Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Merry Christmas

Last year at this time I was living in Oregon with the farm for sale and I was wondering if I would spend the next Christmas in Minnesota.  Now that year has gone by so quickly and here we are, nothing short of miraculous and I find myself forgetting how much God really has done for my family.  I was telling a friend the story of our move and I knew I wasn't remembering some details so I went back to my the move stories and reminded myself and thanked the Lord once again for all He has done, not just in the last year but in the last 9 years.



I was thinking the other day about Jesus being born in a stable, which I would assume is just like a barn.  I know our barn in Oregon was always very stinky, sometimes I just could not stand to be in there if the boys hadn't cleaned it.  I'm sure they didn't have pressure washers and nice shovels to clean the stables back in Bible times.  And I thought about having my children in a clean hospital with medication and comforts.  I wondered how Mary did it!  I have always thought Jesus birth was some huge deal back then with a bright warm holy light surrounding the clean stable with the softest hay and clean cloths to wrap Him in, isn't that how the Christmas songs make it seem?  And a choir of angels to soothe baby Jesus..... You don't think about the details of what a birth is, when you think of Christmas.

Then I thought, you know, I bet it was your average birth, no one brought Mary a hot meal after, it was probably a pretty horrible experience in a barn.  They were young and alone.  That stable had to be dirty and cold.  But I think that is how God works, He takes the average, unassuming person and situation and makes it His own.  It was a quiet night. 



I am so thankful that Jesus was born just to be a sacrifice for us.  It is overwhelming to think about.  I am so grateful!  Have a very Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Home!

I am home and so glad to be.  I feel very blessed that I was able to take this girls trip to Hawaii, but you know how it is, you end up missing the kids.  I'm not sure why that happens, you go about crazy needing a break from them but the minute you get one, you start to miss them so much you want to get back to them, and then the second you get home they start fighting and you then remember why you wanted to leave in the first place!!



It was very cloudy there, but that's ok, we had plenty to do.  I was just thrilled not to have to cook for a week.  The second we stepped off the plane you could smell the flower's and the ocean air.


We went to see my brother-in-law and father-in-law, then stopped at Kailua Beach, hit the store for some water and snacks for the week and hopped in bed at 7:00pm!  Jet lag....



All the stores and shopping centers had their Christmas Decor out.  I kept forgetting it was Christmas down there since the weather was so warm!



Of course my favorite store was Kate Spade.  It was two stories and these lights were over the stairway.  It was beautiful!




Here is the Kate Spade scarf I want.  I took a couple more photo's inside the store and then I got a scolding from an employee.  I'm not sure what the reasoning is for no photo's in the store, but my Kate Spade loyalty waned a bit after that,  I mean you guys know I'm a huge fan and there is not a store by me.  I guess the scolding could have come in a nicer, friendlier way.




I love the PINK Royal Hawaiian Hotel.  We did not stay there but would love to someday.  It is so vintage....




It is so manicured and beautiful!  They had pink Christmas trees up everywhere!  All the staff are in pink uniforms. I adore it!



In this area there were huge lounge sofa's.  This was the view from them.  We sat here for quite a while just looking at that view!  That was my favorite part of the whole trip.  I know it sounds crazy but look at it!  And the weather was perfect, the sound of the ocean, the breeze, the music, it was so relaxing.



Even  the umbrella's were pink and white!!!








This is the lounging sofa.  It was so comfy.








The pink Royal Hawaiian Christmas tree.

We had great food, the Luau salad at Cheesecake Factory is the best.  So is the chocolate cake!









We drove to the North Shore and stopped at Waimea Bay.  The waves were beautiful.  They just finished a surfing contest, we missed it!




December 7th, marked the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  We were so blessed to see men from the Survivor's of Pearl Harbor Association, at our hotel.  They were in their 90's.  I thanked them for serving our country.  It was amazing to think they lived then and are here now and they survived that terrible event.

                           Here is one of the sweet men we met.... a Pearl Harbor Survivor!

There was also a church service on the beach Sunday morning.  A flag was flying and they sang patriotic songs and Our God is an Awesome God!  I loved it!


Can you see the flag and all the people gathered?






I do not like birds.  Can you tell?  I was dying to get that thing off me, BUT I have a best friend who happens to love birds, wouldn't you know it!




I love, love Shave Ice.  It is so yummy, I always get Pina Colada.

It was such a great time, so relaxing.  I gotta tell you, we did have a few bumps though.  On the flight out of Chicago to Honolulu, we were stuck on the tarmac for 2 hours fixing something, then the 9 hour flight, then the movie sound didn't work, so no movies.

We finally made it but, the next day I had a huge infection on my toes, I knew I should not have gotten that cheap pedicure before we left!!  I had to go to a hotel Dr. (cha~ching, can't wait to see the bill)..... and wait in the waiting room almost an hour with sick people (germs!)  and get antibiotics, strong ones.  The sun wasn't out alot and it did rain a bit everyday, but you know what, we had so much fun and that outweighed everything else.  I'll let you know how much that Dr. bill is when it comes in......



It is good to be home.  I did miss my whiny kids and my sweet husband.  He kept the whole house running.  Thanks sweetie!!
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