Advent, 2017

Advent is probably my favorite season out of the entire year. There is so much meaning behind it, that by the time we get to Christmas Day, I am overwhelmed with the gift that Jesus' coming is to us. This year, I had a heightened focus on not being the "White Witch" to my kids. For those of you who have read C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, you may remember that the White Witch is the imposter ruler over Narnia who makes it "always Winter, and never Christmas" for the inhabitants of that land.

This year, the Advent season was more about preparing my heart for Christmas. As we walked through the month of December, I had to mentally check myself when I would start to feel out of sorts about things that didn't matter in the long run. I had to choose to not let flour and cookie dough crumbs all over my floors and counter tops not dictate my mood. For my children, I wanted them to sense the wonder that Advent should be different than the rest of the year. We still had our day to day responsibilities, but they were not the focus of our days. We took breaks from school work to bake cookies. We watched movies about Christmas and read lots of stories. We had gift exchanges, and extra time spent with friends. We had LOTS more treats than usual. We stayed up late and played games, or drove around and looked at Christmas lights. I had to remind myself often that the purpose of this season was to point my kids (and more often, myself!) to the expectation of the greatest, and most lavish gift we could ever receive in God coming to live among us. I didn't want to be the White Witch. ;)

We made lots of special memories this year (get ready for picture overload!):

 

Picking out our Christmas tree is always the best thing ever after Thanksgiving Day. We all wake up eager to get our tree!

 

 See the shadow? :)

 

We got this beautiful tree home, and had to saw a significant part of the trunk off before it would fit!

My cookie baking posse was extra enthusiastic this year. My cleaning sensibilities had to undergo an adjustment. ;)

One of the best parts of the season for Olivia was getting to attend the Milwaukee Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker. Getting to go with a best buddy made it all the sweeter.

 The girls even braved the freezing winds to catch this rotating sign out in front of the venue!

 

The performance was wonderful, with a live orchestra, and lavish set and costumes! We topped it off with a hot cocoa date after the show, and Olivia was in heaven.

We made Christmas cards to pass out at a Nursing home during an outreach Olivia's ballet class had. The kids absolutely loved going to town with paper, markers, scissors, and glue.

Such intense concentration!

He was so excited that he'd made a "pop-up" card, and wrote the sentiment himself!

Julia colored a little, but card-making isn't really her jam (yet).

Olivia performed a little ballet dance for the residents at the nursing home, before passing out the cards we made. She was really nervous before the dance, but then she got out there, and her smile lit up the whole room!

She was so proud.

We also made sure we squeezed in a gingerbread house decorating evening.

They had all had significant amounts of sugar by this point. No gingerbread house making session is complete without eating more than you're using on the house. ;)

God was so gracious to me this Advent and continued to remind me - sometimes gently, sometimes sternly, that the state of my heart was much more important to him than the state of my holiday goings on. I am so thankful that I serve a Savior that knows my weaknesses, and left everything to humble himself in the greatest way imaginable. I am praying that these happy memories are infused with pointing to that unimaginable gift we were given in a manger.

It was a blessed Advent, indeed.

Christmas Joy

Our Christmas season was a whirlwind this year, but it was very, very special.  This was the first year that the meaning of Advent ("coming") started to make sense for Olivia.  She was asking lots of questions about why we did certain things, and why other things were important.  It made the season so much more purposeful as we tried to really make family traditions and other activities point to that sacred, sweet moment more than 2,000 years ago, when mankind received at long last the Good News that our Savior was born!

We had so much fun!  We had daily Advent readings out of her "Jesus Storybook Bible" after dinner together each night, and hung a special ornament on our tree each day that had a prophecy about the coming Messiah on one side, and the fulfillment of that prophecy on the other side.  This was also our first time having a live tree, and I don't know if we can ever go back!  My heart was so full this Christmas, and I have cherished every memory we made.

Nate had even rigged up our TV to look like a fireplace!  Complete with all the fun, crackling noises.  :)

We all met at the top of the stairs Christmas morning (after my kids slept in until 8:30!!) . . .

The kids' reactions are just priceless.  <3

I love the wonder on their sweet, sleepy faces.

Then it was time to open stockings!

Levi opened his first candy cane, and had no idea what to do with it.  :)  There were some matchbox cars in there too, though!

One of his favorite things of the morning was this book (that didn't quite "fit", but was "in" his stocking) that made a whole bunch of different truck sounds.  He was so impressed!

Even Daddy had something in his stocking!

This is his early morning "I'm excited!" face:

Then it was time for one of my favorite traditions (that my family has held since I was a little girl) where we read the Christmas story together before opening gifts.

Levi was listening, but he didn't quite want to sit on Daddy's lap.  It was too soon to part with his new loved book.  ;)

I just love these three so much . . . 

This was the best part of Christmas for me.

I hope you were able to make some meaningful memories with your family as well this season!  I know Christmas isn't an easy time of year for everyone, but I am thankful that the Lord saw fit to bless us with such a special time this year.  

Thankful Hearts

Our Thanksgiving ended up being quite different this year from what we had planned, but God is so good to us!  I am thankful for a loving Savior, whose plans for me are perfect.  We had planned on hosting some of our family, who then weren't able to attend because of sickness.  Since we had originally planned on hosting, we had a lot of food to eat, for just our little family.  We invited some family friends (who we see very rarely) on late notice, and to our delight, they were able to join us!  It was a day filled with sweet moments of family time, and memory-making, along with everyone going around and sharing something that they were thankful for.  I am always reminded every single day of how much I have to be thankful for, but there is something so poignant and special about setting aside an entire day specifically for that purpose.  No matter the circumstances, we serve a good God, who loves us beyond what we could fathom!

We ended up purchasing a 19 lb turkey this year - and it was my first time working with a fresh bird!  I had been debating how I wanted to roast it, and settled on brining it.  I am so glad that I did, and after eating it, I don't know if I can ever go back.  :)

I started Wednesday morning by making the brine:

It smelled absolutely heavenly!  Olivia kept asking me what I was making.  :)

And then, in went the turkey!

My recipe said to let it brine for 18-24 hours, but mine ended up in its briny bath for about 16 hours total.  Funny story about this process: do you know how hard it is to find brining bags here?  :)  My Mom had commented that she had seen brining bags at her local Wal-Mart (because, what doesn't Wal-Mart carry, right?), so I thought finding them here would be a cinch.  WRONG.  When I would ask the kind clerks at grocery stores if they knew if their store carried brining bags for turkeys, I usually got a sideways look, before being asked "Uh, brining bags?  What is that, exactly?"  Haha.  After searching online, and visiting three different stores in the area, we ended up using an oven bag (meant for actually roasting your turkey), inside our cooler.  Worked like a charm!

Thanksgiving day dawned bright and clear, and I was up with the birds to get that turkey in the oven!  After taking it out of the brine, it had to soak in fresh clean water for a few minutes.

Also, did I mention what a funny business it is to get a 19 pound turkey up from a cooler on the floor into the sink?

Nate and I ended up working as a team, and then laughing until we cried after getting it into the sink - because the turkey kept making *ahem* shall we say, inappropriate noises.  Maybe it was the lack of sleep.  ;)

We left the turkey in all it's naked glory in the sink for a few minutes, and then it was time to get it in the oven!  I was doing about 15 things at once all morning, so I didn't manage to get pictures of the roasting process, but it was actually FUN!  I roasted it covered in aluminum foil for about three hours, then took it out and gave it a rub down with rosemary, orange, sage butter.  YUM.  Back into the oven it went for another 2 hours, basting every 30 minutes, (it was my first time basting a turkey! haha!) and it came out beautifully!!

Again, I didn't think to take a picture of it looking all pretty sitting on a platter, because by this point our guests had arrived, and I was trying to finish all the last minute things up.  We ended up with four adults, and two kiddos, and we still had this much food:

There was even more on wrapped around the counter on the other side.  I may suffer from an illness.  Grand delusions of cooking for armies?  I don't know.  Either way, we all enjoyed it!

This was also my first attempt at hacking apart carving a turkey.  I watched a few tutorials, and then gave it a shot!  The meat was literally so tender that it was almost difficult to slice!  And that skin . . . crispy golden deliciousness.

And oh, the pies.  I made pecan (which we actually served at church), cherry, and pumpkin.

I had actually made the pies the night before, and wanted to use my Grandmother's pie crust recipe (which I had never tried before).  The crusts turned out beautifully, but I must confess that I was up baking them at a ridiculously late hour.  In my haste to get to bed, I put the pumpkin pie a little too high in the oven, and it scorched.  When I sent my Mom this picture, she sweetly assumed I had tried a new recipe!  ;)

We had a beautiful table too, thanks to the amazing team of Nate and Olivia.  <3

Again, I was trying to hurry and snap pictures before we prayed and started serving the food, so I didn't have time to take cute ones of the kids.  But they were extra excited to start eating!

"Happy Thanksgiving!"

Olivia shyly informed our guests that she was a "turkey ballerina" that day, to their delight.  :)  They asked her how old she was, and she proudly told them she was four.  I think mine and Nate's loud laughter at that reply was enough to let them know that it wasn't the correct response.  haha  She was sure entertaining!

We are so blessed beyond anything we could ask or imagine, and thankful to be loved, even cherished by the same One who created the heavens.  Now we turn our hearts toward Christmas, and look forward to the greatest gift we have ever been given!

A truly Happy Thanksgiving, from our family to yours.

Grace and Peace,

Amanda