Merry Christmas

Oh man, I really wanted to post pictures of our fun Christmas weekend in Kansas, but left my camera there. I love hanging out with family! We mostly hung out, ate wonderful food and played some games. Mom and dad babysat while Brian, Leann, Mike, Tina and us went to tour the Salt Mines. It was interesting going 650 ft. below the ground and learning about what is stored in the mines as well as how they mine. We enjoyed Christmas...watching the kiddos get excited about their gifts. Tina and I tried to play Christmas "duets" on piano, but I think everyone was tired of hearing us:) Our newest nephew is adorable. He was Santa this year with his costume. We had so much fun with all of the nieces and nephews! Wish we didn't have somewhat blizzard driving conditions coming home and wish Christmas was not over already!

Celebrating the season

We haven't blogged for a little while, because we have been busy enjoying the season. I guess busy is the operative word. A week ago we went to see "White Christmas" at the Denver Performing Arts Theatre. It was amazing! The actors/actresses dressed in fur with snow falling from ceiling in the whole theatre as well as LOTS of snow falling outside, too. White Christmas was the first movie we watched together.

This last week Paul's parents visited. As always, we had fun visiting antique shops and Paul's dad took a stain glass class and made a beautiful bowl. We enjoyed seeing the lights at the Botanicals, too.

Saturday I had my wonderful "brunch bunch" over (friends from college and surrounding area) and we had a great time talking and catching up. So cozy to spend time with friends and family this time of year especially.

Winter Wonderland

This weekend we experienced December's winter wonderland in the mountains. Our neighbors, Jenn & Mike and us went up to the mountains and enjoyed skiing, scrapbooking and hiking through the snow. I even learned how to cook vegan. We had a great time and we are so glad for wonderful neighbor friends!

His Page

Lately my prayer has been that Paul and my desires would be the same as God's. I know He says, "My ways are not your ways", but I want to be on the same page with God especially regarding children. As we have walked out decisions regarding building our family, I feel like we have walked it out "His way" and let Him guide us, yet nothing comes to fruition. Last night I was truly discouraged with it all and cried out to Him again to show us His ways!
This morning Paul turned the radio on to Focus on the Family and there were guests from Global Action, a ministry to orphans. They were talking about the horrible conditions orphans live in in India. Kids live literally in the dumps with swollen bellies and lice bitten faces. These guests have gone in and started a Hope Center for orphaned children as well as recruited Indian couples to take these children in as their own. As Paul and I listened to this this morning, we were both teary-eyed. It has taken all of this brokenness in our lives to start to get on the same page as Jesus' heart. We became so excited for the years to come, in a little over 2 years Paul will probably be retired from the Air Force and we can be a part of ministry to orphans like this! Yes, God has heard our prayers for a family, but I think he has heard the cries of his orphan children as well and will do what it takes to get us out of our comfy cozy home and change our thought processes to be more in line with His. Thank you, Lord, for letting us go through this pain of wanting something so bad, so that our hearts will be broken to see your bigger picture.

Thanksgiving with the Houge Crew

What a fun celebration weekend we had with Paul's fam in Minnesota. We have 11 Houge nieces and nephews and they are all growing up! oh my! I haven't been to Minnesota since last New Year's and in the meantime Austin's (6th grader) voice has changed and he is quite the hockey player. We got to see him play on Friday. The 2 year olds, Greta, Noah & Cole are little talkers. Lauren and John are amazing swimmers and I didn't even recognize Madison...I thought she was her older sister. Needless to say, it was a great trip catching up with everyone. I even met a lot of Paul's cousins. I wish miles didn't keep us so far away. Pictured is Greta, our Goddaughter.

A Weekend to Remember

Wow, what an amazing weekend. We decided to take advantage of our pre-kiddos days and go to a marriage conference this weekend in Estes Park. We thought, we have a great marriage, but let's go check this out anyways. Well, we realized that we have some communication issues, but received tools to enhance that. I think I cried so much this weekend at meaningful stories as well as just how wonderful of a guy I married. Today we listened to a tape recorded by couples married more than 50 years. It made me so joyfully teary-eyed thinking about the many memories Paul and I have to come in our marriage together. We are so excited about bringing our marriage to another level. We would recommend this conference to any couple...it truly is "A Weekend to Remember". Oh, when we woke up this morning there were elk grazing right outside our balcony. That was a sweet God gift.

Dessert with the Steiners

Ramona's parents have been in town and came over last night for dessert and fun. I loved making a gourmet dessert and paul was so excited about making a fire in our pit:) We had a great time catching up with the Steiners.