never have I felt God open the right doors than I did last January when I started working at the office.  My co-workers are a constant encouragement.  I love that I work somewhere that is not just a job, but a ministry.

6.  Our sweet little girl.  God knew just what He was doing when he created Tenley.  She's such a good little girl and I can't wait to watch her grow and mature into a beautiful little lady.  She's created such a purpose in my heart.  Last week a friend said "You're no longer Michelle, you're now just Tenley's mom".  That made me smile, because there's nothing I'm prouder of than being Tenley's mom.

7.  Hesston College.  My husband may disagree as we write checks to them every month for loan payments, BUT there's no place that I needed to be more at that time in my life than Hesston.  I met some of the most quality people while at HC.  I learned more about myself in the two years at Hesston than I ever have.  I can't say enough good things about this place. 

8.  I'm so thankful that I grew up in a home that taught my brother and I about our Lord and Savior.  Obviously, my life would be much different with God in it.  He's my best friend, my priority.  I try everyday to seek Him more than yesterday.

9.  I'm thankful for the group of friends that I have grown up with.  This core group knows pretty much everything about me and loves me anyway!  I love that now we're all that same life stage that we can watch our kids grow together and be an encouragement for each other.  We went our separate ways during college but now there's nothing I enjoy more than pizza nights at the Yoder's!  

10.  Finally, I'm thankful for my husband.  He's such a hard worker and a great provider for our family.  He never wants to let us down.  For better or for worse, he's always stuck by my side.  He's constantly trying to better himself for Tenley and I.  I appreciate that more than he'll ever know.

I challenge you to make a list of things your thankful for.  I might put this list in my notebook and read it from time to time through the year as a great reminder.

One Year

We've officially been back in Nappanee for one year!  It feels longer than that to tell you the truth.  Just last night I was looking around our house trying to figure out how I was going to decorate for Christmas and I got a little weepy (shocker!) telling Mike that I really feel at home here.  Not just because this town is where I grew up, but because of the connections we've been making recently.  We've gotten more involved at church and we love how that feels.  We also are starting traditions with Tenley and our families.  I love that.  I was just telling Mike that this is really the year to start these Christmas traditions.  In years past we've either been unsettled or living away from home, so now is when I really want to put all of our traditions into action.  I can't wait to have time just the three of us on Christmas morning.  Thank you Lord for having this plan in place before we even asked for it.  But while I'm so thankful for being right where I am right now, a year ago I wrote this post: http://michelle-mast.blogspot.com/2010/11/thank-you.html  and I am SO grateful for those people.  They will never know how much of an impact they made in our lives.

Here's another fun video of Tenley:

Decor

Sorry, I know you are rolling your eyes at the sight of Christmas decor and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. I've been dying to put up some decorations, but I know my husband will have a fit.  Usually I'm a stickler for Christmas AFTER Thanksgiving, but for some reason this year, I'm just ready to enjoy it longer.  Sorry Fall decor.  You're usually my favorite- I promise I've enjoyed you.

Remember this little bug at this time last year?

How can you not look forward to Christmas when you have her in your life!  She's going to be so cute in all her Christmas outfits, dresses and I just know that this year she'll love tearing into those presents!  But it's a BIG goal of mine to make sure that Tenley knows from the very beginning what Christmas is really about.

Goldfish

Tenley has a few new tricks that she showed us this weekend. Check out the video to see one of them!

Halloween and Blessings

We had a great time trick-or-treating this year!  I really don't like halloween, but getting Tenley into a cute costume makes it fun!  We went around Nappanee to some of our close friends and families homes and then headed to Bremen to make some of the residents at the nursing home smile!  They loved Tenley and got a kick out of her costume.  Although, some people thought she was a cupcake, but that's okay!  We'll let it slide this year :)  I just love watching her interact with people and she's walking around so much more and getting much MUCH quicker.

After the nursing home we went to Mike's aunts houses.  At Aunt Barb's we got to spend some time with his cousins.  We don't get to see them enough so it was a lot of fun see how their babies are growing and catch up a little bit.  Chesney and Tenley are just three months apart (Ches is 10 months old), so watching them play together was hilarious!!  They would chase each other around and then Tenley would scream and that would scare Ches and she would run back to her mom!  But Ches held her own with Tenley too!  We are going to have so much fun at Christmas this year!!  We will have SIX babies under the age of 3!  Yikes!  I love to see how our families are growing!

This was also an exciting week, because not only did we welcome little Liam Goeglein into the world on Monday night, but we also found out that two of our good friends are now EXPECTING!  Congrats to Renee and Nick Klein and Trina and Jason Bonham!  What a special time this is!!