A Few Things

Just a few things I don't want to forget, because they make me smile:

1. Surprising: We actually had SNOW here last week! The weathermen didn't forcast a thing, but we woke up to the sound of sleet, which quickly turned to snow! I made Eli stand outside as soon as he woke up so I could take a picture of him- he was embarrassed that he was in his pjs. :) It melted quickly, but it was still really pretty to see.

2. Sweet: We had a fairly rough day on Sunday, and as I was kissing Eli goodnight I told him that we were just going to take it easy and rest the next morning. So on Monday morning he woke me up fully dressed, which is definitely odd. I asked him why he was dressed already and he said, "I got dressed by myself and threw my jammies in the laundry and made my bed all by myself so that you could rest and sleep." Sweet, eh? :)

3. Funny/gross: I asked Eli on Friday if he wanted to help me make cookies. He dragged a chair over to the counter and sat there waiting on me while Eric and I talked for a minute after he got home from work. Eli was filthy from playing outside, and he sat there with his hands down his pants (why do little boys do this???). I told him he needed to go wash his hands. He took a backyard dirt-covered hand out of his pants, stuck his finger up his nose, and said, completely innocently, "Why?" Eric and I laughed for a long time after that. :)

Have a great day!

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