SNOW!!!! Merry Christmas to all

This is what I woke up to and I thought

“Wow the kids are going to have a great time today!”

I’ve never had a 9 foot snowman in my yard!

Such purity.  So beautiful.  Merry Christmas to everyone from the Brush family.  May your Christmas be Holy and your thoughts be of a babe in the manger & not the gifts under the tree.  Enjoy your family & kiss your little ones because this life is short.

Gratituesday: Gathering to Celebrate

Christmas is about baby Jesus & his gift of grace in coming to this earth to save us.   But it is also about gathering together as a family & enjoying being together.

 

The above picture is just Grandma & Grandpa Brush with their grandkids(missing a few).  On Steve’s side of the family there are over 40 of us now & that will only keep growing as the kids marry & have kids.   

We are still trying to gather once a year at Grandma’s to celebrate Christmas.  It is chaos and everyone loves it.  We have changed over to a white elephant exchange that just keeps getting crazier each year.  We all have stockings & the littles exchange gifts with each other.  It is one of the best days of the year!

We gathered with them & with my family(not nearly as large) over the past weekend.  Steve & I were dog tired from being sick & helping with the Christmas program at church but it was so wonderful to see everyone & visit a little.  I am looking forward to a much quieter week as we approach Christmas Day.  We will stay home, stay in our jammies & just enjoy being together as a family.  And who knows maybe someday I will have a house full of kids, grandkids, adopted kids & more.

God places in families to grow us & support us.  I am so blessed in this area.  So thankful for our families and the love that we share.

Linked up at Gratituesday @ Heavenly Homemakers

New Places for Memories

For as long as I remember, Thanksgiving has happened at my grandparents. My grandma Norma has been gone for several years but we have still gone to their house & gathered together with my grandpa Willard. This year was different.

We went to my uncles. His house was great for our group & we all had a lot of fun. But it was different. I am the oldest of my cousins & my kids are the oldest great grandkids. They did a great job of helping out and entertaining all the younger kids.

One of the discussions we have(as we drive the hour to get there) is about how they are related to these people. We don't see my cousins & aunts & uncles very often so for my younger two it can be a bit confusing. It is a big family. They are familiar with that as my kids are 4 of 30ish cousins on Steve's side, but we see them all the time and it is familiar. I am the oldest of 20ish cousins and now they are all having kids too!

I had the treat to see my dad playing ping pong with my uncle. It was downright shocking! My dad--the couch potato, the one who has a hard time with his balance & sleep depravation? Wow it was amazing to see him moving around like that. Maybe a ping pong table for Christmas? Sounds like fun to me!

Well next week things will be back to normal but this years change was a good one.