Things I Want to Remember About Christmas 2012

I get so stressed out when I have a bunch of photos to upload, feeling the pressure to blog and post, etc. So, for now, a few things I want to remember about this Christmas, in words alone:

-Singing carols at the Christmas Eve service, Eli standing on a chair between Eric and me, each of us with an arm around him, and hearing his little voice sing out so clearly, "O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!" with his face softly lit in the darkened auditorium. Eric and I locked eyes over the top of Eli's head, and the feeling we shared was huge and the same- "Lord, let his heart truly adore you, all of his days." I'll never forget it.

-Eli making one of his famous "crafts" and wrapping it up for me, only to run and get it out of his hiding place in the closet minutes later, exclaiming, "I just can't wait to give it to you!" :)

-Giving Eric a present he would never buy for himself but has wanted forever.

-Standing at the glass door of our back porch watching SNOW fall on the cozy Christmas afternoon.

-Eli's flashlight shining in my eyes at 2:30am on Christmas morning, his little voice whispering, "I saw a present! I think Santa came!" :)

-Eric's incredibly thoughtful gifts to me, speaking right to my heart that I am known and treasured by him. I couldn't be more grateful.

-Reading my absolute favorite passage in the entire Bible (Luke 2) in the quiet, early-morning stillness of Christmas morning, rejoicing alone in the silence of my little house at the thought of the "heavenly host" filling the sky with light and song and praise over our Savior's birth. Our God, who slipped into the world so quietly and humbly as a little baby, will never be silent again.

And now we look forward to a new year and a "clean slate," which I love. Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Lucy

A kitten has been Eli's only Christmas request for months now, and we just couldn't resist. We got her on Tuesday afternoon, and we didn't think it was possible to keep her hidden until Christmas morning! So Eli got an early Christmas present!

We had him sit on the couch with his eyes covered, and then asked him to open his eyes as we placed the kitten in his lap. His face was priceless! He asked, "Is her real?" and then "Is her mine?" :) He named her Lucy.

So far so good with little Lucy! She's super friendly, gentle, and playful. Eli is in love, and we are just so happy watching him with her. This is how I found them this afternoon...

What a great Christmas gift for our little family! Long live Lucy the cat! :)

Christmas Things

I haven't posted in quite a while! Here are a few things that we've been up to this holiday season...

1. As per tradition, we went to the Christmas tree farm the weekend after Thanksgiving to cut down our tree. We had a blast!

2. Eli and went with our friends Elizabeth and C.J. to see the trains at Northpark and to visit Santa! We did this together last year too, and we'll continue to do it until our boys are old enough to know better! :) The Santa picture is blurry and the picture of the boys is the best we could get of them, but you get the idea! :)

3. This weekend at church the kids put on the most adorable Christmas musical ever! The 3-4 year olds were the angel chorus, and they totally stole the show. :) What's more adorable than 15 4 year olds in angel wings? :) It was so meaningful for all of us watching, and I'm sure it was just a fragrant aroma of praise to the Lord, who sent Jesus Christ as a baby to be our Savior. This is a message for all mankind, from the youngest to the oldest, and these precious kids sang that out with all their hearts!

We're looking forward to more Christmas memories this week, and we pray that our hearts will be focused completely on the most precious gift of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel.

Foamtastic

Last Saturday a group of friends and I did a super fun 5k called "Foam Fest." It was an obstacle course run with mud, foam, water, giant bounce houses and slides, and more foam. It was a blast! We had a great time, and I'm so thankful for such a fun group of friends to do this with.

Before:

After: (We missed getting a picture of all of us before we rinsed off!)

Daingerfield, Fall 2012

Since we were kids, my family has been camping at Daingerfield State Park once every fall and once every spring. I love that the tradition has continued on through our adulthood, especially now that we are all married with kids of our own!

The whole Bergstrom side of the family (Kelly and Phil and kids, Heather and Jonathan and kids, my parents, and the three of us) went to Daingerfield this past Wednesday through Sunday, and we had such a great time! What a blessing and a joy it is to share this time together in such a beautiful place.

The weather was really warm for the first 2 days, so we swam! And then a major cool front moved in, so we bundled up in coats and hats. That's a true Texas camping trip. :) (We stayed in a big, 5-bedroom cabin all together, so the cold weather wasn't an issue at all.)

We hiked, played football, fished, played on the playground, ate great food, sat around the fire, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, went boating, and just laughed and talked and played and enjoyed each other's company.

Daingerfield is our favorite place in Texas, one that holds so many happy memories. We are so thankful to add yet another trip to the tally, and we can't wait to go back in the spring.

Colorado!

Last week (Thursday morning through Sunday night), Eric and I, along with Kelly and Phil, got to go to Estes Park, Colorado! It was a combo 5th anniversary trip (for us) and 30th birthday trip (for Kelly), and we were just so surprised and thankful that it all fell into place like it did!

It was hard to leave Eli, but he had a great time with Pop-Pop and Mom-Mom and Elizabeth and C.J.- they all said he did wonderfully, so that made it a little easier to be away from him for that long.

We stayed in a little condo/cabin outside Estes Park, and it was amazing. We even had a hot tub on the porch that overlooked a mountain valley with a stream running through it. One night sitting out there, we turned off the lights and just looked at the stars. It was a humbling, awe-inspiring trip to be surrounded by such majesty.

We slept, read, soaked in the hot tub, ate great food, and spent our days hiking in the mountains. On both of our big hikes, we hiked into actual snow storms! It was something we will never forget.

We are beyond thankful for this amazing experience, for great care for Eli while we were away, for our priceless friendship with Phil and Kelly, and for the chance to worship the Lord in His beautiful creation

Fall Fun

On Thursday night we took Eli to the State Fair of Texas along with Phil and Kelly and Timothy. We all had a blast, particularly the boys, who got to ride rides, eat junk food, and see animals- a paradise for kids! :)

Eli on the ferris wheel:

Eli and Timothy on the car ride:

And on the airplane ride: (I love what Timothy is doing here. :) )

Eli HAD to have cotton candy and only told us that about 724 times. :)

On Friday Elizabeth and I took Eli and C.J. to the Gentle Zoo. We LOVE that place! The boys were in heaven with the bounce house, giant sand box, animals to pet and feed, tractor/train ride, and giant corn cannons! They even had a gorgeous pumpkin patch set up, which didn't seem fitting in the 87 degree weather! :) But nonetheless, we took the obligatory fall pumpkin patch pictures, even though we were sweating in our shorts and t-shirts. :)

Eli and C.J. on the train/tractor ride:

Eli with the corn cannon: (What little boy would not be thrilled to shoot a 'real' gun as big as this one?)

Sweet boys in the pumpkin patch (though C.J. does not look thrilled about it here):

This picture is a little blurry, but I still like it. He looks so BIG to me in this picture! Look back at past October posts to see our other pumpkin patch pictures. He's grown up so fast- I can't believe it.

The boys with the giant hay bale pumpkin, along with the little pumpkins they picked out to take home:

Eli and the bunnies: (He has asked about a million times since then if we can get a bunny, and he says he wants to name it 'Carol,' I guess after our beloved friend and speech teacher, Mrs. Carol?! :) He LOVES animals.)

Both of these activities were great way to kick off October. It's flying by already!

Saturday

Eli has been asking Eric for a while now to take the training wheels off his bike. We thought he was still too young to even attempt it! But this week he ramped up his requests and insisted he was ready, so on Saturday afternoon Eric took the training wheels off! And...

Eli rode like he's been doing it all his life! Eric helped him a bit at first, but Eli did it totally on his own after that. He practiced for hours that afternoon getting on his bike, getting going, riding, and then stopping on his own. He didn't want any help, and he totally mastered bike riding! He's an old pro now. :) We're super proud of him!

On Saturday morning Kelly and I and our sweet friend Jessica did a super fun 5k called "Color Me Rad." We went from very clean to very dirty very quickly! :) It was a blast.

Before:

After:

It was a great Saturday!

Fall Begins

We so enjoyed a calmer pace this summer! And I think we're finally ready for the start of fall and all the activities that it entails.

Last week Eli started back at his preschool (two days a week). He is so excited to be in the "4 year olds class," and he has done just great so far. We love the program and the teachers; we're so thankful that Eli gets to be a part of it.

Last weekend Eric and Phil planted a big fall garden. Eli and Timothy enjoyed helping out, too. :)

These last pictures have nothing to do with fall, but they make me smile and are so indicative of "Eli right now." He loves playing "policeman" and "fireman," and his latest game is sort of a combo of the two. Here he is on his firetruck (which doubles as a police car), with his fire hat on, with his beloved toy gun from Grandpop bungee-corded to the back. (He calls the bungee cord his lasso.) This game, or some version of it, keeps Eli and Timothy busy for hours. I love it!

Maine Vacation

We are so thankful for the 9 days we got to spend in Maine again this summer! It was the perfect trip, full of beautiful scenery, gorgeous weather, and such special time spent with each other and with my sweet, wonderful grandparents.

A bunch of pictures...

We flew into Boston again this year and ate at our favorite place, the Barking Crab. From Boston we took a train to Portland, Maine.

The next day we went to White Lake, where we spent the day swimming and hiking. It is such a beautiful, peaceful place!

On the way home we stopped at a local firehouse that was having a town dinner right inside the fire station! Eli was in heaven, because he got to meet firemen, see the inside of a firehouse, AND climb up on a fire engine!

On Sunday (after a trip to the doctor to get Eli some medicine for a nasty cough/cold he had), we took a hike up Pleasant Mountain.

And later that afternoon we took a boat ride around Moose Pond, where Eli, slightly sick and extremely exhasuted, promptly fell asleep! It was adorable. :)

On Monday morning we got up really early and drove to Bar Harbor, home of Acadia National Park, which I think is the prettiest place I've seen in America. Eric and Eli had never been before, so we were super excited to experience it together!

We ate lunch at the famous Jordan Pond House, and then we hiked around Jordan Pond.

The next day we spent the day at Sand Beach.

And we did some more hiking in gorgeous weather with gorgeous scenery.

On Wednesday morning we dragged ourselves and poor Eli out of bed at 4am to drive up to Cadillac Mountain, which is the first place the sun touches the continental United States. It was a really moving experience to watch the sun rise over the ocean that early morning together. I don't know how anyone could watch that and doubt the existent of a powerful, loving, beautiful God!

After a great breakfast and some shopping around quaint, beautiful Bar Harbor, we packed up and headed back home.

Thursday we spent the day at Pine Point, which is always a blast!

And on Friday we did what Eli has been talking about for a full year- saw the moose and fed the bears at the Maine Wildlife Park. He was pretty happy. :)

On Saturday we made our sad goodbyes and headed back to Texas.

I could go on and on about how wonderful this trip was, what a joy Eli was, and how meaningful it was to spend the week with each other and with my grandparents. We praise God for this experience and eagerly look forward to next summer!