Happy New Year
I was humbled and amazed at the response and comments of people after my last blog entry. I want to thank you all for your prayers and support. I can't believe how just releasing some emotions can make them at ease. Too often I just move to fast to face what's really going on in my heart and time again God shows that if I'm just honest with myself and admit what I'm feeling, the peace that comes is powerful.
It's been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks. All in all I'll have a total of 2 and a half weeks off and what a blessing that is! There are some major perks to working with college students and being part-time-not to mention having a very understanding boss!
As usual, the 'Camps spent their vacation traveling quite a bit. The day before we took off for the farm we had a little Christmas celebration with our dear friends the Allens and spent the day making snacks, cookies and hanging out with the kids.
We took off for the farm a few days before Christmas and spent our last Christmas in the Weitl house before mom and dad move to Carroll. It was so great. While its sad to say goodbye to that house, its so clear that our family is much more than just four walls. We also go to see mom and dad's new house which is beautiful and will be a great space for our family that is getting bigger.
Jackson absolutely adores being there. He is so loved on. And truth be told, my dad gets down on the floor and plays with him more than we do at times. He lights up when he sees Grandpa and has a series of questions for him, "Go feed cows, grandpa? Ride four wheeler? Ride tractor? Go outside?" Needless to say Jackson waits in delight until he comes in.
Being on the farm also means being outside for J-dog. The first day we were there dad hooked up the intertube to the four wheeler and took Jackson out in the field for a ride. It was hard to keep J inside after that! Grandma Peg makes sure to shower Jackson with all the new Lightning McQueen stuff she can find so he walks away totally stacked with new Cars toys. Mom had the week off of work while we were home and it was so nice to just spend some time hanging out together.
We got to watch Uncle Cass (my little bro) who isn't so little anymore wrestle while we are home. What a stud-he's 14-1 in his record and almost all of his wins have been pins. It's a little weird to see him wrestle at 215 when he is 13 years younger than me! Jackson felt the need to scream, "Go Bears and Go Pack Go" at the wrestling match. I think he is a little confused.
It was awesome to see both of my grandmas and while its still hard at times to go home and not see Grandma Rita I feel her spirit so strongly among our family. We left the farm early morning on Christmas Eve to head to Davenport. Of course anytime we drove anywhere in Iowa it was through snowstorms, luckily I have an amazingly gracious husband who did most of the driving!
We got in town in time to go to Christmas Eve celebration at Grandma and Grandpa Havercamps house. It was a packed house-the family is growing and it was such a nice celebration. We hit the First Presbyterian Church family service where Jackson was anything but well behaved and yet scored comments from people next to us as being one of the cutest kids ever. Thank goodness people tell you that when your kids act up! There was a part in the service where kids could go up to the front of the church and sit down and hear a story from the pastor. Two year olds had to be accompanied by their parent so Michael and Jackson headed down. I watched in amazement as Jackson sat perfectly still with the rest of the kids, then about two minutes into it he decided to get up and reach for the bells (choir bells)...thankfully Michael grabbed him in time or we would have had a concert for the entire congregation! He keeps us on our toes. We headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's for pizza and more play time where Jackson because the entertainment in the form of stealing sugar Christmas cookies. Somehow he managed to get a hold of them even after we hid them...he came running through the room of adults with a big one hanging out of his mouth. We discovered his cousins may have been the culprits of assistance!
Michael and I headed to midnight mass that night and enjoyed a beautiful service at Lourdes. We spent Christmas Day with Grandma Joan, Susan, Marc, Chloe and Emma. It was an awesome day full of feasts and shrimp canopies (if you haven't ever had them-you are missing out!) We opened presents, hung out, napped, played games and just enjoyed time together as a family.
Sunday brought a great reunion with Colbie and Emily Andes and their beautiful girls while watching the Bears game. We are still in a little shock at the status of the Bears right now! Our last Christmas was Sunday night with the Havercamps in Rock Island.
We finally headed home on Monday. So as you can see it was a whirlwind of Christmas as we know it is for everyone. We both commented on the way home that while the holidays are wonderful they can also be a little stressful with all the running around. However, I will say the fact that we pack up and head to one place and stay there for a couple of days gives us good family time and time to just shut off.
We felt very blessed this Christmas. I'm sure many people had a similarly packed Christmas weekend. Michael surprised me with a brand new camera. We have a $25 limit on each other so he has been telling people it's "hot" which obviously is not the case...he has just been an awesome husband and really listening to my hearts desire to get into photography. My mom asked him if he took out a second job and he said he did teaching at Edgewood! I plan to take a couple of classes this spring and hopefully learn some after editing! I'm so pumped to be able to take some good pics for our family memories.
More to come about our ski trip in a future post. In the meantime we hope all had a wonderful Christmas and are so thankful for the generosity of all those around us in this season!
It's been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks. All in all I'll have a total of 2 and a half weeks off and what a blessing that is! There are some major perks to working with college students and being part-time-not to mention having a very understanding boss!
As usual, the 'Camps spent their vacation traveling quite a bit. The day before we took off for the farm we had a little Christmas celebration with our dear friends the Allens and spent the day making snacks, cookies and hanging out with the kids.
We took off for the farm a few days before Christmas and spent our last Christmas in the Weitl house before mom and dad move to Carroll. It was so great. While its sad to say goodbye to that house, its so clear that our family is much more than just four walls. We also go to see mom and dad's new house which is beautiful and will be a great space for our family that is getting bigger.
Jackson absolutely adores being there. He is so loved on. And truth be told, my dad gets down on the floor and plays with him more than we do at times. He lights up when he sees Grandpa and has a series of questions for him, "Go feed cows, grandpa? Ride four wheeler? Ride tractor? Go outside?" Needless to say Jackson waits in delight until he comes in.
Being on the farm also means being outside for J-dog. The first day we were there dad hooked up the intertube to the four wheeler and took Jackson out in the field for a ride. It was hard to keep J inside after that! Grandma Peg makes sure to shower Jackson with all the new Lightning McQueen stuff she can find so he walks away totally stacked with new Cars toys. Mom had the week off of work while we were home and it was so nice to just spend some time hanging out together.
We got to watch Uncle Cass (my little bro) who isn't so little anymore wrestle while we are home. What a stud-he's 14-1 in his record and almost all of his wins have been pins. It's a little weird to see him wrestle at 215 when he is 13 years younger than me! Jackson felt the need to scream, "Go Bears and Go Pack Go" at the wrestling match. I think he is a little confused.
It was awesome to see both of my grandmas and while its still hard at times to go home and not see Grandma Rita I feel her spirit so strongly among our family. We left the farm early morning on Christmas Eve to head to Davenport. Of course anytime we drove anywhere in Iowa it was through snowstorms, luckily I have an amazingly gracious husband who did most of the driving!
We got in town in time to go to Christmas Eve celebration at Grandma and Grandpa Havercamps house. It was a packed house-the family is growing and it was such a nice celebration. We hit the First Presbyterian Church family service where Jackson was anything but well behaved and yet scored comments from people next to us as being one of the cutest kids ever. Thank goodness people tell you that when your kids act up! There was a part in the service where kids could go up to the front of the church and sit down and hear a story from the pastor. Two year olds had to be accompanied by their parent so Michael and Jackson headed down. I watched in amazement as Jackson sat perfectly still with the rest of the kids, then about two minutes into it he decided to get up and reach for the bells (choir bells)...thankfully Michael grabbed him in time or we would have had a concert for the entire congregation! He keeps us on our toes. We headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's for pizza and more play time where Jackson because the entertainment in the form of stealing sugar Christmas cookies. Somehow he managed to get a hold of them even after we hid them...he came running through the room of adults with a big one hanging out of his mouth. We discovered his cousins may have been the culprits of assistance!
Michael and I headed to midnight mass that night and enjoyed a beautiful service at Lourdes. We spent Christmas Day with Grandma Joan, Susan, Marc, Chloe and Emma. It was an awesome day full of feasts and shrimp canopies (if you haven't ever had them-you are missing out!) We opened presents, hung out, napped, played games and just enjoyed time together as a family.
Sunday brought a great reunion with Colbie and Emily Andes and their beautiful girls while watching the Bears game. We are still in a little shock at the status of the Bears right now! Our last Christmas was Sunday night with the Havercamps in Rock Island.
We finally headed home on Monday. So as you can see it was a whirlwind of Christmas as we know it is for everyone. We both commented on the way home that while the holidays are wonderful they can also be a little stressful with all the running around. However, I will say the fact that we pack up and head to one place and stay there for a couple of days gives us good family time and time to just shut off.
We felt very blessed this Christmas. I'm sure many people had a similarly packed Christmas weekend. Michael surprised me with a brand new camera. We have a $25 limit on each other so he has been telling people it's "hot" which obviously is not the case...he has just been an awesome husband and really listening to my hearts desire to get into photography. My mom asked him if he took out a second job and he said he did teaching at Edgewood! I plan to take a couple of classes this spring and hopefully learn some after editing! I'm so pumped to be able to take some good pics for our family memories.
More to come about our ski trip in a future post. In the meantime we hope all had a wonderful Christmas and are so thankful for the generosity of all those around us in this season!
Mom and Dad's beautiful fireplace.
Jackson cheering at the wrestling match.
Grandpa pinned Jackson.
Jackson and Grandma dancing.
Robot!
Going outside!
Havercamp cousins.
Cousin Chloe and Jackson watching T.V.
Cousin Emma Rose and Jackson.
Sweetness. :)
Tasha! This makes my heart soar, yet ache that we love so far away! Thinking of all of you and hoping to get together soon so we can play around with our cameras!
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