What's going on...

Let's take a little break from Christmas pictures to catch up on things around here...
We are thinking more seriously about buying a house soon! That is exciting news, as I can't wait to nest in and make a house our home. It's been almost five years since we got here, and it will be nice to feel like we're finally really settled in Denver. We're looking around Broomfield because we love all that it has to offer - tons of trails and beautiful places to walk or ride bikes, lots of mature trees, an older established feel, shops and a great library close by, and not too far from Jim's work. We are looking into the possibility of buying the house we're in right now as the owners previously said they may be willing to sell; we're still waiting to hear back from them and we'll go from there. We love this neighborhood, with a beautiful lake to walk around and a nice park for the kids. Many of the houses in Broomfield are kind of quirky, built in the 50's and 60's; we like the newer more streamlined floor plan of the newer houses, and love the circular floor plan in the house we are in. It gives the kids lots of uninterrupted space to run, or ride their scooters or bikes.

Since August I noticed that I had a lot of pain a few days a month in my abdomen, related to my monthly cycle. I finally realized it was more than cramps on Halloween when we did a lot of walking around the neighborhood and the pain progressively got worse so that I had to head home early, and could barely get Wade out of his shoes and jacket. I felt nauseous and white with pain, very similar to really bad contractions. So I made an appointment at my OBGYN and finally got scheduled for a sonogram. They found some sort of mass a couple of millimeters wide in the fallopian tube that looked just like an ectopic pregnancy but that was ruled out with a urine and blood test. I've been going back for sonograms every 6 to 8 weeks to monitor its growth. They initially thought it was a fibroid and thought the pain might be from it deflating, and then I went back to another Dr. in the practice and her sonographer thought it was definitely not a fibroid, but a rare kind of cyst. The scary/tricky part is that it is in a spot right near an artery and the first sonographer said that if it was an ectopic pregnancy I could bleed out! Ugh. Or if it gets big fast it could be a dangerous situation. And she thought they might not be able to take it out because of the dangerous location next to the artery. So........now they're saying it's a rare kind of cyst, and they're going to continue to monitor it. In the meantime, I am in excruciating pain every month for 1-5 days, to the point that I can hardly talk or walk at times and have to figure out how to take care of the boys. Thank goodness for Netflix at times like those! ;-) It makes me feel very isolated when I'm sick and can't take care of everything I'm supposed to. I already struggle with the fact that we're so far from family, and in times like this I feel it even more. Right now I'm on day 3 of this month's bout, and I'm planning on calling another Dr. on Monday to schedule an appointment for a second opinion. If you could pray for my peace of mind, a quick and successful resolution to the issue and the pain, and the ability to trust God to provide all of our needs here in Denver, I'd appreciate that!

In September we started visiting new churches and we think we've finally found one! It's Calvary Bible Church in Boulder. It's about 1/2 hour away, so that is the only downside. But our next thing to do is to figure out if they they have any small groups in our area. Also, we are planning on going for the adult Sunday school hour because that's one of the things we love that they have and it gives us the opportunity to get to know people more quickly and deeply. The kids love their classes, and Garrett got a nice note from a grandfatherly teacher he has, thanking him for joining in the question time so well and being so respectful...always nice for parents to read!

I'm feeling the need for some social outlets and also would love to study the Bible deeper, so I'm going to sign up for a Bible Study Fellowship class that will start next September. I was trying to figure out how to do this while homeschooling, and found a charter school that offers elective classes to homeschoolers one day a week. I just signed Garrett up for that, and it looks like he will be getting some fun classes - cooking, art, creative writing, PE, cultures of the world, music, sports and games (over 2 semesters). At the same time, BSF has a great children's program for Wyatt and Wade while I'm in Bible Study so I think Wednesdays will be a good time for all of us!

Jim is doing well, likes working at Sashco, and is busy keeping his eye on the housing market around here. He's planning a camping/fishing trip for him and Garrett and Wyatt for September, and thinks they'll go on some day fishing trips this summer too. (After last summer's camping trip I decided I'll wait to go with Wade until he's a year or two older; it was stressful trying to keep track of him in the mud, etc. and he kept waking up crying throughout the night. We'll all have more fun when he's a little older!)

Christmas Part 5 - Grammy & Poppa's, Beach, and More...

Grammy and Poppa had us over for a nice breakfast one morning. It was so nice to be together. Poppa took the boys outside to see the fruit trees and even showed them the BBQ, which they were very interested in.

 

 

Poppa shook the lime tree to get some limes the boys could pick up.

 

It was such a hot day that we decided to head to the beach! A real treat in December! The boys loved it, and we ended the day meeting Mom and Dad at the Crab Cooker. Laguna Beach was perfect, with lots of soft sand and small waves for the boys to play in. Wade spent most of the time putting sand all over my shoes and down my shirt, Garrett loved jumping over the waves and looking for seaweed, and Wyatt enjoyed digging in the sand and water.

 

It was really nice to meet up with some old Granada friends at Kim & Cory Mack's house. The kids loved playing together, and it was nice to have some time to sit and chat.

 

Fun at Grandpa & Grandma's...

Christmas Part Four - Christmas Day!

We decided to save our stocking gifts for Christmas morning and use Grandma's stockings to load for the boys. They were very excited!

 

 

Jim showing Dad his recently-bought Surface.

 

Mom, the sweet hostess, as always!

 

Kids table...

 

Lars with his trash truck.

 

Present time!

 

We tried this hat method, which lasted for a few rounds...whoever is opening a present puts it on. It minimized loud talking to figure out who was next and put everyone's attention on that person.

 

Wyatt was so excited to get a Bible.

 

Garrett was thrilled to get his first watch.

 

Anders' turn!

 

Wyatt suggested cleaning up the leaves outside to help Gma & Gpa, so we did. It was nice to get out and get a little exercise too.

 

Grammy & Poppa came over for lunch.

Christmas Part 3 - Christmas Eve at Gma & Gpa's

It was nice and comfortable to be back at Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas Eve.

 

 

Happy Birthday Jesus cake.

 

Lee and Wade, just about 6 weeks apart...

 

Grandma, Mom, and Aunt Gretchen got together this sweet little manger scene with some of Aunt Luanne's old poems too.

 

Presents!

Christmas Part 2 - The Getaway

After church and lunch at In n Out, we left the boys with Grandma and Grandma for Camp Grandma and hopped into mom's Element and headed for Laguna Beach - ALONE. The last time we had a getaway alone was 2 years before, and with no nursing baby it was time again! It was such a nice, and somewhat strange, feeling to have uninterrupted quiet time together. We spent a lot of it just quietly hanging out and reading at our hotel, with some walking around Laguna Beach shopping area and the beach scene. The thing that struck me as the most different from my mom-life was just sitting on a bench on the boardwalk for an hour or so, chatting with a guy who was quite a local character. We could never sit that long and chat with anyone with the boys circulating around us. It was fun to people-watch and hear this guy's stories.

The view from our balcony.

Dinner downstairs in the hotel restaurant.

Fun to be on the beach at night with all the pretty lights on the water.

Our room at the Pacific Edge hotel - affordable with fun decor and very clean and comfortable.

A fun alley we walked through.

I love the dark green with dark wood and iron, and the big beautiful tree.

We got out early in the  morning for a walk on the beach. 

We enjoyed having breakfast at the Orange Inn, and then came across this charming pot bellied surfer Santa on the way back.