January 2, 2012

Happy (belated) New Year!

And Merry (belated) Christmas!

There's been a lot of celebrating and family time happening lately, so the blog has been largely ignored. I've been using a bit of my down time to try and create our annual Top 10 post (here, here, and here if you want to take a trip back in time), but I've not been that productive. :-)  

We had a wonderful and low-key Christmas this year. I think we found a good balance between just the 4 of us time and family/friend time. Especially because we're a culturally blended family that doesn't quite adhere to the traditions of any one culture, it's really easy to get sidetracked by trying to figure out what to do and what not to do...and before we know it, we've forgotten what the Christmas celebration is even about. This year we had both Christmas Eve and Christmas morning to ourselves, and we were able to quiet down with the kids, focus on them, and have non-rushed time to reflect together on what it meant for Jesus to come to our sinful world. It truly is amazing.

The week between Christmas and New Year's was filled with fun and family and lots of laughter and good food. (And we were hit by a hurricane on Christmas night...maybe one day I'll write a little more about that adventure.)

New Year's Eve we had Markus' family over and a fun night of good food, lots of laughter, fireworks, and a friendly Wii bowling competition was had by all.

Everyone had gone their separate ways by 11 PM, and we debated putting our very tired Levi and Emma to bed, but on a whim we called my parents on skype and were excited that both them and my sisters were home and able to talk! So we rang in the new year on video skype with them, while watching fireworks out our living room window. Couldn't have asked for a better way to welcome 2012! 

And now it's January 2, 2012. We have been ambushed by sickness. Fevers, body aches/chills, and lots and lots and lots of vomit.

Not cool.

But in the midst of the miserableness, we are so thankful that we were healthy this Christmas.

(Last year we spent the week between Christmas and New Year's with upset stomachs. Really not cool.)

We've got a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks...

-From now until the end of the school year, Emma will go to the little daycare/kindergarten on the island for two mornings a week. I'm a little nervous about this, but we believe it will be a very good stepping stone for her in making friends/gaining fluency before she starts Norwegian school this fall. 
-And that means that I will be working in the NTM Norway office with Markus those two mornings. The rest of the week she and I will continue her English homeschooling. Would you believe that she is able to read simple words now?!?!? It's a privilege to be the one to teach her!
-School, Bible studies, piano lessons, kids' Bible club, etc will all be starting back up this week.
-I'll be traveling to Germany in February for a seminar. 
-Markus (and maybe the rest of us) will be traveling to Bergen in February for the NTM winter conference.
-Markus will be traveling to a different part of Germany in March for two weeks of meetings.

Whew...I didn't realize that so much was already planned for the next 3 months!

Good night from the sick-house on the island that was NOT white this Christmas...


-Sarah-