"Tis the season

We have enjoyed many fun and festive Christmas activities this week! I'm having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year as the anniversary of my dad's death draws near, but seeing Christmas through the eyes of children is always a mood brightener.

First up on the holiday festivities agenda was the school Christmas program.

The littles posing in their grand Christmas finery.

Kindergarten performance... Thomas is the blurry brown boy.

The twins were conveniently placed right next to each other... usually not the case!

This past week, Anna's oldest friend Abbey hatched a plan to collect toys for needy children in our area.  The Ashland Hometown Christmas weekend seemed like the perfect time to set up a booth.  We are so proud to have such a special girl like Abbey as part of our family... well, she's not, but she is.  If you know what I mean.  :)

Anna and Abbey got these matching Santa hats when they were about seven and eight years old.

Next up on our agenda, visiting Santa Claus.  In Ashland, Santa comes to town in a horse drawn sleigh led by a beautiful draft horse.  Sleigh comes complete with wheels for more functionality.

Santa's ride.

The littles posing together for Mom and Dad. 

Candace is giving her wishes some serious thought as Santa and Mrs. Claus patiently wait.

 Sarah takes her turn with the jolly old elf.  She is somewhat of a skeptic.

 Thomas, on the other hand, is all enthusiasm!

Checking out Santa's sleigh!

Adoption summit

My friend Jen Stutzman and her husband, Jake, are hosting an Adoption Summit at their house in January.  If you live in the Omaha or Lincoln areas, you might like to attend.  Click on the link below for more information... Tom and I will be there and we would love to see you there too!

447 Summit 

Advent

I had surgery on my shoulder on Friday, and in my long weekend of sleeping and recovering, I forgot to light our advent wreath at dinner Sunday night.  It was a wonderfully delicious dinner delivered by the Altar Society ladies at our church.  At any rate, Thomas and I were home alone this evening and we lit the wreath before our own meal.  Thomas actually enjoyed it more than this picture suggests... after all, fire is involved.

This Advent, I hope you will be the light of the world for your family and someone in need.

Thankful

("I am thankful for my birth Dad.")

This picture of a little boy with his daddy in an Ethiopian village touched my heart and reminded me just how blessed my family is this year.  I hope you and your family have a chance to be thankful for your blessings this year, too.

Glorious

A beautiful Nebraska sunset.

Pictures I love

This is a picture of my dad and newborn baby Emily in March of 1991.  I love how intently they are studying each other.  My daddy loved cuddling babies.

Halloween

 

The parade at school... first up, kindergarten and 

Spidey (aka Thomas)

Here comes Sarah the bride...

We don't live in Kansas, but we're close... Candace as Dorothy

Modeling both the costumes and the jack o'lanterns!

 An (almost) full moon shining on the lake for Halloween.

Miss Sylvia Kittywhiskens checking out the haul...

 okay, this is just a gratuitous picture because I love my bad kitty so much.

A special gift from far away

Imagine how happy the twins were to receive a package from their birth mother! Thank you, Terry W., for bringing it back from Ethiopia and mailing it to us!

Beautiful table linens and basket from Ethiopia.

  We got some new photos, too.

Pumpkin patch

With autumn comes the annual pilgrimage to our local fall extravaganza, Vala's Pumpkin Patch.  This year, Anna, roommate Kenzie and new college buddy Allie joined us for the fun.

Littles on the upper floor, college kids on the bottom of the Old Woman's shoe house.

Candace on the pedal go-karts.

 Thomas waiting for the pig races to begin.

 Thomas' pig wins first place!  He has the award winning snout to prove it.

Sarah was also chosen as a pig cheerleader...

 her pig got second and Sarah got this groovy spider ring.

 Strangely, Mickey Mouse was at the pumpkin patch.

Thomas "pulls" the twins royal pumpkin carriage.

 Pumpkins selected fresh from the field!

Broken :(

Tough week at the Spears house... last Wednesday, Sarah took a tumble off the monkey bars at school.  A trip to the ER revealed that her shoulder wasn't broken, dislocated, or separated... but when her pain was still high on Monday, I took her to the orthopedist.  Turns out, she has a broken collar bone.  Pretty plain on the X-rays, so I'm not sure why the ER doctors didn't see it.  Anyway, the sling is her constant companion for three weeks.

Poor little Sarah was in a lot of pain.

Monday night, it was Candace's turn.  Tumbling and dancing shenanigans in the kitchen led to a collision between Candace's forehead and the granite counter top.  Fortunately, I was able to close the cut up with a butterfly closure and a band-aid... we really didn't want to reappear in the ER so soon!

An unhappy Candace.

Hopefully Thomas doesn't feel like it needs to be his turn next!

Wedding bells are ringing

This weekend, we attended the second family wedding in the last month. This time I remembered to bring my camera, so I have some pictures of the event. This particular couple, Kristina and Brandon, are among the littles' favorite relatives. The bride is my cousin John's daughter. The littles were very happy to attend the wedding and hang out with the cousins. It's always nice to get to see the extended family, and we've had parties three times in the last few months to catch up with everyone!

The happy couple with the littles.

Me with my sweet Anna.

Candace caught the bouquet Kristina

 tossed just for her little girl guests.

My Anna and my cousin Connie's Anna... both freshman at UNL.

 They did not catch a bouquet, but they didn't seem too sad about it.  :)

Thomas and cousin Caden coming up with

 new uses for the table decorations.

Cousins Moira, Sarah and Candace hanging out.

Dude...

Kenneth came over yesterday, and much to Thomas' excitement, he brought his skateboard.  Thomas absolutely adores his big brother.  He was more than a little thrilled that Kenneth offered to teach him and his friend Kaiser some skateboarding moves.  It makes my mom heart happy to see them hanging out together.

Cool skateboarding dudes hanging out.

Thomas and Kaiser practicing their moves.