Christmas

Christmas

Heaven's Gift

Heaven's gift has come to man.

Mortal fate rests

Within tiny hallowed hands.

Shepherds singing, a shining star,

Angels proclaiming,

Kings bearing gifts from afar.

A scene of serene glory,

The weight of a holy hush,

The meaning of heaven's story,

'Twas God's first CHRISTmas gift to us.

Who would recall the power of that day,

At the time when He was led away,

Bearing a crown, a robe, and fateful wounds?

Was He not the gift from heaven's womb?

Shall we turn from that holy day

And walk away unchanged?

Will we allow it to envelope our souls

Only to let it slowly slip away?

Through plastic, tinsel, parties and gifts,

Shopping, planning, and Christmas lights lit,

Can the simple gift be heard or seen,

Or does it quietly fade behind holiday sheen?

Let us not forget that He loves us so.

He loves us too much to let us go.

He sent a plan with His sacrifice

To forgive and cleanse and give us life.

Embrace the greatest gift of all;

Don't let your sense of the manger wane.

The gift of heaven is yours to receive.

It was the true reason He came.

2nd Annual Christmas Tree Hunt

Dan and I decided that every year we will go and cut down our own Christmas tree. Last year we found this wonderful tree farm run by the nicest man ever. However that was his last year, he was headed for retirement. So, this year we ended up going a little farther up north to this great tree farm. Since Dan and I work opposite weekends and most shifts, we only had Wednesday to go. We had the entire tree farm to ourselves and had so much fun picking out a tree, despite how cold it was. We decided since last year I picked out the tree, Dan had the privilege this year. He found the perfect tree!

Just a few to pick from

Someone is excited to find a Christmas tree!!!

2nd runner up.

The winner.....

Our Christmas Tree

Our tree... Dan was ready to cut it down, it was COLD outside!!!

The tree is almost 8 feet. Now on to decorating.

Washington, D.C. Zoo

So, as excited as I was to go to all the museums in D.C. I was even more excited to check out the zoo. Dan and I met Amy and the girls there and had fun checking out all the exciting animals they had. My favorites were the panda bears. However, I must admit the Hippo stole the show while we were there. This is a HUGE animal. I am amazed that they can even walk!!

--ELEPHANTS--

THE AMAZING HIPPO

The hippo eyeing us all and thinking about getting out of the water. Wow were we in for a surprise!

PANDA BEARS

Dan sitting next to the panda

Someone had a long day!

Looks like Dan sleeping

Panda off enjoying some bamboo

Elyse and Felicity sitting next to the sleeping Panda

Dan going head on with a dinosaur

Mount Vernon

We spent Halloween at Mount Vernon. The picture above is George Washington's Home. The view is inspiring! What an amazing place he called home. If you ever get a chance to go to Washington D.C., this is a must see. There are some really great museums on Mt. Vernon but just walking around the property is worth it.

Below are views from the house in the yard.

Felicity enjoying the great weather, the view and just being along for the ride.

Elyse decided she was tired of sitting in the back of the stroller and started busting out of the back of the stroller while we were taking pictures. Needless to say it made us all laugh!!

We are alive!

Yes, we are alive! It has been a busy few months. Between moving, our vacation to D.C., starting a new job and just the holiday busyness. Something had to be put on hold while I found my head. So bear with me as I update the blog.

Our new house is wonderful, it is feeling more and more like our home each day. We truly feel blessed. Remember you are always welcome anytime!

Where to start? We moved into the house and less than two weeks later we found ourselves on a plane going to Washington, D.C. to visit my best friend Amy and her family and Dan's friend Rob from Drake. How thoughtful that they both located near each other so we could come and visit them in one trip. We had a fabulous time. We spent the first couple of days with Amy and Jared and their two adorable twin girls. Dan jumped right in getting to know the girls, and they really seemed to take a liking to him. We were able to spend Halloween with them, Visit George Washington's home, go to the Zoo and just hang out. Amy and the girls went out of their way to ensure we had a great trip, and we did! Thank you Amy.

Amy and the girls ready for Halloween. Could they be any cuter?


Rob was also gracious enough to host us while we were in D.C., what a great guy! We had a wonderful time with him. Rob is very up on the up and comings of D.C. so needless to say he took us to some great places. I am pretty sure he told us about the best place for coffee in D.C. I have not had coffee that great since I was in Europe.We were in heaven! One day for fun we spent the afternoon looking at houses in the district. I think Dan and I walked away with an even greater appreciation for our new house, what a value we got! Thanks Rob for having us, we look forward to our next visit. Remember, you can always move to MN!!!

Moved In

Just a quick update... we are officially moved into our house! However, there seems to be a million boxes to go through and our garage is currently a huge maze. It was quite a week. Closing went well. It actually was the easiest part of the process. We raced home took out the carpet and got the floor ready for the new flooring, had a garage door opener installed and had guys tearing up the rest of our floor all in the same day. It was a very busy place!! Moving Thursday went well (thanks to all of our friends that helped out, could not have done it without you!!). Friday we were officially finished at the townhouse and even had time to go over to my parents for my Mom's birthday dinner. Today we unpacked the kitchen, ran and got some things for the house, planted shrubs and bushes for our landscaping and even got two pumpkins. Needless to say, at the end of the day we are more than ready for bed. We will post more once we are a little more settled in.

Fishin With Uncle DAN

Alaena came over last night to play for a few hours. I wish that I could have recorded her saying Dan’s name…it would crack you up. First, she LOVES Dan and said his name all night long. When she calls for Dan it is almost like she transforms into an old German Lady with thick accent. It was making us all laugh last night. Next time she is over we will have to try to get her to say it on camera.

We had a lot of fun playing with all the neighborhood kids. We also taught her how to drink out of a straw and who could resist showing her how to blow bubbles in her water? I must admit we also let her do other things that only Aunts and Uncles let their nieces do. However, her favorite thing was playing the fishing game with Uncle Dan. Dan is looking forward to taking her “big kid” fishing in the future. Grandpa and Grandma came over for a little while to hang out. Here is Grandma and Alaena reading an animal book together. She knows her animals VERY well.

Less Than A Week!!

Hard to believe that all the waiting for our home to be finished is coming to an end. I apologies that it has been so long since we have posted anything. I feel like I closed my eyes and September was gone! We have been busy getting ready for the big move. We are set to close next Tuesday and we are very excited. There seems to be a lot to get done, but daily we are checking things off the ever growing to do list.

Besides the move to look forward to, I am starting a new job at one of the local hospitals. I am excited to be back in the hospital setting working as an RN. I have deeply missed it. I will be working the Day/Evening rotation. I am hoping to get as close to Dan's schedule as possible (if you think about it... please pray about that for us).

We are also excited to be able to go and visit our friends in Washington D.C. We will be able to visit Amy, Jared, and the girls for a few days and see their new place and spend time with them. We will also be able to spend a few days with Rob. Dan is already talking about all the guitar he is going to play while we are there. Both Amy and Rob were in our wedding party and dear friends of ours.

So, with all that said, please think of us this next week as we pack, clean, paint, move and unpack our new home. We are so excited to be in there and have you all visit. Please know you are welcome anytime! I will try to post some pictures once we are all settled in, but for the tour.. you will just have to visit.

Hope you are all having a great week and enjoying this wonderful fall weather!

Meet The Neighbors

I think that ever since I was young I have sworn that I would never live next to my parents, not even remotely close to them. I wanted to move far away! Funny how things have a way of changing. This past month my parents were able to move to the same town that Dan and I live in. Now...with that said, I must clarify that they have owned this land for over 10 years!! So, I guess we would have to say that Dan and I moved into their town. It has been so nice being able to be close to them and just stop by when we want to say hi. We are looking forward to spending time at their new home and enjoying the 10 acres of land they have. Welcome to the neighborhood!

One Last Summer Harrah

We were able to get out of town this past weekend and enjoy the great outdoors. Savanna Portage State Park has a lot to offer. We were able to hike, ride our bikes on trails, fish and just enjoy being outside. As a child, I came up here to hang out at a friend of the families cabin which is located in this state park.

Pictures from our hike around Loon Lake are below.
It was a rugged trail, but very pretty.





The two pictures above are from our hike to the North/South Continental Divide.
Well worth the hike!


Our trusted tent that has never gotten us wet yet!!!
(Thanks Warden's, One of the best wedding gifts we got!!)

Dan helping cook.


Dan relaxing taking it all in.