Christmas 2008 Highlights

As the Christmas decorations come down and our house tries to resume order, I have been thinking about this Christmas season. This has been a wonderful Christmas-lots of family time, very little traveling, and overall we have been healthy except Mike's stomach bug last week. I have so enjoyed this break, that I just had to make a list of our Christmas highlights (these are in random order!)

1) Hearing David say "WOW" for every present he opened.
2) Watching my 80 year-old grandfather play Wii with my boys!
3) Relishing a few small bites of peanut butter fudge at my Mom's house. I am not suppose to eat peanuts due to Kyle's food allergy during pregnancy, but those few small bites were worth it!
4) Watching my husband and son read from the bible Christmas Eve.
5) Hearing my brother lead Christmas carols Christmas Eve. My brother has a beautiful voice that I grew up hearing very often in church. Now it is a treat to hear him sing.
6) Kyle's Christmas Eve shenanigans (read previous post). It was annoying at first, but I know Mike and I will always remember that night!
7) The fact that Mike and I bought each other the very same CD because we both like this song right now. I will post more about this later on.
8) The fact that Mike bought me the new Beth Moore bible study, Esther. This is significant in our home right now because IF this baby is a girl, that is one of the names that I have been lobbying for. Mike doesn't dislike Esther, but there are lots of other girls names he prefers. He knew buying that bible study will fuel the Esther fire in me and he STILL bought it:)
9) Seeing my boys in their cute Christmas jammies Christmas Eve/morning.
10) The potato casserole that was served on Christmas Eve-I make the exact same casserole, it just tastes better when someone else makes it!
11) Seeing David become quite the rocker with his new guitar.
12) Watching David box on our new Wii. I will try to capture a picture and post it:)
13) Dressing up and going out on a real date with my husband. We had party to go to for a friend of Mike's at work, and we had a great time. There was adult food, adult conversation, and the kids were at my parents for the night!
14) Wearing my first maternity anything to the party mentioned above. I am really not showing, but it was fun to buy and wear something maternity:) I will post later on about my first maternity buying experience with this baby. Wow, times have changed. I certainly do not want to wear anything resembling a tent, but I really do not care for anything skin tight either.
15) Last but not least,I heard a pastor speak on Christmas Eve about God's plan for his son. God could have chosen that his one and only son come to Earth in the most glorious palace with the wealthiest people, but instead God chose for his Son to come to Earth by the most humble means-to a young, poor couple born in a stable. I have heard the Christmas story a bazillion times, but that point sunk in to me on Christmas Eve. God could have chosen for Jesus to come in a blaze of glory and wealth, but he humbled himself for us.

Happy New Year! May 2009 be full of blessings for you and your family:)