Our Christmas

Christmas was everything we hoped for and more.

Link(s) to our Christmas videos.
http://vimeo.com/34190508
http://vimeo.com/34233315

Christmas Eve

We spent the 24th at Sea World.

Mom and Dad came over Friday night. We had a nice dinner together at the new house and then drove downtown Clermont to see the lights. It was an emotional dinner, we were so humbled and excited that we were all together celebrating and in our house! We all went to bed rather early so we be ready for our big day at Sea World.After a filling breakfast of eggs and gingerbread french toast we headed to the park. Jason worked in the morning but got off around lunch and was able to join us for all the real fun stuff.

It was magical with all the decorations and the Christmas themed shows.

We took a trip to the polar express! This year Jack was big enough to actually ride the polar express experience, making it even more fun. When we arrived at the South Pole Santa was there to greet us.  Jack made sure Santa got his list, told him that he was going to leave some oats for his Reindeer this year. Santa told Jack he was going to leave him a surprise. It was so cute to watch this exchange, Santa was on his level the whole time.

He is one happy little boy. I have to say I got teary eyed when we saw this picture. 

When did he get so big? 

We stayed to see the lighting of the sea of trees and then headed to Mom and Dad's to get ready for Santa.

We had our traditional reading of the nativity from the scriptures and then Jack got to open a very special present from Grandma and Papa. It was a Winnie the Pooh book that was read by Grandma and Papa! It was so wonderful to hear their voices read that cute story. Jack was smiling the whole time. He kept playing it over and over.

 Then it was time to hang the stockings, set out milk and cookies for Santa. As promised Jack and Nana went outside and sprinkled oats for the reindeer. 

Jack had a real hard time getting to sleep but finally drifted off with his Winnie the Pooh book tucked in bed with him.

He came down to earth from heaven

These last couple of days I have been stressed and overwhelmed at all that has needed to be done before Christmas. The finding, purchasing,wrapping, delivering of presents had made me cranky and not in the Christmas spirit. Then the 21st came. My anniversary of my spinal surgery and the beginning of the cancer lapses and the transplants. I had been discussing with Cami on the phone the events that transpired on that day.  After remembering and really thinking of the events of that Christmas, I was overwhelmed to the point where I had to pull over the car (for I was delivering said presents) to say a prayer of gratitude and one of comfort for those who may be sick, and struggling this holiday season.
It is hard for me to express all that I feel when I look back and those two Christmases spent in the hospital and all that went with it. The hardest part to express is the healing, the peace and the joy I received at that time as well. What a wonderful gift we celebrate this season, the gift of a Savior.
  One of my favorite Christmas hymns is Once in Royal David's City. I love the words and love to reminder of what this season is all about.

Stood a lowly cattle shed, Where a mother laid her baby. In a manger for his bed. Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven, Who is God and Lord of all, And his shelter was a stable, and his cradle was a stall. With the poor, and mean and lowly. lived on earth our Savior holy.

And our eyes at last shall see him. Through his own redeeming love. For that child so dear and gentle Is our Lord in heaven above. And he leads his children to the place where he is gone.

I need to remember that it should be a Merry Christmas wherever we may be. The location and circumstances of the holiday are not as important as the reason.

Merry Christmas!

Picture taken at the wonderful Night in Bethlehem put on by the Tampa Stake. 

It is one of the highlights of Christmas for our family.

These things my dreams are made of...

 Today a grown up fantasy occurred. 

We rented a U haul, took it to IKEA and filled it up.

Pure Christmas Joy!

Little Boy Joy

He always has been a sucker for a train under the Christmas tree.

This is where he spent his whole afternoon.

December Fun.

December has already been a busy month.

Jack and I have been living with Mom and Dad during the week so Jack can finish 2011 at his school. We take off Fridays right from school to spend the weekend at the house with Jason. The upside to living in different places during the week and then weekend is that we get to experience Christmas celebrations at both locations.

A couple of weekends ago we pulled out all our Christmas decorations to fill the new house with Christmas cheer.

 It did make our house feel more like home but unfortunately our Christmas decor is a bit lacking due to the fact that we have a whole lot more things to decorate this year. I have to remind myself that it is going to take longer to set up a house than an apartment. This is something I wish I was more patient with.
We found a darling stable this year to put Jack's "manger characters" in. He loves the story of baby Jesus in the manger and knows the story well. He drew this picture in church one Sunday. He made sure everthing was included. I was asked to help with the Shepherd and the sheep in the field, along with additional stars.

A sheep and donkey are in the stable with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. The star tops the stable with an angel nearby.

Jack got into the fun at Nana and Pepi's and helped decorate a gingerbread house.

We haven't visited with Santa yet but Jack's Christmas list has been filled out and sent.

 He is asking for a Captain America book and shield and some Cars 2 cars this year.

 We will check to see if Santa got his letter when we carry on the tradition of visiting Santa on Christmas eve day at the North Pole (A.K.A the polar express experience at Sea World).

We did however catch a glimpse of Jolly St. Nick this weekend at Downtown Disney.

Boy was he in high demand.

There has also been a visit to see the trees at Wiregrass mall near Nana and Pepi's house. They have all the trees lit and choreographed to music and we even got to experience some snow fall!

Jack helped Pepi decorate their Christmas tree last night for family home evening. It was fun for all of us to take a stroll down memory lane and for me to share my childhood Christmas memories with Jack.
This weekend we get to take a trip to Bethlehem as we experience a live nativity at Tampa Stake's Night in Bethlehem.
 So much to do and experience in December it makes the holiday season go by way too fast.

I made it

Today is my 2nd birthday where I turn 4!

Four years ago I recieved that most wonderful blessing.

  A renewal of life because of my sweet brother Jake's stem cells.

It was one of the most miraculous days of my life.

I am happy to be winning the fight.

 I am able to continue to live my life and plan for the future,

and that is all I've ever wished for.

The Yellow House

Well we did it! We are officially moved out of the apartment and into the house!

Friday afternoon we had some great men from our ward help us move out of the apartment. We then headed along with Nana and Pepi to the new house and got there around eight. We all unloaded in the dark of the night. I couldn't believe how fast that truck got unloaded. It went fast not having any stairs and plenty of room to put all our stuff.

There were so many wonderful things of that night. It was fun to discover all the little details that we had not seen before. It was great to acutally be in the house and plan out how everything will come together.

We asked Jack which room he was going to choose as his room and he went into the master and informed us that was his choice. Boy was he upset when we told him that was mom and dad's room. It was hilarious.

That night we all had a sleepover all together in our room. It was hard to get to sleep my mind was going over and over each room and what I would get to do to make it our home.

In the morning it was like Christmas to wake up in the house and see it in the daylight. We were all so amazed how quiet it was having no one above or below us. We took advantage of being in the house and once Jason got the tv and speakers set up we turned up Cars really loud and just sat and enjoyed being able to do so.

Jack got to unpacking his toys right away.

He was happy and reassured that all his toys made it safely to the new house.

Here it is a picture of our new dwelling. We are all so excited!

Our monthly theme and what it means to me.

As stated on the header of our blog this month we truly have been counting our blessings and giving thanks. Each picture posted in the collage stands for the things that I give thanks for daily.

1. Jason and our eternal marriage . Our relationship has been through a lot and has shown me a different kind of love and romance. He is my calming influence through everything. He accepts me  for how I am and helps me see the potential of what I can become.

2. Jack our miracle baby. We all joke that he slipped right in there and it could not be more true. I am so very thankful to be able to experience the pregnancy and birth of a child. Having that ablility taken away has made me reflect on that time as one of the most sacred times in my life. It was an extreme trial to be a mother and going through a severe sickness with newborn. It was probably one of the hardest things I will go through. However I know he was my driving force to fight and to live. I cherish my time as his mother and try to hang onto every moment spent with him and Jason.

3.My membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I would not be where I am without the knowledge of the restoration of the true gospel on this Earth. Of a loving Heavenly Father and Savior. It has pulled me and pulls me from those dark places and continues to shed light, daily on my life.

4. My health, my body, my remission. The last picture means so much to me. It was taken almost two years ago after receiving my first clean biopsy result. I have this on my computer and underneath it I have it titled "peace". It is a daily reminder of the peace that comes with good health, a strong and cancer free body. I am thankful for modern medicine and practices that saved my life and keeps me cancer free.

There is also much to be thankful for especially the big ones this year. Jason's education and graduation from PA school. A new and wonderful job which led to a new move to a house we were so blessed to find and rent.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year for us to stop and truly reflect on the bounty and blessings we have in life no matter what stage of life we are in. There are always blessings to count and things to give thanks for.

Thanksgiving Rundown

Jack and I arrived at Mom and Dad's just as the Thanksgiving day parade began and Nana's traditional pecan rolls were out of the oven. Jason being the loving husband shooed me out of the house relieving me of packing duties to rest my tired body and to enjoy the morning sitting.

While mom put the finishing touches on the meal I prepared my last batch of rolls. Sadly I did not do much in the way of food prep this year due to the move but I did however do my part by making the rolls...I made close to five dozen. I knew Jason would eat a lot of them and wanted everyone to be able to take some home for sandwiches. That is one of the best parts.

The guests arrive

Aunt Lynn, Robert, Granddad and good friends Charlie and Susan Younger joined us. Jason working on the apartment and arriving just before eating. That sweet man.

Charlie and Granddad are best friends and we all got a kick out of them in their matching shirts. They were good sports to wear the funny hats. Jack wearing his headdress he made in school.

It was one of the best meals with Mama pulling out all the stops. My favorite was her homemade pumpkin pie. It was so delicious.

 Jason and I offered our services for the clean up.

 It was are treat to be in the kitchen having squeeze in close with Jason to share the sink. You can always tell how good the feast was but the number of dirty dishes and there were a lot! 

After naps (for some) and a short trip to the apartment to do some more packing we met at the Rialto theater for a movie and sandwiches for dinner. Granddad spent the night at a hotel close by and it was so fun to spend an extended amount of time with him.

We even go to meet for breakfast with Granddad the next morning.

I was so thankful for that meal! I ate a big and wonderful breakfast that really helped me get through the big and very long moving day.

Weekend Recap

Jack made a big turn around this weekend on the moving front. Jason and Jack worked all Saturday morning organizing and boxing up Jack's room. It was a cute sight to see them working together and it was great for me to get a little break.

           Jack labeled all his boxes to make sure that every toy was accounted for.

Jack has a lot of stuffed animals so he got really good at writing animals.

Love that little boy.

Today we had the primary program. I am SO relieved it is over and done with. It has been a stressful week trying to practice and review switching into each piece and key change. On a normal day I am wracked with anxiety so today it was quite the feat keeping that in check. Once again I knew that I was not up there alone. I had serious help getting me through my nerves so I could perform to help those kids express their testimonies through the music. Jason was right in my line of sight and like always he was my calming influence. There were so many little tender mercies that occurred today during that program. I have a testimony of the power of the Priesthood and the setting apart when we receive a new calling.
As soon as I hit that last chord a wave a relief rushed over me. Then the headache and the anxiety hit shortly after but I made it through and that is all I can ask for. The children did an amazing job. It was touching to see our future leaders and the development of their testimonies.

When we got home Jack and I both got our reward. I collapsed and Jack got into bed with me and played angry birds.

So happy to be starting a new week. 

Fun things to come.

We get the keys to our house Wednesday

Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad with the Russell clan. (I love cooking in the kitchen with my mama!)

Officially moving our stuff into the house on Saturday!

Something to Remember

We are in full swing with the move. Almost all the walls are painted back. The pictures and all the decorations have been taken down, complied and ready to box. 

This is one of the hardest parts of moving for me, erasing ourselves from our living space.

It is the same way with Jack. With every move the hardest part for him is when we take apart his room. Last Saturday we had to take the stuff off his walls and take down his curtains so we could paint. Jack came in saw how bare his room had gotten and started to cry telling me he didn't want to move. It was heartbreaking. He sat on my lap with big tears running down his cheeks. I reassured him that everything would be the same in his new room. I gave him a little talk telling him that his room would again be blue, that his books would again be hanging from the ceiling and that all his cars would make it to the new house. It was a sweet little reminder how important it is to make our house a home each time we move, despite all the work it may be. Something I need to remember at those times when I get overwhelmed with all that needs to be done with the move and setting up of the new house.

Jack and Friends

We have had the new Winnie the Pooh movie playing a lot at our house lately. Any break from Cars 2 is a welcome thing, I think both Jack and I can recite most of that movie. I am finally losing on the napping front so quiet/movie time is a must right now. The fun thing about Jack and his movies is that he will act them out either during them or shortly after. He will go get all his Cars 2 cars out and race and just the other day he was playing with his Tigger and Pooh.

Jason got home late one night so I was sitting at the table with him while he ate his dinner and Jack popped up with Tigger and Pooh and asked if I had any honey to serve Pooh bear.

Which he then feed to Pooh, not Tigger because Tigger's don't like honey.

Jack disappeared for a while then came out with this lovely drawing of Pooh Bear. 

Isn't that the cutest thing? It is going in a frame for sure. 

I do have a soft spot for anything Winnie the Pooh.

He had Jason and I in fits of laughter watching him play with his "friends"

Speaking of friends...

On Saturday a group of some of my favorite women that I have met and become close with in the ward had a girls night in my honor. It was so touching and not to mention fun. When I was leaving Jack inquired where I was going and I told him who I was going out with he asked if any kids were there. I said no then he asked if he any dad's would be there. Again I said no and that it would be just mommies. He looked at me and said "You've got to be kidding me." I think he found it odd that I would go out by myself and that I had friends. 

The group...taken by a stranger so of course it was blurry. I need a better camera that is easy for others to use because whenever I am in a picture it turns out blurry. Sad.

Also another reminder of the awesome auction going on over at nikerunner.blogspot.com. There are some unique and fun stuff up for auction, all for a good cause! Check it out!

A Worthy Cause

My dear friend Mindy is doing a pretty incredible thing over on her blog (nikerunner.blogspot.com) It's pretty wonderful. Please head on over, read the story and see how you can help this well deserving family.
http://nikerunner.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-is-important-to-me-please-read.html

Lowery Park Zoo

There was no school today so we headed to the zoo with some friends. 

It was a nice day to go to the zoo. The weather was cooler so the animals were out and active.  

I love no school on Fridays, such a nice way to start the weekend.

Jack with friends London and Sophie

Happy Friday and Veterans day.
We are so blessed to live in this country and so grateful for all those who served and are serving.

Favorite Moments of the Week.

Some pictures taken throughout the week of some of those favorite moments that struck me and helped me see the goodness in something everyday.

Scripture study with the boys.

Jason commuted all this week so he was home every night. We got to have scripture study as a family. It is so lovely to have that time just the three of us especially at the end of a crazy busy day.

I was walking to get the mail one day and was surprised to see the changing leaves. I never seem to just stop and take in my surrounding this particular day the scenery really jumped out at me and made me happy really loving where we live.

 Jack and Lion watching Winnie the Pooh. He takes that lion everywhere!

Saturday we headed down to the have lunch with Granddad and hit the outlet mall. We were finally able to get our growing boy some new clothes. We needed everything from church clothes, school clothes down to shoes and jammies. The student life and a growing boy has been rough. It was a blessing to get all new clothes for Jack. I got some killer deals with all the sales and my coupons which made it even more fun!

As always Granddad had a car for Jack. The big reveal is always a highlight of our lunch outings.

They both get so excited it is so cute.

Jason finally got his TV! All through school I told him he could get one when he graduated. He found the one he wanted and we brought it home. This has been a long time coming and he sure worked for it.
What a great week of rewards after much sacrificing. It so wonderful to see the boys happy and thriving. I am also very happy, things are the most normal they have ever been. That is the best reward for me.

Happy November!

Halloween this year was really low key. I have been sick for quite a while and finally feeling better so Halloween celebrations were on the light side this year. 

We didn't even get around to carving pumpkins but Jack did decorate one for homework. 

Jack's three eyed monster pumpkin.

We did attend the trunk or treat at church.

Jack eating his donut on a string

 Our Jack o' lantern with one of his best bud London.

With my Mama in our Halloween hats.

All our festivities happened on Friday so when Halloween actually came we were already done with the holiday. We did go trick or treating with friends London and Sophie at Publix and out to eat with Mom and Dad. We had donuts and cider while Jack and Nana were on trick or treat duty. Jack loved seeing all the costumes and was the best little greeter, it cracked us all up.

I am excited we are now in November it's my favorite month, the weather is so perfect here and I love preparing for Thanksgiving. It is going to be a hectic month though we found the cutest rental house in Clermont and will move Thanksgiving weekend. Despite all that needs to be done I love this time of year!

Happy November!