Christmas in Iowa

We are back from visiting our family in Iowa. We were blessed to be able to spend almost a week out there over Christmas. The ride out took us 15 hours...a little different then the 10 hour trip it was before we had kids. Typically with kids it takes a good 12 hours, however this time the weather played a factor on the way out there. Once again we were blessed with traveling mercies and are very thankful for that. On the return trip we stayed the night in Davenport IA. It took a little while to find a hotel with a swimming pool that was open (for some reason most of the pools were closed so they could update them to some sort of code) this caused a little stress for dad since he PROMISED Miya if she was a big girl she could go swimming in the hot tub. All ended well (just a little more pricey then expected)!

I don't have a lot of pictures because I left my camera at G and G Hokesbergen's house but I do have a video of what Christmas night looked night and G and G Hokesbergens'. This was acutally quite calm for picture taking. If I would have videoed the the scence of them taking pictures without G and G there it would have been a little louder :)
The great grandkids had a blast playing together (at least I know Miya did). When I think back to Christmas when I was a little girl the best memory is not the gifts, but playing with all of my cousins, and of course getting into trouble with them. We wish our girls could play with there cousins and 2nd cousins more, but know this is how it is to be right now. We treasure the time we are blessed to spend together. I will post more pictures later....I don't have many though.

Update

Mom's surgery went as well as can be expected. She had quite a bit of pain after her surgery and on Tuesday. Today she is feeling better, she even had dad bring her to the grocery store this morning. She still has pain but much less.

As for the Westra family, we are in Iowa after a 15 hour car trip!!! The girls did great (except for about a half hour stretch which is to be expected). Miya enjoyed watching movies in the car and of course her dad spoiled her rotten. She got to pick out ANOTHER baby at a store we stopped at (the three in the car weren't enough). She is having a blast playing with her uncles, aunts, and cousins. Jayden is enjoying being spoiled too!

Today's the Day

Today's the day mom has surgery on her ear to help the symptoms of Minears disease . She has surgery in Detroit at 2:30 today. We pray the Lord will guide the hands of the surgeons and staff as they operate on her ear and give her and dad contentment and comfort as they go into this time of surgery and recovery. We know all things happen according to His will.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Early Christmas

We have been celebrating Christmas this weekend with our Michigan families. Friday night was the Wassink Christmas part at a hotel. Miya enjoyed playing with all of her "adopted" cousins. She really liked pushing her new baby in Brooke and Britney's new strollers. She would wonder off by herself down the hallways with the stroller and babies. She told us "I'm going to Iowa Hawkeyes" and off she would go. She enjoyed swimming too; in the hot tub, not the cold tub (her words).

We also opened presents with my family. The girls are spoiled rotten. Jayden and Miya are digging all of the their new toys. Thanks everyone for the wonderful gifts (Wassink family and Berens family). I'll post more pictures and videos later today.

Merry Christmas

Lotion Time

I really do watch my kids! It may not seem like it…but I really do. I guess it’s more fun to catch the silly things they do then the day-to-day stuff. I don’t think I really need to explain these pictures too much. Miya came by me and said, “it’s okay mom, my pants will dry, it’s okay”. By that time I was smelling the wonderful scent of baby lotion. I asked her what she was doing and she said Jyaden needed lotion. When I walked into the bathroom I saw the top completely OFF the lotion bottle, the contents of it on the girls and the towels. Most of the lotion however ended up in the bathtub…not on the carpet. Which is probably why I grabbed the camera instead of disciplining J Jayden thought it was great, she was licking the lotion off from the side of the tub (I know it’s weird, both of the girls have always had a thing for licking baby lotion). Our house smelled great for a few days!

If you look really close, you can see the big globs of lotion on the tub!

Oh Christmas Tree!

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I have posted! I'm so sorry about that....things have been a little busy round here as I'm sure they have been by all of you too. Here are a few pictures of our 2008 Christmas Tree. This one holds the record for second fattest tree ever! We took the tree home red-neck style--bungee strapped to the handles of the company vehicle. We kinda forgot that we couldn't open the doors once it was strapped down, so....Jayden got to ride home on my lap. Miya did a great job decorating the tree. She got sick of looking for the "perfect" tree and started to cry. Jeff pointed to a seedling and asked her if that would be big enough for the house (after she had told him earlier that it was too small) and she said "ya, let's just get a tree and go back to the barn". She had one thing on her mind, a cookie, hot chocolate, and a candy cane! In the picture she still has some candy cane on her face. Thanks Thurstons' for the great experience!