Love Because He Loves, Give Because He Gave

Perhaps the most special time of Christmas Day for me was thumbing through the World Vision Catalog with the kids.  The kids had torn through all their gifts and emptied out treasures from their stockings, but now it was time to remember families who are much less fortunate.

During this Christmas season, we've reminded our kids about what Christmas is all about...the gift of Jesus, God's only Son to us.  So many Christmas traditions are laced with the true meaning of Christmas:  the Christmas tree, angels, the star, even St. Nicholas.  We encouraged the kids as they started "getting" that they might think of a way they could "give" as well just like God gave Jesus to us.  We spread ourselves out on the floor with each child's money in hand....and they gave.  My three generous kiddos picked a goat (milk) and 2 chickens (eggs) to buy from the catalog for a family in need.  They were so excited that they could afford such a blessing for a family far away.

I can love because God loves me.

I can give because God gave.

Jesus' love is why I'm smiling,

Why I'm giving everyday.

Lyrics from a Veggietales song sum it up

We hand delivered our order for a goat and 2 chickens to the postman today!

Merry Christmas!

 ^{Luke 2}

¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Breakfast muffins

Checking out the stocking loot

Camden checking out his drum set

All ready for church

Aunt Rachel and the family

Maylee Grace and her new pjs that came with matching pjs for Annie, her doll

Gingerbread Fun

We found a gingerbread train station and train to decorate this year.  It was all with good intentions; however, the train didn't make it.  :)  It didn't want to stand up.....so we ate it.  Aunt Rachel did a fabulous job constructing the station.

Live Action Sledding!

Camden didn't have much luck on this hill...as you can see.  :) 

Maylee Grace had no problems.  She went down laughing all the way! 

 

Payton was a pro, but I didn't get any video of him.  :(   He figured it out on the first run and giggled the whole time.  He loved it!  We couldn't believe how easy he made it look!

Pagosa Springs, Colorado

We were so blessed to be offered a timeshare in Pagosa Springs, Colorado for our family to enjoy for a few days.  We had such a great time as a family getting away from it all in the busyness of life.  The kids' favorite activity was going sledding.  I'm sure that if we weren't freezing, they would have stayed there all day. 

Enjoying hot chocolate in the condo

Camden was intrigued by the frozen lake right behind where we were staying.

Herd of elk we spotted on the way into Pagosa Springs.  It was the third group of elk we saw!

Rio Rancho Twinkle Light Parade

The Chick-fil-a cow came over to say hi to our team that was decorating the trailer. 

 

Paragon Church had a float in the Twinkle Light Parade.  Reluctantly, Camden got volunteered to dress up as Joseph with Marisa as Mary.  We passed out candy canes and glow sticks.  It was cold, but so fun!

River of Lights

We went to the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens for their annual River of Lights.  It was a beautiful night, not too cold.  The kids had a blast!

If you were a fly on our wall this week....

You would see:

We cheered on the Packers and had our own little cheese-fest in the living room.  Unfortunately, the Packers weren't spurred on by our enthusiasm and event planning enough to win the game for us.

Maylee Grace has found that she loves Pinterest just as much as Mommy does.  She loves to be in the kitchen with Mommy.  She made Cherry Fluff salad for us for dessert.

Happy kids admiring their newly checked out books from the library and enjoying a snack.

A Daddy that loves his girl...

It's safe to say that Maylee Grace has Daddy wrapped around her finger.  There is something beautiful about seeing how much he loves her and she loves him.  From the moment she was born, I have seen a different, softer side of Matt.  She is blessed to have a Daddy that loves his girl.  He took her to the Nutcracker Ballet.  She insisted that he wear a tie.  After the ballet, they went for a fancy dinner at Chick-fil-a.  Sweet, precious memories.

Give thanks.

We had such a blessed time over Thanksgiving.  It was nice to get out of town and spend some time with family.  It was especially fun letting all the cousins play together.

Maylee Grace (4), Easton (3), Camden (11), Molly (1), Payton (6)

Easton loves Camden

Tent Rocks National Monument

 We went to the Tent Rocks National Monument near Cochiti Lake for our family day this week.  It was so much fun.  We packed a picnic lunch and took a short trail hike.  After the hike, we drove to the top of the canyon where we could see down where we had hiked.  It was beautiful.

Operation Christmas Child

John 15:12
My command is this:  Love each other as I have loved you.

There is a wonderful organization that puts on a program called Operation Christmas Child.  They provide needy children with a box full of goodies for Christmas.  We have participated in this for years.  It is getting to be so much more fun as the kids are getting older and can understand completely what we're doing.  They each did a box for a child their same age.  We packed them with shirts, toys, crayons, soap, toothbrushes, etc.  What a special way to give back!

Fire Station Open House

Each year the Rio Rancho Fire Station does an Open House on the weekend before Halloween.  The kids dress up in costumes and can tour the fire house.  They had several trucks and a helicopter displayed.  It was a lot of fun.  The kids got to spray a fire hose and climb the ladder on a ladder truck!  I can't believe they were all brave enough to do it!  It was fun day!

That's my tiny princess decked out in her Belle costume. She insisted that she was going to climb that ladder.  Mommy was more nervous than her!  The firefighters had to stop and measure her, because they assumed she was too small.  She made the cut and off she went!!!