On the 3rd day of Christmas...

...we were in Freeport, IL!

 

We spent the week we were in IL with Jeff's mom & dad, in his hometown of Freeport.  We celebrated Christmas with his immediate family -- the 13 of us + 3 dogs -- on Saturday, Dec 29.  Jeff has 3 brothers, one older and two younger, and we were all able to be there for Christmas so it was a full house, but we all enjoyed being together.

 

Grandpa Duane (Jeff's dad) and Deacon played Santa, handing out presents to everyone and then we all tore in.  We got some really great things, but it was just nice to be with all of Jeff's brothers and their families for the day.  Deacon entertained us all, of course, but we enjoyed spending time by the fire, eating good food, building puzzles & playing cards.  We all get along great and it's always nice to spend time with them...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ clock that Jeff made for his mom ]

 

 

 

 

[ Grandpa Duane & Grandma Sherry with their grandkids ]

 

 

On the 2nd day of Christmas...

...we were in Lena, IL!

 

By Christmas day, we'd made it through our flights with no problems at all, and we'd been in IL (or "the frozen tundra", as I like to call it :) for 12 hours.  We all gathered in Lena, IL to celebrate Christmas at the request of Jeff's Grandma Wenzel.  She sent invitations/requests out LAST Christmas asking that everyone join her and Grandpa Wenzel for Christmas 2012.  And here we all were!

 

And when I say "we all", I mean ALL 30 OF US.  There were 15 grandkids and 7 great-grandkids, and the rest were those from which we all stemmed.  I think I mentioned that Jeff has a large family.  :)

 

With that many peeps, we ended up at a community center in Lena so we'd have plenty of room to spread out and fellowship together.  We always eat good with Jeff's family, and this occasion was no exception.  We had all kinds of food, not to mention tons of yummy desserts.  We stuffed ourselves while catching up with everyone.

 

Before the meal, we put together "the pyramid" -- a long-standing tradition amongst the grandkids (and now the great-grandkids).  It's always a lot of fun and we have someone on standby to snap a photo before we all tumble to the ground.  We were only missing 2 of the 22 kids from the photo.

 

After we ate, Grandpa & Grandma gave gifts to their great-grandkids, and then had a couple of activities planned for the rest of us.  We all did a lot of laughing through that.  Then Grandpa Wenzel got up to speak.  He doesn't do that much so we all tuned in to listen to him speak about the history of the Wenzel name.  It was really interesting for me to hear, being one who is blessed to have married into the family.  We heard history of all the kids, one of them being Jeff's dad, and then a little of how each family shaped up.  It was a special time.

 

The day was made special by the time we got to spend with those we don't see very often, given the distance that separates us.  It was good to be with family on Christmas day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the 1st day of Christmas...

...we were in Holly Ridge!

 

We got to celebrate Christmas 4 times this year!

1. in Holly Ridge, NC; our little family -- the 3 of us
2. in Lena, IL; Jeff's (very large) extended family -- the 30 of us
3. in Freeport, IL; Jeff's immediate family -- the 13 of us
4. in Lexingon, NC; Lindsay's immediate family -- the 11 of us

So the "first day of Christmas" for us was on Sunday, Dec 23.  Our church changed their schedule a bit on this day, deciding not to have our Connect Groups (SS classes) meet, nor were they having their early service at 8am.  Considering that we teach 2 Connect Groups on Sundays so we HAVE to go to the 8am service, that gave us quite a break.  A break I welcomed with open arms!

 

Not that I don't love our Connect Groups, cuz I do -- so whole-heartedly!  And not that I don't love the 8am service, cuz I do.  But it IS early.  Even earlier for us since we have to set up our room each week before we go to that service, so that it's ready for our CGs at 9:30 and then again at 11.

 

So.  Considering that we weren't having any of the above, we DID get a break!  We got to sleep in, for one.  We love us some sleep in the Wenzel house.  :)

 

We decided to do our Christmas as a family that morning since we'd have more time before needing to head to church for the 9:30am service.  Deacon did pretty good, but I think after hearing from us that he couldn't touch the presents under the tree (until we said he could), he was a little hesitant to tear into them.  :)

 

He seemed to like everything he got (yay!) and it was a lot of fun to watch him open the presents and then play with what was inside.  There's something about being able to share those special Christmas moments with just your own family.  Even if there are only 3 of you.  :)

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[26 months]

Merry Christmas!

 

2011 Christmas card  |  2010 Christmas card

 

my heart is smiling...

Wowee, are we ever busy?!  I don't know why -- I mean, it's not like we're a week away from Christmas and still trying to get last minute gifts (why are men so hard to buy for??).

 

No, that's not me.  At all.

 

No, there's something else...what was that?  Hmmm...

 

Oh.  Right.

 

We're just trying to get ready for a 9-day trip to IL!  Almost all of Jeff's family lives there and we're all going to be together this year at the request of his Grandma Wenzel.  It's gonna be lots of fun but man, the planning and packing!

 

We're flying up on Christmas Eve and back on New Year's day and y'all, I can't even describe to you how excited I am to get on a plane with my toddler!  Kidding.

 

Totally kidding about that.

 

It probably is going to go much smoother than how I'm picturing it going in my head, especially since we don't have super-long flights or layovers, but I'd rather be prepared for the worst.  Everyone believes my son is an angel, and I would say 85% of the time, he is.  He totally is.  But that other 15%...ooo, lawd.  Thank goodness he's cute.  Sometimes that's the only thing that saves my 2 year old toddler.  :)

 

Aaaaaanyways, I said all.of.that. to say that I wanted to share a sweet little instance that happened at the grocery store last week, in the midst of all the busy-ness.

 

Deacon and I went to the grocery store with a pretty lengthy list of things to get.  Deacon usually does pretty well at the store (especially  if he gets a cookie before or after the trip -- God bless Harris Teeter for those free cookies).

 

I believe I've mentioned that my son is a chatter box.  Yes, I'm sure that's come up here once or twice.

 

And he likes to sing.  Have I mentioned that?  I'm sure I have.  We sing a lot, so he sings a lot.  :)  The song of choice currently is Jingle Bells (pronounced Jinga-Bowel, true story.).

 

Those may seem like random facts to mention right here in the middle of my story, but trust me, friends.  They are not.  They are relative to what is turning into a really long-winded story, wow.

 

Focus, Linds.

 

Okay, right.  So we're in the store and I'm heading down each aisle, chucking stuff in the buggy and crossing things off my list.  And Deacon, well, from the time I sat him in the buggy, he has not.stopped.talking.  Or singing, as the case may be.

 

Seriously.

 

I found myself on about aisle 5 or 6 going, "Buuuuuddy!  Aren't you tired of hearing yourself??"

 

Nope.

 

And the chatter and concert continues.

 

Now don't misunderstand -- I love this about my boy.  I really do.  It's just that once we enter the public realm...I tend to be a little more conscious of just how MUCH he chatters on.  Wow.

 

(I promise there's a point.  And I'm getting to it.)

 

So I finally get all my stuff and make my way up to the checkout line.  I put my list in my purse and look up to find a woman looking our way from another checkout line.  She says, "He is precious!  Oh, my heart is just smiling right now..."

 

Yeah?

 

Well, mine has just swelled to overflowing with love and pride, as it so often does when someone mentions the preciousness and joy of my sweet boy...

[Thanksgiving 2012, 2 years old] 

special birthday presents...

I know I might be stretching this birthday thing out a little bit but I thought it would be fun to share these videos of Deacon playing with a couple of his bigger birthday presents.  The first is what he got from his Grandpa Duane & Grandma Sherry (Jeff's parents), and the second is what we gave him...

  

  

2nd birthday...

2nd birthday party...MUCH different than the first birthday party.

 

Instead of a small family gathering at our house, we partied it UP at a nearby park in Surf City with lots of friends and wind.

 

Yes, lots of wind.  Brrrr.  The party was from 10am-12pm on Nov 3.  Hello, fall!

 

Yeah, I took a risk.  You never know how it's going to be around here.  Had the party been a little later in the day, we would've been fine, but the cold didn't seem to bother the kiddos.  Just the adults.

 

Go figure.

 

 

 

Anyway, we still had lots of sunshine in attendance so that did wonders to ward off the chill.  The kiddos played on the playground for the beginning of the party and then when they started getting hungry, they wandered over to our shelter to grab some party snacks.  We had:

 

chocolate chip pumpkin bread

cheeseballs

goldfish

white cheddar popcorn

cupcakes

(cute little) mini water bottles

 

I did make most of the decorations again this year (it was a train theme), but couldn't do as much as last year since we had to set up outside.  Most of them were on the food table, but I did make a banner than no one could read cuz it was so flippin' windy. 

 

Nice. 

 

It said, "Choo-Choo, Deacon's 2!"  I hung it in our house for a couple weeks after his party, just to get some more mileage out of it.  :)

 

After everyone ate their fill, we spread out a big mat on the ground and let Deacon open his presents.  He did pretty good.  He never wanted to stop opening presents, though he did like to look at each present after it was out of the wrap.  You know, instead of just tearing into the next one. 

 

He gets that from his mama.  ;)

 

 

 

Once again, we had our awesome photographer Larry there to take photos for us.  Best idea I ever had.  He gets all the credit for these fantastic shots of such an important day in the life of our family...

 

 

 

Happy birthday, doodle bug!  We can't believe you're already a happy little toddler!  You bring such joy and laughter to our lives -- we're so blessed that God gave you to us.  We can't wait to see what the next year holds for you.  Love you with as much love as our hearts can hold!