Welcome....Here's a glimpse of our happenings!

The verses that have REALLY spoken to me (Sarah) lately....



"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." Matthew 7:24-25



Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. I Peter 5:8-9



From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Acts 17:26-28



May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14



So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. Deuteronomy 5:32-33



God, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It's up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation. Deuteronomy 29:29 (The Message)

About the Friesen's....

We are Marc, Sarah, Luke, and Kate Friesen. We were married June 5, 2004. We have one son, born July 21, 2008, named Luke Andrew -- now 4 years old. We also have a daughter named Kate Christine -- born June 6, 2012. Marc is working at Cessna as a Senior Accountant, and Sarah stays home full-time with Luke. Sarah also gets to work very part-time at home for Graber Backhoe -- an excavation company AND VERY part-time at our church. We LOVE being a part of Grace Community Church here in Newton, KS. We lead a Community Life Group of other wonderful couples. Marc thoroughly enjoys long-distance running and Taekwondo. Sarah thoroughly enjoys walking -- especially when the weather is nice to take Luke and/or out in the stroller. Thanks for reading our blog!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

2009 Friesen Christmas Tree....

Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we went and picked out and purchased the 2009 Friesen Christmas Tree.

We do purchase a real Christmas tree each year. We both grew up always having real Christmas trees. While I'm not totally opposed to fake trees, Marc insists on having a real tree. I'll admit, however, that the real pine smell in our house in nice :)

For our first Christmas together after being married, we literally opened up the phone book and randomly picked out a Christmas tree farm. We ended up at Nativity Pines.



We've been back every year since then. We've always been able to get a really nice tree. The teenage boys that help with the process are wonderful, hard-working, and friendly. The owner is wonderful to talk with. They take you out to the tree "farm" on a hayrack. You pick out your tree. You saw it down yourself (with one of the teenage boys assisting, if needed). They haul you and the tree back on the hayrack. Simple....And, the one of the biggest things for us is that it's not too "fake." In other words, there's not a lot of secularized Christmas stuff to deal with.

We've just really enjoyed the place each year. Can you tell that we can't say enough good things about it?

Here are some photos from this year's "outing."

Since Luke is still not walking more than two steps, we carried him around most of the tree area. He does enjoy riding on Marc's shoulders.



We looked around a bit....found one that was a definite "No." (This photo is just for fun, by the way).



This year, we actually found the "right" tree for our home fairly quickly. So, here's a photo of Marc sawing it down (Marc's on the ground). The wonderful guy helped us out a bit -- by catching it when it was sawed off.



This photo is definitely more for us because it was very cute in person. But, here's a photo of Luke watching Marc saw the tree down. He was pointing at Marc and talking, though we're not really sure what he was saying at the time.



Here's a photo of us with our newly sawed tree -- the 2009 Friesen Christmas Tree.



On the hayrack ride out to the trees, Luke sat on Marc's lap. On the way back, however, Luke didn't want to sit on a lap. So, we carefully let him sit between my legs -- making sure he suddenly didn't try to dart to the ground while things were moving.



After you get back, the guys unload your tree and shake off the dead pine needles. Then, if requested, they'll trim the bottom for you...which we needed a bit to better set up in our home.



Then, you go inside and pay for your tree (while they're finishing up with the tree). Afterwards, you go back outside. The guys will match your receipt up with the correct tree.



Then, they'll load it on your car, truck, etc....



Nativity Pines is about 30 minutes from our home. Fortunately, Luke is starting to do better in the car...It used to only be that he was good for about 10 minutes in the car. Now, we can go a bit further before he wants loose of the restraints of the carseat (which absolutely NEVER happens when the car is moving). Here's a happy photo of Luke in the vehicle on the way home.



Marc and I actually decided to decorate the tree after Luke went to bed. He is really not able to help with that yet...Next year, we know that'll be different.

So, here's our finished product....



Marc made an interesting comment after our tree was decorated....I've been thinking about it very since. He said, "Each year, our tree has had some imperfection about it. But, that's what makes it so neat. It's not perfect -- just like we're not perfect." (This year, our tree has a couple of "bare" spots, and it leans slightly).

It's soooo true -- that statement. Because of sin that dates way back to Adam and Eve, this world is sooooo very much imperfect. Absolutely nobody on earth currently is perfect. Only one perfect person has ever walked this earth -- Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

*****

Changing subjects slightly but still on the subject of Nativity Pines --

Last year, Luke was a mere four months old when we went and purchased our Christmas tree. The owner saw us with our baby. He started talking with Marc about the importance of being a Godly father. He recommended a book to Marc....The Heart of a Tender Warrior by Stu Weber. (Click HERE)

I ended up purchasing that book for Marc or Christmas last year. Marc really enjoyed that book, and it spoke to him a lot. He's held onto the book because someday, Lord willing, he'll be able to pass it down to Luke if he becomes a father.

So, this year, Marc sought out this owner. When he found him, he reminded him of who he was and told him that he really enjoyed his book recommendation from last year. Marc then asked him if he had any more book recommendations. Yep, he sure did...

So, here are the recommendations.

Raising Kids for True Greatness: Success for You and Your Child by Dr. Tim Kimmel (Click HERE)

The Centurion Principles: Battlefield Lessons for Frontline Leaders by Colonel Jeff O'Leary (Click HERE)

Taking the High Ground: Military Moments with God by Colonel Jeff O'Leary (Click HERE)

Launching a Leadership Revolution: Mastering the Five Levels of Influence by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward (Click HERE)

If anybody needs any good gift ideas -- perhaps any of those books might help????

Now, do you see why we really enjoy such a simple place to get a Christmas tree? Each year, we leave there with not only a tree, but also some sort of life lesson.

And, one last thing (I promise)....Here's a photo of our family from last year at this same tree farm. Luke was a M.A.J.O.R. spitter-upper until about 5 months. So, I chuckle when I looks at this photo with the burp rag on my shoulder. It's amazing how now that the spitting up is over, it doesn't even matter anymore. But, at the time, Luke's massive spitting-up was rather troublesome sometimes.



Thanks for reading my once again long post!

7 comments:

Allen and Debby Graber said...

Tree looks nice! We used to have real trees too, but we have in-laws with allergies so we have the fake kind. But it looks pretty real. And I can put it together myself without any help from Al (except to get it down from the shelf). Neat story about Nativity Pines!

More than just okay said...

We always get a real tree too. We started at Pine Creek Farm near Gossel and always go back. My pics in a few days. I'm sooo slow.

Momma H said...

Hey - I LIKE your long posts! (Now
for a long comment)! And I like your tree. One year we had to take vacation (railroad thing)the first two weeks of Dec. and when we got back on the 18th of Dec, there were no decent trees left in town. (And back then nobody I knew had ever heard of tree farms in KS!) So we had to buy a fake, and have had one every since. Maybe I need to think about getting a real one again. I'd have to go out and get it on my own though, because Lee will not do any decorating. He never liked it and still doesn't. I love it. Just getting hard to run up and down the basement stairs 45 times getting it all... ;-)!

Candice said...

Tree looks great AND love the family pics.

DeMo said...

Yay for a real tree! I have a friend whose family has been going to Nativity Pines for probably at least the past 15 years, they love it just as much as you do. My family used to just pick a random tree farm, and then it turned into picking one out from the boy scouts, and now my parents have an artificial tree (but before they got it they had to listen to me and my sisters tell them that it's not Christmas without a real tree!).

Good point about the real tree not being perfect. I think it's hard to find an imperfection on an artificial tree.

Rich and Carolyn Dewey said...

Great post!

We go the artificial route. Did the real thing a few years before moving here, more for our kids/gkids! Artificial works for us now, though. Rich did ALL the decorating of it. Bet I can gues who "gets" to take it down! :(

Merry Christmas!

Melissa Jensen said...

Sarah,
I LOVE your long posts!!! I do the same thing with too many pix but if noone else like s it then I know my gramps and grams do.

Also, Nativity Pines owners are friends of ours. My hubby grew up with their kids. They are a WONDERFUL family! So glad you like going there!!

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