family day

Today was just simply a family day.  A happy day.  Usually, Saturdays are all about getting the house in order.  Things like washing the floors, bathrooms, de-cluttering the kitchen after a week of 5 of us contributing to the things that somehow always end up on one of the kitchen counters.  But somehow, today none of it got done and I am sitting here in a mess and I'm not bothered by it because today my tank is full. :)  We did sleep in a little this morning which was nice and needed because both Ehren and I have not been sleeping well at night.  I have a shoulder/arm pain that somehow intensifies as I am sleeping and lately wake up in such pain I have to take pain medicine so I can go back to sleep.  So sleeping in a bit felt really good.

Then we got to chat  a little with my brother and his sweet family on skype and that was really nice.  Makes me really miss my family, especially as the Christmas is coming.  It was exactly 10 years ago that I was home for Christmas the last time because while Ehren and I were there we found out we were expecting our first born, Kade who is 9.  Sad to think that it was that long ago but life goes on and I need to make most of my time here with my family.

Around lunch I went over to a friend's house for a baby shower.  It was for a woman from our church that has been coming for a couple of years with her husband but very few people really know them.  I am so glad I went to it so I got to know Jenny a little (the girl that had the baby) and was able to fellowship with some awesome ladies and friends.  They are my family here and mean the world to me.  I would have loved to just talk to them for hours and hours, somehow I never get tired of it with the right women and I feel like I learn so much from each of them every time I talk to them.

By the time I got home it was after 2pm and our plan was to go to a Christmas tree farm to get a tree with the kids.  The friend who had the baby shower was going to the same place to get their Christmas tree so we all drove together.  Guys were in our car with our 3 boys and us girls were in their vehicle with our 2 girls.  It takes a while to drive up there and it was so nice to chat with a friend during that time.  Guys enjoyed their conversations too (except for the drive home when the boys were a bit too wild in the back) so it was great.

Our kids all loved running around looking for the right tree.  Our friends found theirs pretty quick but it took us a while longer and I think they laughed at me a bit because none of the trees we passed by were quite good enough for me. :)  But in the end we found one and it's beautiful.  It might be a bit too tall but we can chop the bottom off if we have to.  Our kids cannot wait to decorate it, they love getting our house ready for Christmas.

So I'm pretty sure I got my tank filled today.  Some days, all I need is some good connecting with friends and everything seems better.  Coming to a messy house didn't bother me at all, it just doesn't compare with the real important things in life.  And that is me being more like Mary and less like Martha today (Tiff :)).

cutting our tree down

our good friends Jason and Lacey

enjoying some hot chocolate and cookies after getting the trees.