Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas Recap

Ahhh....the day after Christmas! Most people spend the day shopping...we spent the day together as a family, resting and recuperating. That is after we both got our training runs in for the day. I had my longest run to date today...13 miles! I can now officially say I am feeling fairly well prepared for the race in a little over a month! Ty is quickly gaining on my mileage too, and despite illness and injury, is also doing really well with all this training! I am so proud of us! I can honestly say that a year ago I would have never dreamed I could accomplish what I did today, but what an awesome thing it is to know that we really can do anything we put our minds too!

As for Christmas, we had SUCH a blessed few days! We spent Christmas Eve visiting Ty's grandma in the morning and then his aunts, uncles, cousins, Mom & brother in the later afternoon/evening for dinner and dessert. Luke and Ellie were so well-behaved and I loved just sitting around all of his family, listening to the stories his aunt's and mom shared and soaking in some time together. It was late when we finally arrived home and got the kids into bed so that Santa could come. They were both super excited for what was to come the next morning as we picked out just the right cookies and snacks for Santa and the reindeer. I think this year has been, by far, my favorite Christmas with the kids! They are at perfect ages to enjoy the magic of this season! I delighted myself in each little expression and remark they made as they opened presents and marveled at how lucky I am to be able to share in their joy. This Christmas, Ellie and Luke were my gifts. Being together, sharing in the joy of all that Christmas is was more than enough to fill my heart! I (we) are so blessed!

I took a few minutes before we left the house on Christmas Eve to take a few portraits of the kids all dressed up and looking rather spiffy! Luke has this silly thing about wearing collared shirts and "nice" clothes, so it is rare these days to see him all cleaned up. I didn't even bother buying him anything special for the occasion because of this. Ellie, on the other hand, LOVES getting 'pretty'. She is my little girl, down to the core. She was thrilled that I let her wear the special tiny, beaded bracelet that she received from a friend of our when she was born, and she was indignant if her hat fell off or got messed up somehow! Lol! Sweet Ellie!

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Ty says Ellie looks sad here, but I liked the photo anyway. It just feels sweet and thoughtful to me. I like it :)

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Aren't they darling?! I love them so much it makes my heart hurt!!!!

Aside from those, I really didn't take many photos this Christmas. We actually took more video than pics. Unfortunately though, sharing those will have to wait for another day. Sorry!

Here are just the last couple pictures to share. Luke on his new green bike he asked Santa for and the rock-star guitar he hasn't put down!
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And Ellie just being her cute self Christmas morning...
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And finally, just a quick shot before we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and blew out our birthday candles on Christmas evening after dinner.
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What a wonderful Christmas!

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Quick Angel Update:

First off, I am so sorry I forgot to post on the day of his surgery! The surgery went well, from what I know. The doctors removed his small intestine, though had to keep his ostomy (the connection from his large intestine to the outside of his body) which is not what Nick & Sarah had hoped for. Angel seems to be showing much improvement in terms of pain and overall illness however. Sarah, I'm sure is absolutely swamped, so updates are sparse, but she did post a photo of Angel today. He looked phenomenal...up and out of bed, playing with his new toys and feeling fairly well today! It warmed my heart to see him via the web! He is certainly the strongest little boy I know...a fighter to his core! Just a reminder for all of you Facebookers, please feel free to join the group Angel's Wings on FB if you would like more regular updates. Its a public group and you can keep up on his progess from there, as I'm not always able to post regularly on the blog! :) I thank each of you again for your continued prayers for Angel! They are working for sure!

1 comment:

Amy said...

You take the most beautiful pictures!! Of course - you have beautiful subjects to take pictures of! They are adorable as always. Glad to hear you had such a magical Christmas.