There reaches a point when you're keeping a journal or a diary or, as it turns out, a blog that you are so far behind you don't even want to try to catch up. It's the reason why I have boxes of old journals from my childhood, most of them half-full as I eventually got so far behind I gave up and started over. The difference is with a journal you can go out and buy a pretty new journal with fresh, crisp pages and begin again. It's not quite as easy with a blog. So here I am, going to do my best to sum up what has happened over the last two, er, almost three months in our lives.
The big thing I missed... Christmas! *gasp* How could I? I know my parents certainly noticed, because they were the ones who spent Christmas with us this year and I didn't even mention it. What kind of daughter am I? The truth is we had a wonderful first Christmas here in Illinois. Christmas morning was pure chaos. It turns out that when you combine Christmases with all of your family into one big gift opening on Christmas morning, it is like a marathon event and takes HOURS. Which is difficult when Christmas also falls on Sunday and you have church. Nevertheless we opened presents, getting thoroughly spoiled, and made it to the church on time.
Church was very special for me, not just because it was unique to get to be in church on Christmas morning but because of the role my family played. My Mom played the piano and my Dad led worship on Christmas morning, filling in for church staff who were out of town. Combined with Josh's teaching my heart felt full as I celebrated the birth of our Savior with my family.
After church we went and had a surprisingly delicious lunch at Ihop and then hit the road. Josh and I surprised the boys for Christmas with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells. It was a blast. It started when we stopped at the welcome center in Illinois to about six inches of snow on the ground. We spent two days swimming and playing and having a great time while it snowed outside. If you've never been, I highly recommend it. My boys are not swimmers and they are not tall enough for the big slides but they never got bored and never ran out of things to do. Having Mom and Dad there meant we were also able to do a few of the grown-up rides, which was nice. Everyone slept hard and the boys have already asked when we can go back.
That pretty much sums up Christmas. The truth is when I think back on January the only things I can think of are 1. I don't think I ever saw the sun, and 2. Sickness. January was cold but not too cold and didn't have the snow I was kind of expecting. But it was certainly gray and dark. And full of germs, apparently, because in one night Clark and Lance both came down with a stomach virus. It was a LONG night with lots of throwing up, lots of sheets being changed, and not a lot of sleep. It lasted for a good twenty-four hours and it took days before the laundry had all been done and the house felt sanitized. I thought we had it beat but the next week I got it. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It was awful. That's all I am going to say.
So far in February we have gotten a little bit of snow, which was fun, and also had temperatures up in the 60's and 70's for a few days, which is deceiving me into thinking it is time for Spring. We've enjoyed playing outside and taking advantage of the warmer days. The biggest thing you should know is that my children have gone to the Dark Side. It's been nothing but Star Wars lately, and I have had a lot to learn in a short amount of time.
So, how have YOU been?
