We are the Friesen's: Christmas Eve....

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)

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Christmas Eve....

Our Christmas Eve is generally simply yet full of "traditions" that are just that -- "traditions" for our family.

I didn't take very many pics today, which, a small part of me is sad about. The bigger part of me is just fine with not too many pics because that means I wasn't hidden behind my camera (read: phone) excessively. I was simply enjoying the day with my family.

But, here's what I have...along with some basic narration of our day!

***Christmas Eve Tradition #1....Our local and awesome little donut shop here in town (Druber's) always does it up well on Christmas Eve. Every person that comes in on Christmas Eve morning gets one donut and one drink at no charge. Also, Santa is there for a few hours for pictures with the kids. Yes, it's nuts in there.

Because I wasn't ready to go AND neither of our kids do well in big crowds AND we're not into the "Santa" thing, we decided that just Marc (and Kate because she was sad at the prospect of her daddy leaving without her) would go & pick up our donuts. That eliminated the "no charge for donuts and drinks" for two of us, but that was ok.

SO, our little Friesen Family of 4 thoroughly enjoyed our donuts in the quietness of our own little kitchen table!

After breakfast, I had a couple of errands to run. Then, Luke & I ventured to Wal-Mart so he could pick out a small gift for his sister (which hopefully I'll get a pic tomorrow)!

***Christmas Eve Tradition #2....Lunch at Arby's! (You may insert your laughter HERE if you would like, but honestly, it makes for a nice tradition)!

What is it with boys & horsing around? I realize it's the sheer essence of boys, but sometimes, honestly, it gets old. In Luke's case, it gets old because he nearly always hurts himself. That little fact did NOT let me down today. I'm not *exactly* sure how it happened, but somehow, Luke bit his tongue, and of course, it bled....Sigh....

Kate was being super-duper cute sitting on the bench like a big girl while eating her lunch. Unfortunately, she hid her face from me whenever I tried to get a pic....BUT, this pic does show just how long her hair is getting :)

After lunch, 3 out of the 4 of us took naps. The 4th person played with "Legos". I'll let you, the readers of this fine blog, discern which Friesen family member did not nap.

***Christmas Eve Tradition #3....We go to church at my parents' church (which happens to be the church I went to for around 10 years before marriage AND the church where Marc & I were married) with my parents, my brother & sis-in-law, and our four nieces.

Prior to the service starting, Marc & I discussed how long Kate would last in the service thus ending with Kate & me in the hallway. Marc guessed 10 minutes, and I guessed 20 minutes -- Ha!

I'm very happy to report that Kate made it the entire service. NOW, I missed a good part of what was said, BUT we made it nonetheless. I think a new corner was turned in the life of Kate.

Like in many Christmas Eve services, at least in this country, this church has candle lighting at the end. Because Kate was SO wiggly and moving around constantly, I made the wise decision to not participate in the candle lighting.

But, for the first time, Marc did let Luke hold a candle by himself. OH, how I wished I would've had my phone out of my bag to take a pic of Luke, a young child, carefully holding a candle on Christmas Eve. It was a pretty precious sight! Oh well -- it's at least etched in my mind.

***Christmas Eve Tradition #4....After church, we all (12 of us) headed to my parents' for opening presents & supper. And, like most American families with PLENTY, the gift-opening was chaos...BUT, it was still fun!

Kate received a high chair for her babies from my parents. It was immediately put into use -- before she even moved onto other presents. CUTE, if I do say so myself!

After getting home fairly late, the kids immediately went to bed. Marc got to work on a present for Kate, and I wrapped one last present!

AND, behind this cute little table & chair set for Kate is a desk for Luke. Yep -- it needs to be assembled, BUT rather than Marc assembling it tonight, Luke's going to see the box and help his dad assemble it in the morning :)

And tomorrow, we will hopefully reflect on Jesus' birth and what it really means! And, the older I get, the more grateful I am for God's incredible gift of the birth of His Son to save all of us in this incredibly broken world!