Happy Holidays!

This is our first holiday without family nearby. There's a part of me that is sad, but a part of me is excited to start our own family traditions. So today we had an Italian inspired feast, including six courses. Yes, you heard right, 6 courses!

We didn't go monster elaborate, it being Sunday and all, but we made an exciting discovery (for us anyway). We've quested for years to find "panna", italian table cream that is thickened and makes a fabulous sauce for pasta. Now we've never found anyone that sells it. But yesterday while at Walmart Kendall found something in the Mexican food aisle...a product that seemed suspiciously like panna. We bought a can (a steal at $1.45 instead of the $9.99 if we'd bought actual panna on Amazon) and used it today to throw on tortelloni. A great substitute. I'm thrilled, because it means easy cream sauces, or pink sauces, or other nummy stuff.

So while we miss family, it was fun to start something new for just us. :)

Where to Vacation

So even though Kendall just started a new job, he'll have almost 3 weeks of vacation this year. We have only a couple of months of summer break (the kids start again in the beginning of August), so we have to squeeze it in somehwere between girl's camp and scout camp. We're contemplating all kinds of things, but since we are in essence at least a day away from anywhere, more like 2 days, it's kind of a challenge.

So...any recommendations would be nice. :)

Anniversaries

Anniversaries. We celebrate or commemorate all sorts of occasions with days of remembrance. Our birthday is the first one that's truly important to us. As we get older we find other reasons to stop and recall what made a certain day noteworthy.

Not all anniversaries are happy. But today is one for me. (It is still today, even though it's after midnight as I write this.) Today is our 16th wedding anniversary.

Now this can seem like an eternity to some, and a mere sprinkle of the sands of time to others. But as I sat here pondering this occasion, it occurred to me that when I was sixteen, I was a boy crazy teenager, eager for my first date. I had a very shallow notion of what type of person I would like to marry, other than he fit my standard of "good-looking". I had no idea what it really meant to be married, to bear each other's burdens sometimes, other times yoked together, straining in unison against the weight of life.

I've discovered something...unlovely about myself. I seem to have a knack for getting an idea in my head and continuing with it like the rest of the world no longer exists. Time and time again I have seen the Lord's hand in my life, literally picking me up and moving me out of my place, just to set me on the right path. I'm not sure why I deserve such conscientiousness, but I am eternally grateful for the hands that placed my feet on the road that led me where I am today. I would have been lost, and the Lord knew that, and straightened my road so I wouldn't get confused by the twists and turns.

Love you, K.

And So They Grow...

Andrew lost his 1st tooth today. (I would take a picture but our camera card is having issues.) It was a little scary, with all that pain and all, but he let mom get a good grip on it finally and POP! out it came.

With all my other children I saw this milestone as one for celebration. This is the first time it hit me that my little boy is not so little anymore, and I wished that I might have had a day or two longer.

To top it off, Sarah announced to me this afternoon, "Mom! One more year and all your kids will be in school! What are you going to do with all that time?"

Of course I have a list a mile long for when that day comes, but for right now, that's still a couple of years away. But that will be a sad day. I thought I would never get beyond the baby phase. It was inconceivable. But today it's a little bit closer, all with losing a baby tooth.