Christmas, Anniversary & New Years

Reflections of Christmas and thoughts of our anniversary and the new year are floating in my head today.

I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas and if you do not celebrate it; my hope and prayer is that at least your day was enjoyable and spent with loved ones.

We had a very nice time on Friday evening with the family and some of the sil&bil's very good friends. It was really good to see and visit with everyone before we all went our separate ways. Owen had a grand time and we did too.

Christmas was really exciting for us this year because of the boy. He was totally geared up for it this year. He understood the whole gift "thing" and he also understands "why" we celebrate Christmas, as Christians. That makes me really happy that he knows in his head and heart the true meaning of Christmas.

On Christmas Eve I went to two church services. I'm sure you are thinking, "Geeze, MHN wouldn't one service have sufficed?" Why yes, it would have, but I sang at both services, one with the choir and the other as a solo for the opening of the service for a call to worship. It was interesting, both services had the same litergy and songs, but the feeling of the services were completely different. The 7pm service was charged with excitement and the church was almost to capacity, about 350 or more people. The 11pm service was more somber and subdude with probably 150 or so people in attendance. The last song for both services was "Silent Night". We all had candles and they turned off the lights and we sang the song by candlelight and left the sanctuary in silence. It was beautiful.

Christmas Day we went to have dinner at the pil's and visit with more family. It was a most enjoyable day. We called my parents that morning and sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to my mom over the phone. She really liked it and Owen got to talk to her for a bit. We are going to see them on Wednesday and visit with my family.

Thursday is our 15th wedding anniversary. It seems like yesterday that we were walking down the aisle and Dave's friends were telling him, "You know, there's still time...You can back out if you want to..." Fortunately for me, David didn't want to back out on marrying me. He's the most upstanding man, besides his dad & my dad, that I know. I'm a blessed woman. :-)

I think back on our courtship and wedding with such fond memories. Being with David has been easy(mostly) and natural, like breathing. We both feel this way. When we had our troubles around year nine, it felt like neither one of us could breathe until we got things worked out. It was totally worth the time and effort it took to put us back together.

If you have a good marriage, don't take it for granted. If your marriage needs work, then do what you have to to make it work. Remember why you loved each other in the first place and start there. Keep in mind that you chose to be with this person for a lifetime. Be kind to one another, love and cherish this person and treat each other like the gift from God that they are.

This anniversary we got to take our honeymoon trip that we never had. It was a wonderful time and we will get the pictures and the post of the trip up on the blog asap. Thursday we are going to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and have a nice dinner.

With the new year approaching, we look forward to new and exciting prospects for the "Shorts". Owen will start kindergarten in the fall and we will pay my car off in November, Yes!!! In January, Dave goes back to school to continue his "edumacation". He made all "B"'s this past semester, so he is inching up his GPA, come on Suma Cum Laude!!!

When Owen turns 5, in January, we are going to have him tested for the "Vanguard" program. The kid is smart "all the way around", so we want to make sure that he doesn't "fall through the cracks" of the educational system. We have decided to expect nothing but "A"s and "B"'s from him, as we expect that from ourselves. Dave and I were far more intellegent than our grades indicated in school, we were lazy and did only enough to get by. That is not good enough for us anymore and we want the boy to live up to his potential. I just hope that I'm able to find someone who is good at math to help the boy when the time comes... I think I'll have the rest covered. :-)

Well, here's to a spectacular new year and to all things bright and wonderful for you and all those you hold dear! Much love and affection to you all!!!