Christmas

Well, the saying is true. Christmas with kids is so much fun. On Christmas Eve we went to church and Brayden did so well in church. He enjoyed the music and listened so well. Then we went to my parents house and enjoyed our traditional dinner of pancakes and ham. Then we opened presents and Brayden enjoyed handing out the gifts and of course opening his. The next morning we woke and opened our gifts as a family and Brayden was thrilled at his train. It was so great to see him excited about getting the one thing he wanted for Christmas. We enjoyed a fairly relaxed morning of just playing. Then we had Jim's family over for presents at 2 and more family came at 4 for dinner. All in all it was a great day and we are truly blessed.
Today we branched out and did our returns and purchased the rugs and entertainment center we have been waiting on. We used our Christmas money and it will be nice to have our house even more homey. So, now we will slow down and get into our new routine and get the things finished that need to be done for our little girl to arrive.
Merry Christmas!!

Simplicity

So, I am a very simple person. I don't own fancy things, dress fancy or wear lots of makeup or anything like that. I like my simple life. I keep a clean house that the other day I was given a great compliment on. Now to some this compliment would be an insult but to me it made me happy and even more content. My grandparents came over to see our home. They are from Canada and hadn't seen it since we remodeled. My grandpa was talking about how he hates to vacuum there home. My grandma has stuff everywhere he says he can't vacuum well there. I said well we don't have lots of stuff so he was welcome to vacuum my home anytime he wanted and he said, Kristin, your house is beautiful. It has the basics but not a lot of clutter and stuff. That is the best compliment. I love that people can come to our home and feel welcome and comfortable but not overwhelmed by stuff. That kids can come and we don't have to worry about why it is quiet cause there isn't a lot that they can get into that would be hurt.
I am also reading a bood called "The Treasure Principle" that just keeps reminding me that the stuff on the earth isn't ours to keep anyway. So, to remember to store up your treasures in Heaven and not on earth. Isn't that a great release to know that everything her is temporary so focus on the relationships and just being, instead of on how much we can attain.
Thank you Lord for all that you have given me. I am truly blessed.

Home sweet Home

Isn't funny how when you have high expectations of an evening it never goes as planned. Last Friday night was a big Remax (where Jim works) party in Portland. It was a dinner and dancing and was with the theme "It's a wonderful life" Well, Jim insisted I go and buy something nice to wear and he got a new shirt for his suit. My mom came and picked up Brayden for the night and we headed off. We arrived at the party and the decorations were beautiful and the food was good. They had a buffet style meal. Which was fine. Then the company president started speaking and the room echoed and he tried to do something with the movie but we couldn't even hear what it was. Then the band/comedy team got up. They kept saying come and dance and then part way through the song they would stop and try and tell jokes. They were singing cool old songs but they did so terribly. So, we ended up leaving early. It was very disappointing. So, we were going to head off to dessert with some other couples that couldn't handle the music either. (Yep, not enough dessert for everyone at the party) Well, we don't know Portland all that well and it took us awhile to find a place and then couldn't find a place to park, so we all said goodnight and we headed to our hotel. The Benson. Yes, it is a fancy hotel in downtown Portland. The lobby was beautiful and we were so excited. Our last night away before baby. At least as far as we know. Well, the room was nothing grand and the bed was incredible hard. And even being on the 7th floor the noise down below was to much. So, needless to say we didn't sleep well. We had been excited to sleep in. Brayden gets up at 6. But at 6 I asked Jim if he was awake (I could tell he was) and I turned on the T.V. We were showered (which didn't take long cause the tub wouldn't drain) and checked out by 7:30 and off to breakfast. That is were we really started enjoying ourselves. We ate breakfast and did some looking around. Registered at Babies R Us and got Brayden's Christmas outfit and his Christmas eve P.J.'s. Then we were exhausted and it was time to pick up Brayden. Jim took a nap and I went to get him. He was still sleeping and so I got a short nap too. All in all it was fun to get some great uninterrupted conversation time with my husband but we are very glad to be home with our son and our own bed. I guess we are just not big city lots of action kind of people. You could say that we like the simple small town life of Salem and we sure think our life is a wonderful life.

Marriage

So, this week was a rough week. Not for us personally but just learning of people we are close to getting divorced. 3 to be exact. One is Jim's uncle. The only Christian uncle he has. Then we learned that his cousin (from the same family) is heading that way. And then I talked to a friend that I have stayed in touch with since high school and she is already divorced. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get ahold of her and finally she called me back. It was hard hearing things like that. But, as Jim and I sat on the couch just going why, how. We reiterated to each other our dedication to each other. That that won't happen to us and that we will always work on our marriage and do whatever we have to to make it work. It was also interesting that my bible study this week was on divorce and how as Christians we should treat those who have been divorced. It was a great study. It opened my eyes a lot on how to love people even more, especially those going through such a hard time.
Well, we are praying that each of these families will come to reconciliation.