Christmas 2008

• Dec. 22 - Monday- Sending out a Birthday wish to Chelsey Rottinghaus. Due to the unsafe country roads conditions school was cancelled. As we know the kids are very excited to hear this news. I was sad to discover this; because this meant I would not be helping with Olivia's class party that was planned for the afternoon. We will have to see if they rescheduled when the kids go back after Christmas break. Tim had to run to Topeka to do some last minute Christmas shopping this evening. I had Erika come up and watch the kids. I rode up town to our new community building for the 1st annual Christmas cookie exchange. Despite the ice road conditions there was a great turn out. Each person brought between 3-6 dozen cookies and exchanged them with others. The evening included wearing a hat of some type, sampling the cookies, hot chocolate and/or coffee to drink and singing Christmas carols. It was a very festive and all left feeling merry.
• Dec. 23 - Tuesday - After making a call to my local pharmacy (we all are on a first name bases) to make sure they had the chemo medication on hand. I discovered that they did have it on hand and I would be able to get it. This set the tone for the rest of the day. I decided it would be best to get those last minute groceries and banking transactions done before the holidays. The kids stayed with Grandma Loralea vs going with me. Something about getting to go play with some puppies sounds like more fun to them. After I got home from running all my errands, I went to check on the kids. The kids and I have been wanting to go sledding but the weather has been so cold. With the slight warm up we did bundle up and brave the elements. With boots, snow suits, gloves, hats, mittens, and gators all in place we did a little sledding and some 4-wheeling in the snow. The older I get the idea of using a 4-wheeler to get back up the hill is for me.

• Dec. 24 - Wednesday- I received a call from Dr. Khan's nurse telling me that I would need to stop by KU Med Hospital on my next trip to Kansas City to pick up a DVD of my MRI mammo's and sonograms to take to my Radiation Oncologist appointment in January. I was kind of surprised to here from them being Christmas eve and all. I can't believe it is Christmas Eve! My kids have been very excited for this day to arrive and why not. The kids and I worked at preparing food for dinner and food for taking to the family get together. This evening we had Grandpa Ron and Grandma Loralea in for dinner. We decided to go out to their house to open presents. When we returned home, we discovered that Santa had come. The twinkle in the kids eyes and the screams of joy make one know that they were pleased. We were all up until about midnight before we could think about bed. The kids are pictured in their new sleeping bags that they slept in.
• Dec. 25 - Thursday - Merry Christmas to all of you!! Olivia and I went to mass together. Olivia got to carry the baby Jesus up and place him in the manager. This was a very touching moment for me. We didn't have to travel to far to celebrate the rest of the day with my dad's side of the family. We had 25 adults and 20 kids that gathered to eat and spend time together. Later that evening we came home and the kids wanted to play with some more of their new toys.

• Dec. 26 - Friday - We started out the day straightening up the house and getting rid of boxes. My mom, Olivia and I ran to Manhattan to get some after Christmas bargains or see if their was anything worth taking home. I did find some wrapping paper and gift tags. It is always nice to get those items at a discount. The weather was great and prefect to be out and about in. How can we go from -20 to 64 degrees in a day?
• Dec. 27 - Saturday- We spent the day inside since the weather changed to being not so nice. The kids and I enjoyed playing with their new toys. Olivia was so happy that I figured out how to get some songs uploaded to here new MP3 player. I was a little frustrated with the whole process because I have been using the i-tunes and my apple MP3 player with no problem. I discovered that her new spi MP3 player will not accept the i-tunes songs. What a bummer :(
• Dec. 28 - Sunday -I got up and went to church this morning before the rest of the house woke-up. Tim's aunt Elvina called to check on us. I happy to say we all are doing great and have been blessed with multiple graces that we are so thankful for this year. I have been feeling well other than having some restless nights. I'm not sure what is causing this. I think it is to soon to blame it on the new chemo med I've started. As 2008 is coming to a close may we all know. God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9