Flashback to Christmas!

I thought it was time to put a synopsis of December up before Easter had come and gone. It was fun to look back at the pictures and think about all the good times during December because my overall impression of the month was that it was very hard.

Here are some of the highlights!

Being with the family on Christmas morning. Somethings never change, like Dad playing Santa and being a goofball.

Here is our Christmas tree as displayed by Rachel's oldest brother Nick. Her brother Ben was in Juvenile Hall for Christmas but we had a really great visit with Anita (Rachel's bio mom) and Nick on Christmas Eve. What a difference a year makes! Last year the adoption was so fresh and I don't think Anita and I really trusted one another. Rachel felt so pulled between us at every visit. Now Rachel can all Anita mom one minute and turn around and call me mom the next. Kids have a way of adapting to strange situations better than us adults sometimes. Over the last 6 months or so it has become apparent that we are really like extended family to Anita, Nick and Ben. They don't really have a support system and we provide a safe home base for celebrations and holidays. It is wonderful that God has brought us so far.

David's birthday is December 21st. His friend Shane came home from Biola with him to celebrate. It's fun to get to know David's friends. Dave is pretty quiet so I get a lot more info out of his hommies :-)

On a random note we watched the movie The Blind Side for David's birthday. It's a GREAT movie- everyone should watch it!

I LOVE Handel's Messiah and I was so excited when I found out that the chior my mom sings in was performing it for Christmas. We brought Rachel's mom with us as a Christmas present to her. It was fun to have her but it made Rachel so antsy. In spite of her wiggling I was so blessed by the powerful scripture set to music. It think it was one of the few moments during the season when I was really able to reflect on the immesity of Christ's birth. Below are some pictures from after the concert.

We decorated of course! Always a fun part of Christmas.

We had a hilariously frusterating day getting our tree set up. It was so painful we had to laugh to keep from throwing the tree out the window. After much running around town to find the perfect (and affordable tree) we finally got the tree only to have it fall over everytime we got it screwed into the stand. Tess came home just as I was about ready to scream and she decided that maybe we should saw the bottom to make it more even. We dug around the garage and found some rustic old tools from the 1940's that had been my grandpa's. We tried a variety of rusty saws before Tess tried chiseling the bottom of the tree and then using a giant metal file. Eventually we got it up only to discover that half the Christmas lights didn't work. After a 2nd trip to WalMart we got the tree up. By then it was 9:30p and Tess graciously cooked a very grouchy and tired Rachel and I dinner. Pretty much Tess saved the day and we were able to enjoy the tree, drama free the rest of the month.

December was a really hard month for me. It took me a really long time to shake the congestion I had been struggling with at Thanksgiving, in addition, as always happens in December, life was just full of busyness and on top of that my family was really going through some struggles. December is a horrible time to have family problems because it's "family time." Trying to keep the communication flowing while at the same time trying to let go of the issues and just enjoy one another was really stressful. I was so relieved when the holidays were all over, which is sad but true. It has been wonderful to get back into routine and structure and stop running around like a crazy lady! Even with all of this we had some good times such as our small group ugly sweater party pictured below and all previously mentioned things. I felt heavy hearted during a lot of it though and tired. I hate that feeling of going through the motions and not being fully present.

My family is still struggling with some pretty big relational problems but they aren't really mine to share on blog. I have been through enough hard times to remember that God is faithful during the most difficult of times. It is amazing how I have to relearn how to cast my cares upon him during each new trial but thankfully he is faithful and patient with me. I suppose nothing symbolizes his sacrificial, down-in-the-trenches love like Christmas and Easter so maybe it is appropriate that I would post this in between the two after all :-)