It's Been a While...

It's been awhile, but then it's been kind of a crazy while. After I got my grades in for the semester and recovered from the Dallas Marathon, it was time to finish Christmas shopping and get ready to head off for Christmas vacation. The day before we left, Maddy had her school Christmas party, we did a Christmas gift exchange with a close friend, and then did our family Christmas that evening. It was a little overwhelming, tespecially for Maddy who didn't get to play with any of her gifts but was rushed from one event to the next without time to breathe.

 Maddy loved giving the animals their stockings.

 On the morning of the 21st, we got up bright and early--well sort of. I forgot to mention that Aaron had gone on a business trip to NY and only gotten back Wed. evening. His plane was almost 3 hours late so we did not get in bed until 2 a.m. Then we had our crazy day of parties, presents, and packing and got in bed a bit late that night. So, all that to say that we told Tam we wanted to leave at six. She came out of her room ready at about 5:45 and heard not a peep in the house. A and I slept through our alarms and didn't wake up until we heard her up, so we started the trip tired. We took Aaron's little Suzuki car and had a very nice and smooth drive to Auburn, NE where my cousin was getting married Dec. 22nd. Maddy was the flower girl in her wedding. Tricia was a beautiful bride and it was a beautiful and fun wedding. We wouldn't have missed it for anything. The next morning we got up early again to take my Dad to Omaha to return his rent car and then the three of us drove to Denver.

 When we got to Denver, I got to see my week old nephew, Jude. He is a sweetie. He was just a few days shy of a week old so it was really neat to get to see him and hold him. We stayed the night in Denver and then headed over to the Western slope to spend Christmas with Aaron's family. Grams was there this year. Last year she was in Washington doing radiation for cancer so it was special to have her there and healthy for Christmas this year. Maddy got lots and lots of fun books, clothes, and toys. She had a great time opening gifts. The only downer was that she was sick with a cough and cold. The next day Aaron came downing with a stomach virus. So Maddy and Aaron spent the rest of the time there feeling puny.

 The Sunday before New Year's, we headed back to Colorado Springs. For New Year's Eve we followed the old tradition of making donuts. I'm not sure where this tradition started (maybe with the Joyners?) but I know that we made donuts in the Reserve church building a couple of years where the Joyners and Grandpa and Grandma were there for New Year's. That's the first I remember of making donuts. We hadn't done it for years so it was fun and the donuts were light and tasty. Not like the grease laden but still delicious donuts I remember from when I was a kid. Don't know what we did different.

 Maddy loved making and eating the donuts. She ate her weight in donuts.

 This is what Aaron spent his New year's doing. Ha!

 Maddy spent New Year's Day morning looking out the window for Bethany. She was so excited to see her and the cousins had a ton of fun playing (and fighting) with each other.  Tam was the popular aunt. They had the usual "Granna Wars" and they loved playing "password", "monkey on the back", and "get your leg" with Grandad.

 We all enjoyed taking turns holding Jude.

 Maddy decided to practice photography.

We had a great time and no car problems so that is always a blessing. Because we started the trip out so tired, I just felt worn out the whole time, then adding everyone sick on top of that made it even more tiring. It was still worth it to see everyone. I just wish I'd had a little more energy so I could have enjoyed my time even more. I came home exhausted and have been having a struggle getting rested up. Aaron went to D.C. for three days this week for a conference paid for by DBU. I'm glad he got to go and learn a lot of new stuff, BUT that hasn't helped my state of exhaustion or getting back into a solid routine. Fortunately we have a whole week until school starts again.

Other exciting news besides vacation is that we traded in the Isuzu and got a 2009 Rav 4. I LOVE it! It is so nice and quite and smooth compared to the Isuzu and it gets great gas mileage (again, compared to the Isuzu). We feel like we got a really good deal on it. Maddy doesn't like it thought. Everytime we get in to go somewhere she says, "Why do we have this car? I like the old car." Yesterday, on the way to pick Aaron up from the airport, I was telling her, once again, that we traded in the Isuzu because it was about to break down. She said, "Well after we drive this car all day, it will break down." :) I am curious to see how long it will take her to be okay with the new car.We were able to pay for the car in cash so it was a great feeling to drive off with a decent vehicle and have no payments.
The other exciting news is that we sold our house in Fort Collins! We close on Tuesday. I am so ready to be done with that process and so happy that we have that place off our hands. Our renters moved out in September so we've had to cover two mortgages for a few months.
We also start having our small group meet in our home this Sunday. We are in a location transition at our church and so small group/Bible class will be in homes and worship will be at an interim location for a while. We will have at least 10 kids in our group so it will be an exciting challenged to keep them constructively entertained during the adult study session. I am super excited about it though.