Christmastime

Thoughts on Christmas
I often wonder what it would be like to grow up without the tradition of Christmas. It seems like such an important part of our calendar year. Christmas means different things to different people. I think of it as such a joyous time of tradition, gathering, celebration, and the most importantly the Birth of our savior, Jesus. To some, that is not the case. It can be a time of mourning, a time of the mundane everyday tasks, a stressful and depressing time, or a meaningless time. It just wonder what it is like for those people. Really...I look forward to this time every year and I wonder, what if I did not. What would it be like looking at all of the decorations, the mean shoppers, the lights, the santas at the mall, the carolers and whatever else if Christmas meant nothing to me. I look forward to the traditions, the gathering of family, church activities, decorations, food, and remembering why this is such an important time of year to celebrate. I think about the time that Tyler is old enough to understand what this holiday is and what I want him to know about it. What do we want to teach him about Christmas?
I have to admit I really struggled this year thinking about what I want to teach him about Christmas. I even felt bad when I realized it was a few days before Christmas and I had not bought him anything. I don't feel bad anymore and I did buy him a few little things (he is not lacking in anything). For our family, I do not want it to be about the gifts. I want it to be about love, the kind of love that involves everyone. The kind of love that is not exclusive or personal, but love that is eternal and is for everyone, God's love. Anyways, I hope if you are reading this you feel that love right now and if you do, share it with someone who may not! If you do not, I hope you feel unanticipated love and joy in the weeks to come. Without the risk of sounding preachy, I will move on.

Our holiday's were blessed with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Knight. They spent quality time with Tyler doing various fun things and mommy and daddy got to spend time cleaning, organizing and working. While Tyler went tot he zoo and on bus rides, mommy and daddy worked at daddy's office doing taxes and organizing and cleaning out storage and closets at home. See pictures below of some of the fun things they got to do while Grandma and Grandpa were here.

Tyler opening presents Christmas morning

Dinner of Christmas Eve (Turkey, Mashed Potatoes or as Tyler says it "Mash the tables", Green beans and rolls)

Playing frisbee with Gma and Gpa Knight at Pasadena City College at sunset

Watching daddy toss the frisbee on the football field at PCC

Learning to blow dandelions with Grandma Knight

Ty got a balance bike from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas

Evidence that it does rain in California.

Tylers favorite animals at the zoo...Flamingos.

Christmas lights in front of the Balian Mansion in Pasadena. Ty just loves finding Christmas lights and you should have seen his face when we pulled up in front of this house. It was more lights than he had ever seen before.

Tis the Season

I look forward to this season every year. I know many people don't for varies reason, but I enjoy decorating the house, making things for people, holiday gatherings, hot cider, Christmas music, holiday crafts, cookie making, shopping and the time spent with friends and family. Yes, sometimes it seems a bit hectic and stressful, but those moments are far overshadowed by the joyous ones.
This morning at MOPS(Mothers of Preschoolers) a mom shared about unanticipated joy for the holiday season. She shared stories of her life and others lives that in the face of what could be seen as dark moments...joy and hope. She said that "our experiences are finite, compared to forever". That really struck me. Sometimes I feel like the moments are hard to endure and I do not welcome the challenges that I face. They are so finite though. This is spoken from someone who has experience extreme loss (two births- a single child and a set of twins at birth). She challenged us to not be surprised by God's plan and welcome new things, like Mary and Joseph welcome Jesus and then had to watch Him die for everyone including them. It was like a Christmas story that I had never heard. She told her story with such hope and joy that it makes me want to embrace that this holiday season. She also encouraged us to let people know they are not alone and that they are loved, whether it is a neighbor or a homeless person on the corner. That is what is most important isn't it? Sometimes I get lost o=in all of the other stuff!

These are a few joys of my holiday season so far...

1. Taking Tyler to a Christmas in the park where they had snow to play in. He had fun making snow balls or slush balls. He did not know the difference though.

2. Not sure if this is sak religious, but Tyler called the baby Jesus in the Nativity "Baby sister":)

3. Tyler points out all of the Christmas lights as we drive from one place to another.

4. Tyler sings Old MacDonald had a farm and Happy Birthday as he plays with his childrens nativity set. I don't think he knows how true that is:)

5. Tyler was in the cart at Target, when I hear..."Mommy...baby sister in my belly", as he is pulling his shirt up and smiles:)

Here are a few pictures of our decor:

Tour of the Midwest

Every year it is a tough decision to try to figure out what to do for the holiday's. I am sure every family struggles to make plans for the holiday's. This year we decided to make one flight, one long drive and see everyone we could see over Thanksgiving. We feel good about our decision and are thankful for all of the quality time. We flew into St. Louis and drove to Grandma and Grandpa Knights where we had a nice relaxing time with grandma , grandpa, Uncle tony, Aunt Christy, Carter, Uncle Steve, and Great Grandma and Pa Knight. The guys went hunting for a majority of the time and the ladies spent time with the little guys. Tyler enjoyed playing outside on the bika bike...or scooter. He was sick for part of the visit, but that did not stop him from having a good time with his cousin Carter.
After a great visit at the Knight's we piled into a loaded conversion van, thanks to one of Grandma and Grandpa's friends and drove to pick up Grandma Aten on our way to Indianapolis. It was short, but it was great to see her. Then, we met up with Aunt Lindsay, Breana and Laney for the next leg of the trip. Lindsay took us to Fort Wayne where we stayed for the night. The next mornign we drove to Michigan to visit Grandma and Grandpa Olson, Lucus, Lindsay, Breana, Delaney and Great Grandma and Grandpa Jackson. We spent about a week there relaxing, visiting with people and eating good food. We had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner prepared by Grandma Olson. A highlight was when Wyatt, their dog ate half of the jello salad that mom spent half the day making. We couldn't help but laugh. There was no dull moment with all the kids there. We did some black Friday shopping and had a girls afternoon going to lunch and seeing a chick flick. It was a blessed time.
We were ready to get back to LA and hit the ground running though. Overall the trip was refreshing and fun! Tyler was a trooper on the way home. Our plane left an hour late (8:30pm) and he was awake 3/4 of the flight. He fell asleep right before the decent into LA and did not wake up until 2:30 LA time. We noticed he was cold. It was freezing in our apartment when we got back and I realized that we had his bed in front of the heater, so he slept with us the rest of the night. For those of you who don't think it is ever cold in LA...it was about 40 degrees. We rearranged his room in the morning. He was tired and took a 3 1/2 hour nap in the after noon and slept almost 12 hours straight that night. Thanks to everyone for hosting us! It was a special time.
Now, we are getting ready for the Christmas season and other adventures in LA... decorating, planning Dave's 30th birthday, shopping, organizing, planning for our little girl, taxes and more. The fun begins:)

Great Grandpa Knight, Uncle Steve, Great Grandma Knight, Grandpa and Ty
The Speck's (Dave's sister Christy's family)

He can still do it:)

Climbing Grandpa Knight's tree stand

We could not keep Ty away from this scooter or in his words Bika bike.

Tyler in his deer stand with Grandma and Cousin Carter. He loved climbing up and looking for deer while daddy, grandpa and uncle Tony were hunting.

Grandpa brought home a big one. I think it was an 8 point. He and Uncle Tony also got a doe.

Tyler had fun with Cousin Carter playing with all of Grandma's toys. Here they are in the field with Aunt Christy playing with bubbles and balls.

Tyler got to meet Dylan. He is Dave's cousins son. Not sure if that makes him a second cousin or not:)

One thing Tyler always looks forward to at Grandpa and Grandma Olson's is Y-Y or Wyatt the dog. This time Grandma and Grandpa taught him to ride on Wyatt's back like a horse. It was fun to watch him play with the dog. Wyatt loved it too.

All the Cousins...Delaney, Tyler and Bree with Daddy, Grandma, Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Lucus

We don't look like siblings at all do we:)

Uncle Lucus and LayLay. One of my favorite pics from the trip:)

Almost bed time and time to say good-bye to Bree and Dee.

Family photo op! Now a tradition in the Knight family.

Grandma and Grandpa Knight with the boyz.

Grandma and Grandpa Olson or Oson as Tyler says it....with the kiddos.