One of the highlights from my childhood was my advent calendar. For everyday in December, my grandmother would give me (as well as her other practically 2 dozen grandchildren) a little gift. It wouldn’t be too much–a couple pencils, some stickers, some cute erasers, a hair barrette, etc. But, it would be all wrapped up with a tag with my name on it and which day it was for. I loved it and always looked forward to it as soon as Thanksgiving was over. Now, as a mommy myself, the fun has not ended. My mom has taken over the advent tradition. She made calendars for my kids (and all of her grandchildren) that look just like the ones we had. And, she fills them with gifts. And, these gifts, I will add, are pretty cool. Since she frequently takes trips to China, she gets lots of goodies there. No more gifts of a couple pencils. My kids’ favorite gift so far was a case with a fork, spoon, and a pair of chopsticks with either Mickey Mouse or Hello Kitty on them. That’s pretty cool. So, anyway, we had our first advent mishap just moments ago. Drew and Ashlyn were whiney today, so up for a rest they went. Not 10 minutes later, Drew slinked downstairs to show me…a wind up frog. Hmmm…I’ve never seen that before…where did that come from? That would be from day 18. See the pictures for the evidence. Note that his gift today was the very cute boat which he was playing happily with. Well, now, he’s playing with it a little more happily since it has a frog passenger.

The first piece of evidence (besides him showing me the actual toy) – paper under his door

Ashamed of himself

The empty pocket for day 18

Happy to have a frog on board his boat

Thanksgiving was a bit different for us this year. My parents (who usually host a big dinner for over 2 dozen of so people) are in China right now. We usually go to Mark’s mom’s house for dinner. But, my younger sister Erin and her family didn’t have a place to go. So, we decided to host dinner here. It is quite a bit of pressure to host Thanksgiving dinner. I mean, unlike other holidays, Thanksgiving is really all about the food. You screw up dinner, and things are not good. But, all went well. We managed to make a turkey (okay, it was a little bit dry. But, gravy does wonders) AND clean a house (no small miracle really). Of course, none of that really mattered once guests arrived. We had Erin, Brian, baby Audrey, and 2 year old Bohdan. And, then we were privileged to also have Rand, Kaylee, and their two boys (5 and 3) join us as well since they were unable to travel across country to be with their family this year. It was a lot of fun–the kids had a great time together and we were actually able to sit and relax at the table for a while. My only regret is that we didn’t spend any time really talking about the significance of Thanksgiving (no, it’s not really all about the food). So, I’m going to use my chance here to note a few of things I really am thankful for this year:

1. I am thankful for a husband who loves me and has proven himself over and over again in service to me particularly this year as I’ve dealt with a lot of doctor visits, trips to Phili, therapy appointments, and surgery.

2. I am thankful that I can speak. For 2 weeks, I didn’t speak. I am impatient with my recovery, wishing I were 100% already and wishing I could sing again. I haven’t sang at all in months which is hard. But, I am speaking again. And, for that, I am thankful.

3. I am thankful that my husband has a job, and not just a job but a job that he enjoys and is experiencing success in. I am very proud of him and thankful that God has provided for us in more than one way through this job.

4. I am thankful for our family who trusts in Him, for Christian parents and siblings who we can connect with spiritually not just because we are earthly family members.

5. I am thankful for the friends He has given me who love the Lord and who care for me and our family–I think of Ana and Beth in particular. I am so grateful for these friendships.

6. I am thankful for our church and for our new pastor Rand and his wife Kaylee who are bringing a new excitement and the skills to really grow our church. After serving on the search committee for this outreach pastor, I am so thankful that God called them to this place and are using them both in a mighty way here.

7. I am thankful for our children–even when things are hard and I feel like I could go crazy at any minute (it’s been a bit of a tough parenting week for us!), I am thankful that one of them can say something silly or sing Jingle Bells (Drew’s new favorite) or recite a Bible verse and make me smile.

8. I am thankful for my parents in China and for the stories and trinkets they bring back that connect us to the country where our next child will come from. We do not know if she is even conceived yet. But, we know that her birth parents are there now. Sometimes I think about whether my parents have walked by them on a busy street or drove past their house in their big bus with students. Who knows. But, I know that her birth parents are there and I am thankful that my parents are there too “doing their thing.”

My wonderful husband is upstairs as I type bathing our 3 loud, crazy blessings. So, no more blogging for now.