We made it! It's like a time warp where they show the last ten years of your life in five minutes. There are so many moments and activities that I didn't capture with a camera that these posts are just a very small glimpse of life in the Houseworth household since the end of July. At the beginning of December, we were very privileged to celebrate Adah and Nathaniel's THIRD Gotcha Day. They came home in the wee hours of the morning on December 8th, and our family became complete. It's so strange to celebrate each Gotcha Day because it does feel as if they've been with us forever and at the same time just yesterday that they came home. Family life with them becomes sweeter as we develop common memories that include them now. Nathaniel's behaviors are still more challenging than anything we've ever faced as parents and as a family; we pray that we will see more positive changes in the coming year. He puts us on our knees more than any of the other kids, that's for sure. :) But when the times are good, they are GOOD, and we are thankful for those times. Thank you, Lord, for entrusting all of our children to us. We pray we can be equal to the task!
Although there were many activities, parties, and outings in December, only two made it to the blog (because I remembered my camera for only two! :) ). The second weekend in December we went down to Tennessee to help my stepfather celebrate his 65th birthday. He asked us to come; we didn't just descend upon him without notice - that might kill a man his age! :). He wanted everyone to make the annual trek to Dollywood to see the Christmas lights. The Lord gave us a WONDERFUL day with GREAT weather for riding the rides and enjoying the sights. We didn't go early enough, and we learned our lesson. We just didn't know that our kids would like rollercoasters that much! None of them had ever ridden a real rollercoaster before. Adah even wanted to go on one, and she gets carsick! She was so earnest in her desire that we agreed to let her go, and we warned all of the family not to sit behind her in case she got sick. :) (We're thoughtful like that) Well, Daniel, Shiloh, Cora, Adah, and Abigail rode the fastest rollercoaster first thing, and they loved it! Adah immediately wanted to go again. Daniel became like a kid, wanting to ride every rollercoaster. Abigail barely made the height requirement for the rollercoasters; I think she was stretching every inch she could. At the end of the night (9:00 or so), we had ridden rollercoasters that go upside down, bumper cars, ferris wheels, and swings. We saw a parade, a crazy chicken lady at the lovely buffet provided for dinner, and a light show set to music. We enjoyed funnel cakes and hot chocolate as we admired the four million Christmas lights. Shiloh even came home with a cowgirl hat. We couldn't have asked for a better day as the snow hit the next day on our return to VA. The kids have asked for a return trip!!
These are pictures from Dollywood. Yes, the gaggle of people in the photo is actually just all of my Tennessee family, and that's not even everybody. :)
Jackson became Oma's ride partner for the day. I don't think he was much help on this one where you have to haul yourselves to the top in order to glide down.
Cora hung out with cousin Dyani (on the left) and cousin-to-be Kara (in the middle). The threesome decided to go on the adventure ropes course while the rest of us rode rollercoasters.
Here's Cora on the adventure course: 
She did a great job!
Here is Oma with her ride buddy again. :)
Off they go!
Shiloh and Adah ended up as ride buddies quite a bit. Adah also rode Blazing Thunder with Aunt Kira, a rollercoaster that's inside. It's pitch-black in there, so you don't know when the hills are coming. On one particular hill, Adah screamed so loud that I think she probably punctured Kira's eardrums.
Abigail was fearless and fearsome on the bumper cars. Also notice the look of crazed determination on Daniel's face to bump his own child.
Abigail took Uncle Jason as her ride partner, and I don't believe he really ever had a choice. 
Oma and Opa with all the grandkids at Dollywood: bottom row: Abigail, Samuel, Jackson, Micah Marie, Adah; middle row: Caleb, Kara, Cora; back row: Opa, Shiloh, Dyani, strange statue child that looks freaky in the picture, Jackson, Oma 
Here are Oma and Opa with all the kiddos the next morning. Notice how everyone looks like they're about to fall asleep? That could be because we were up until about 11:30 the night before. It was a VERY quiet car on the way home. We stopped and worshipped with a sweet congregation outside of Bristol, VA before we headed on our way home. They were a great encouragement to us.
Here are all our kiddos plus their cousin Dyani.
In between our Dollywood trip and Christmas, we had to do more schooling, (my goal was to finish two units of Tapestry of Grace before Christmas, and we made it! Phew!) have our preschool co-op party (much glitter glue and sprinkles involved in decorating cards and cookies), our enrichment group get-together (where Cora, Adah, and Abigail sang for residents at a nursing home), and a caroling evening with church members to sing for another nursing home and one of our elderly attendees. We also hosted my dad and stepmother for a brief visit for them to drop off the basketball hoop as a Christmas gift and Shiloh's hope chest as a birthday gift. My dad made it, and it is LOVELY - so much more than I ever hoped for!! (note to self: take a picture for the blog!!) Shiloh also had a friend over to decorate cookies, and we had an orthodontic visit that determined that Shiloh will have braces put on in January. (Thank you, Lord, for deployment money!)
Don't let the light in the picture fool you; it was still dark out. :) Snow started falling right as we started opening gifts. The sentimental children declared it "perfect." We like to get one main gift for each child and then stocking stuffers. This year Jackson got a NKJV Bible because that's the version we use in church and he can't follow along with his KJV. Nathaniel got the latest Jonathan Park (which we will all enjoy on our road trip to Williamsburg soon), and the girls each got a print by P. Buckley Moss, because we stopped by the museum on the way home from our weekend away. We got to meet her and have her sign the prints, and they are adorable. We also got our 15th wedding anniversary present that now hangs over our bed, and she signed the glass. Here are the bedhead kids smiling patiently for the camera (even before chocolate!):
And now my dear husband is calling me for family worship and I must go. But we did it! Please remind me not to do this next year. Just send a friendly email saying, "Casey? Have you downloaded pictures recently? Please don't wait until December." I promise to listen.
0 comments:
Post a Comment