Our Christmas in pictures (and some words)

Wow, are we exhausted or what.  All four of us.  We have had a beautiful and blessed several days and are ready to recuperate.  I keep saying, "NEXT year" will be easier, more relaxing, less stressful, more rested, etc.  Finally, I do think it will be next year.  Even though we are all wiped out, we are so, so thankful for the family time and joy we experienced this Christmas.  You can see it through these pictures. I felt so grateful for my healthy and joyous family.  I am so thankful we all truly enjoy being together and that there is no family drama.  As I lay in bed trying to sleep last night, I kept thanking Jesus that my children (and Josh and I) were healthy on Christmas.  That has been my prayer for a long time and I am so thankful He answered it.

On Friday Josh and I took a vacation day and had a date day to celebrate our birthdays.


Grandpa came into town from Florida on Saturday.  We had pizza at Mom's house that night and then Grandpa, my dad, mom, Chris and Bailey came over Sunday morning for brunch.


Because of a scheduling conflict on Christmas, Santa came to our house early!  We left him cookies and he ate them, with just a few crumbs left behind!  Max keeps randomly saying, "Santa ate all the cookies!".


On Christmas Eve morning Claire woke up early screaming, "Is Santa here?!?!".  I checked downstairs and gave her the all clear.  Then she said, "Maybe Santa is in the basement listening to records!!".  Here they are admiring the presents that Santa brought, that coincidentally were wrapped in the SAME paper that they picked out at Target.  Next year Mama's gotta be more savvy.


As we were opening Santa presents before 7:00AM, I noticed that it was snowing outside.  Magical.  I tried to capture the moment, which is hard to see in this picture, but I remember it in my heart.


Claire loves her new baby doll.


After a relaxing morning, Grandpa Leroy, Uncle Chris, Aunt Becky and Bailey came over for brunch and presents.


Auntie Whitney and Bailey.







After Josh and the kids napped (and I did a boatload of dishes, packed the diaper bag, ran to the liquor store for wine, charged and packed up the camcorder and camera and loaded the presents into the car), we went to church.  Our church had over 20,000 people come on Christmas Eve!!


After church, we went to Nana's for lasagna dinner and presents.  She is the most amazing cook ever.  We're so thankful to have my Grandpa here from Florida.


Celebrating our 12th Christmas together! We're old!


Max got a lot of "Buzz! Woody!" stuff and was so happy.


Christmas morning we left the house bright and early to go to Northfield for Mara's baptism.


Papa and Omi watching the baptism, with Claire and Max.


I love this picture of Josh's family!


We had lunch at Omi and Papa's house and opened stocking gifts (we have Christmas with Josh's family again this Saturday!). Claire looked SO darling in her Christmas outfits this year!


Max looked pretty cute too.


The five Docken grandkids.


Max loves him some Mara.


While the kids napped at the farm, the adults played Catchphrase.  Later that afternoon, we went back to Nana's house for dinner with the usual gang, plus Brad's kids and their kids.  Claire and Cambrie had a blast together, as usual.


I am so glad to be off work the rest of the week.  We're taking it easy today and going back to my mom's for dinner tonight with grandpa (We're having leftovers! Oh, I forgot to mention the amazing meal she made last night- cornish hens, swedish meatballs, roasted broccoli, mashed potatoes and gravy, amazing cooked carrots, bread, and molten chocolate lava cakes.  Mom and Grandpa were in the kitchen cooking from 9:00AM until 5:30PM STRAIGHT!  What a blessing this meal was.  They cooked for 8 1/2 hours and we devoured it in like 15 minutes!).

Tomorrow we don't have any plans and I think I'll take the kids to the mall to see if we can score any clearance deals. Friday we have a playdate with Ami and her crew, and then Saturday is Christmas again!

I hope your Christmas was magical and blessed as well!

My thoughts on Sandy Hook (and others who say it much better)

I have been profoundly affected by the horror that took place at Sandy Hook, like any other parent, I'm sure.  The worst for me is at night.  I can't look at the pictures of those precious children anymore. They look so familiar.  I imagine, with just the very limited ability that I can, what it would feel like to be the mother of Emilie or Jessica or Dylan.  The grief gives me physical pain and I realize this is just one billionth of the pain that those parents feel.

To me, the most common themes since the massacre appear to be:

1) Gun control
2) Mental illness
3) God

I agree we need to address gun control.  I think we need better gun control, but that is just part of the problem, or the solution, as it should be.   That's pretty much the extent of the Democrat in me. :)

I also agree that we need to address the lack of resources for those individuals and families struggling with mental illnesses.  This article, titled, "I am Adam Lanza's Mother" was so chilling, it kept me awake for part of last night.  Jail is not the answer to mental illness.

Third, and not surprisingly, the topic of God continues to be at the forefront. Did God abandon those children?  Did God cause this?  Did God not stop the attack because we have shut him out of our schools? Is there even a God, because what kind of God would allow for 20 little souls to be stripped from their parents days before Christmas?

The question of "why bad things happen to good people" is a tough one, to say the least.  I have always struggled with my own perspective on this and with having thoughts to share with others. This post, "The Gospel and Newton", is the best biblically-based explanation I have ever read.  I am so grateful to have stumbled upon this blog post.  I learned more theology in the 10-15 minutes I spent carefully digesting the post than I have in several years.  I highly encourage you read it.

I also thoroughly enjoyed this article, "God can't be kept out".  Worth your read. She said it a hundred times better than I could.

I believe God's tears were the first that were shed. His heart is shattered.  He didn't will for that massacre to occur.  God didn't just need more angels in Heaven.  Those children need to be with their parents.  Probably more so, those parents need to be with their children.  Parents should never bury their children, but God knows what that feels like too.

I pray that this is a turning point in our history.

What she says

This is Claire early in the morning on December 6th, when she first spotted the gifts that Saint Nicholas left for them.  How beautiful is she?!  I just love her.

The other day when I was getting ready for work, I said, "Do NOT give me a hug!" so she gave me a hug. Then I said, "do NOT give me a kiss!" so she laughed and gave me a kiss.  Then she smiled and said, "Mom, do NOT give me a graham cracker!!"  How fast they pick up on reverse psychology!




This cheese face has to go.  Claire is wearing new size 4T jammies in this picture and they are MASSIVE on her.  Tonight Claire got (yet another) injury.  Max sat next to her and said, "Care, feel better. I want Care feel better".




She's a good baking helper.  And she insists on helping me wrap presents (by placing the tape ever so carefully) which makes it take 3x as long but I try my best to be patient with her.

Today Omi put an outfit on Claire's paper doll and Claire said she looked like a "hot mess"!

Yesterday morning I was getting ready for work, while Claire laid sweetly at my feet. She looked at me thoughtfully and said, "Mom, you sound so beautiful when you talk.  I wish I sounded beautiful like you when I talk".

The Price

We didn't even know that we needed him.  After struggling through a miscarriage and a number of rounds of fertility treatments, we were enjoying our new little family of three.  As you know, we were literally shocked when we learned that another life was growing within me.  We didn't know that we needed him, but God did.

When Max was a newborn, I reflected a great deal on how much of an impact having a newborn baby boy at Christmas time had on me.  That year, Christmas became more than a story to me. The weight of the price that was paid became more real in my heart, and I felt a glimmer of the weight in my arms, literally, as I held my own newborn baby boy and reflected on how Mary must have felt, doing the same, but knowing that her son had come to save the world.





I wonder if God knew that not only did we need this son, but that we needed him at that very time. At Christmas.

Today we braved the snow and nasty roads to go to church. Max did surprisingly well in his class- he didn't even cry!  The first thing Claire said when we picked her up was, "Did Maxy cry today? Did he do okay?"  When I told her that he did great, she said, "It must be because he's two now!"

The message was on Joseph.  I didn't realize before today that there is not one recorded word from Joseph in the New Testament. Yet, his compassion and mercy spoke volumes.

They showed a filmed parody of a modern-day Dad, getting in the character of Joseph for a play.  He roamed the streets of Minneapolis, in his beard and cloak.  He scared his elementary age son when he made his son tell him, "There is no room for you at the inn". "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE IS NO ROOM?!  YOU JUST WANT MY WIFE TO HAVE A BABY OUTSIDE?! HOW IS THERE NO ROOM FOR US?!?!".

They showed three short clips of this modern-day Dad, dressed as Joseph, and the third clip made both me and Josh cry, but we were in good company as I heard a lot of sniffles surrounding me.  I thought for a second there was an apple in my throat and my tears came more freely when I glanced over at Josh and saw a couple tears fall from his eye.

In the clip, the modern-day Joseph walked into the living room, where his wife was holding their baby son. He had his get-up on and said he was ready to go perform in the play.

He stopped...and removed his fake beard. He looked tenderly at his baby boy.

He said, "I couldn't do it".




"Do what?", his wife asked.

"I couldn't do it.  I couldn't give up my son."




"The world would be out of luck".  

That was the price. It's amazing to think about.



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In other news, how much worse is snow once you're an adult?! (and have a nasty commute?) Although, Max isn't too fond of it either.  Of course, our snowblower wouldn't start today. And I'm dreading my 2+ hour commute tomorrow, so I may just work from home!












Josh got on my case for taking pictures and not putting Max out of his misery sooner.  Me? I think these pictures were well worth a minute of torture. :)

Weekend recap

The weekend started out dramatic.  Josh spent a good part of the day on Thursday at the hospital in the emergency room, for an excruciating migraine, shortness of breath, chest pains, and a rapid heart-rate.  Then, Friday night Max woke up at 10:30PM and seemed to be choking.  Let me tell you, it was terrifying.  I pounded on his back with my heel and he finally started breathing freely again.  I held him for thirty minutes before putting him back to bed.  An hour later, he woke up doing the same thing.  I even briefly considered calling an ambulance. Fortunately, it stopped once again.  He didn't have another episode the rest of the night but did wake up every 30-60 minutes crying.  Josh was still recovering (it's now Sunday and he's still recovering!) so I got a lot of quality time with my Maxers.

On Saturday morning, I attended our church's Women's Christmas Brunch with my friend Rachel.  I am so glad we went! It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed some time outside, followed by dinner at the Park's house.



Tomorrow is my brother's 34th birthday. I pray that Claire and Max's relationship when they are adults is as meaningful and close as my and my brother's relationship.  I am so, so thankful for him, which I wrote about here on his 30th birthday.  I love you, Chris.


Josh was still under the weather today and Max wasn't feeling great himself, so Claire and I went to church together.  The message was on Mary, mother of Jesus, and it was so good.  I just love how God used a common, ordinary girl with extraordinary faith to bear His beloved son.  God often chooses the least likely to do his most important work, because He wants it to be clear who is doing the work. He chooses you, too.

Afterwards, I hosted our second annual Christmas baking day!!  So fun.  Nana and Claire started off by unwrapping the rolos.  Max said, "I'll help!", jumped onto Nana's lap, unwrapped a candy, and put it right into his mouth!  All three of them thought it was hilarious.



Isn't Movember over, babe?


Laurie, Becky (with Bailey!) and Shayla





These little kiddos were angels during our almost six hours of baking!!  They played so well together and you hardly knew they were here!


My loverboy giving his buddy Landon a hug when it was time to go.


Ah, a full five-day week ahead of me.  Have a blessed one!

Pictures and thoughts and stuff.

We had our second round of Thanksgiving last night at my mom's.  We really enjoy spending time with Brad's kids and grandchildren.  This morning, much to Max's delight, Josh served in Max's sunday school room.  As we were just walking down the hall to his classroom, Max's eyes filled with tears and he started saying, "no...no...no..no..". Poor little guy.  I hope he starts enjoying his sunday school soon, or, at least stop being terrified!  Josh said that all of the little toddlers were glued to him the entire time.

Claire continues to grow up before our eyes.  Yesterday we had a playdate with the cousins at Jesse and Ben's house.  Afterwards, the four moms went out to lunch while the dads took the kids home to nap.  When we're home, I am always the one who has to put Claire to nap and bed.  I tuck her in and make sure to leave the door all the way open.  Yesterday, Claire told Josh, "I'll tuck myself in and I'll close my door, ALL BY MYSELF".  Sure enough, she closed the door (what?!) and he didn't hear a peep for a couple hours!  And, this morning, she ran right into her sunday school room all by herself, pulled up a chair, and started coloring.  Didn't need any help finding a spot from me.  These are big milestones for Claire.

Precious Bailey at my mom's house.


Max, Cambrie, and Claire.



Took some close-up pictures this afternoon, to capture the little details of her sweet face.






After an enjoyable visit from Auntie Heather and Uncle Sean, we put up the tree together.


Daddy, Claire and Stella


Taking a break from the tree to steal a kiss from my sweet boy.



It was such a wonderful four-day break.  Sigh.  I am feeling God's presence already this holiday season.  We just finished an amazing sermon series at church, titled "worship, grow, impact".  At the "Impact" service, all several thousand of us were individually anointed with oil on our forehead and sent out to impact others for God, in the name of Jesus Christ.  I'm praying that every day of this holiday season is a holy day. 30 days. There's only 30 days between now and Christmas Day, when this season is all over.  These days go by in a flash.  Especially the weekdays when we're in a crazy busy routine. I'm trying to be intentional about noticing each day and making each day holy (I love how holy means "set apart").  I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done, so I don't need to focus on the hustle and bustle of the stores.  I'm hosting a 2nd annual ladies baking day at my house next weekend and looking forward to attending our church's Women's Christmas brunch with my dear friend Rachel.  I'm looking forward to all of the little things with my children- baking, wrapping presents, driving around the neighborhood in the evening to stare at the lights in wonder.  Many different celebrations with family. Quiet evenings after the kids go to bed, sitting with my honey in front of the Christmas tree.  I pray that these 30 days aren't just a blur and soon a distant memory.  I love this season.

Thanksgiving (I'm back)

My blog slacking knows no end.  Once I found out that I reached my maximum capacity for photos on Blogger my motivation declined dramatically.  Because how fun is a blog post without pictures?  Everyone knows you read blogs for the pictures.  BUT- I am now hosting the pictures from Photobucket and just pasting the HTML code so we're back in business.

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving today.  We started off the day with a light breakfast at Chris and Becky's house.  One of the things I am most thankful for today is the birth of my two new nieces and one new nephew, all in the past six months.  Maverick Barrett, Mara AnnMarie, and Bailey Rose-- all three such a blessing to our family!

Claire is thankful for her new cousins too.  We both love to hold the babies.



The three cousins on "my side".  This picture doesn't do anything to lessen my yearning for three children.


Max just adores babies.  He talks about them even when they're not around. "Baby Maverit precious...baby Mara precious.... baby Bai-ey Rose precious..." he chants.  I think you're precious too, buddy.



My dad with his grandkids.


The beautiful new family!  More than ever, I love having them live just down the street, in the same neighborhood! (Did Becky really have a baby just seven days ago?  She looks amazing!)


Then we headed to the farm for our big Thanksgiving lunch with Omi, Papa and the Parks.


Max learned today that his daddy knows how to drive a tractor. Max got to go on a long tractor-ride, lucky dude.


Can you believe we're adding a fifth newborn cousin to this daycare clan in a couple weeks?  God bless Omi!


After naps, the extended family came over for dessert and a playdate.  The kids are so lucky to grow up not only with their immediate cousins but with their second cousins (or is it first cousins, once removed? I can't keep that straight for the life of me) and great aunts and great uncles too!


After the playdate, we went to my mom's house to have dinner with her and Grandpa Brad.  She made a delicious pork roast with potatoes and carrots.  This was my first attempt ever at using the self-timer on my DSLR.  I love Max's cheese face.


We got home at 7:00PM, skipped bath and put the kids straight to bed!  We're all exhausted but happy to have ate so much amazing food  spent the day with our incredible families.  So thankful, for so much.

And we have Thanksgiving, round two on Saturday!

I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. Psalm 69:30