Good Tidings We Bring

 Happy Belated Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas from the Dellinger Clan. The last month has flown by and we've made many wonderful memories. We celebrated Thanksgiving with good friends and good food. The day after Thanksgiving, I was pretty pumped to go ahead and decorate for Christmas. I feel like Christmas is such a short season, I want to enjoy it as much as we can. I came to quickly regret my decision and realized that having a decorated tree with a mischievous 1 year old, it's not as much fun. I'm pretty sure I had to add an extra 50 "No thank you's!" to my dialogue per day.

 I spiced up my burlap wreath with "the perfect bow". Thank you Pinterest. Justin, the kids and I really did enjoy decorating this year. We utilized Sadie's morning nap time so we could really enjoy it with just Jude. It's always fun to go through the ornaments Justin's Mom and my Mom collected over the years to hand down to us.

 The day after we decorated, we had Sadie's baby dedication at our church. (Ok, I despise how my outfit turned out. I went with ankle booties and definitely should have gone with taller boots, or nude leggings. Terrible fashion error folks.) Any who, onto things that really matter, I can not say enough how incredibly thankful I am for our church family. God's faithfulness in providing a church family wherever we've landed never ceases to amaze me.

As I mentioned before, December truly did come in a whirlwind, as I'm sure it does for most families. Jude and I enjoyed doing a story book with daily devotionals for the Advent during our school Bible time. We enjoyed fun holiday crafts and lots of learning about J is for Jesus, a 3 wise men puzzle, and helping the shepherds find baby Jesus scavenger hunt.

Justin and I also enjoyed a couple's only Christmas party which was definitely a  treat. I forget sometimes what it's like to socialize without children.

Here comes the real part. Christmas was hard this year. Even though we didn't travel home last year either, this year was harder. Last year, Sadie was only 5 weeks old, so we had very good reason not to fly and I was still in survival mode. This year, it just made sense financially for us to wait a few weeks and save a good chunk of change. I know we made the right decision, but it was very hard to not be with family. I also think a piece of this was that there wasn't much difference for me. In the past, while teaching, we counted down to a break and my schedule was different. This year, Justin worked on Christmas Eve, so without plans, it truly was like any other day. This is just something I'm not used to. Both mine and Justin's families have big family traditions on Christmas Eve, so it was really strange not to be a part of it.

Everyone but me was also sick on Christmas Day. Lots of runny noses and even a low grade fever by mid afternoon. :( A sweet friend and her family had invited us over for Christmas dinner, so the plans we did have, we had to cancel as to not infect any one else. This isn't a big deal, but I guess it was the first year ever that I really didn't get to be/do something special and I threw myself a big ole pity party. When the kids went down for a nap (and Justin too), I did a quiet time and man did I get hammered. The Lord reminded me that He is my source of JOY, not my circumstances. And man, do I have so many things to be thankful for. Thankful for His truth to bring me back to where I need to be.

With that said, onto cute pictures of my sweet babies to end this long "catch up" post.

 When Jude went to sleep on Christmas Eve, I reminded him that Saint Nicholas would bring him gifts, as soon as he falls asleep. Without hesitation he said, "Mommy, you might should leave now." (This is funny coming from the kid who is always asking for "1 more minute" of Mommy time.)

 And this princess is such a ham. She is beginning to talk up a storm. In just the last few weeks she's added many words to her vocabulary including words for bath, Jude, hat, and off. Her new favorite things to do is bark like a dog, have you thump your chest like a gorilla, and stomp. She loves to stomp. She cracks herself up. She's also become very attached to her baby, which is pretty adorable.

 Sibling love...they really do get along quite well.

 Christmas Eve!

 Jude's Christmas list was comprised of animals, that was it. He got almost all the ones he asked for, which included things like a tapir, an okapi, a toucan, and an elk. You can certainly tell he is the son of a wildlife biologist. He also enjoyed his surprises that weren't on his list. :)

Sadie loved her new kitchen, play food, and baby doll stroller. Her new bear slippers are also among the favorites, to help with her slight obsession with shoes.

Justin did well and got me a very nice pair of snow boots, which with the snow we got over the last few days, it was perfect timing.

Again, I still can't quite believe Christmas 2014 has come and gone, but I am so thankful for family, friends, our health and the many other blessings God has given to us. He is truly the reason for the season, the source of our hope and joy.

Until 2015...Happy New Year!