Christmas in Colorado

We were suppose to leave for Colorado last Saturday but ended up leaving after Dan's work party on Friday night due to a storm coming into our area. This doesn't bode well for a last minute packer but because of my children's persistence, I was mostly ready! :)

We drove through the night where we were greeted by some falling snow in Iowa and Nebraska. I don't know how many of you have driven through the night but Dan and I have realized that as we get a bit (just a bit) older, it gets a little harder to accomplish. We had breakfast in Nebraska at (eeeek!) four in the morning. We brought the dog with us as our dog sitting friends were going to be out of town, also. Our vehicle was a bit crammed with the giant dog but we managed. Santa, I need the Excursion - one size bigger than our current Expedition. I could really fit it all in then!

The heater in our Expedition decided to bite the dust in the middle of Nebraska on a very windy and cold day. We had been having trouble with it prior to our trip and Dan had done some trouble shooting to no avail. We only had 4 more hours left of our journey so we zipped up the coats and broke out the blankets. Plus, with 6 people and a large dog, just breathing helped to take the chill off.
We arrived in Colorado early afternoon to a houseful of people at my mom and dad's. We went to church with the family on Sunday, saw my nephew JD play hockey and then watched old family films of the 8mm variety.

Monday and Tuesday, Dan had to spend the day taking the WHOLE dash out of the car to get to the heater core. It was a huge project, but thanks to my incredible husband and Dad Edblad, they saved us more than a thousand dollars by doing it themselves.

We spent a few days with Dan's parents and sister and family. What fun for six kids to get to sleep by the Christmas tree! We ate prime rib and opened presents.
The whole week went way to quick and then it was time to head home. Our heater was blessedly warm as we traveled back through Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota!

Hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours was.

Chilly

It's been downright chilly here for the past week or so but you won't hear any complains from me. After all, the cold keeps the snow here and you know all about my affinity for the white stuff! :)

We just reached -1 and it's been -27 a few night ago with wind chills at -40. So, we have kept busy inside. I told the kids that today, we would finally pack for Colorado which goes so against my grain! :) I am a last minute packer but with the help of my children, maybe I will become a new woman - one who packs a few days before the trip!

I had a great picture of the kids playing outside a few days ago.

If you click on the picture, you can see the big, fat snowflakes up close! Beautiful, huh! :)

christmas

Whatever else be lost among the years,
Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing:
Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears,

Let us hold close one day, remembering

It's poignant meaning for the hearts of men.

Let us get back our childlike faith again.
Grace Noll Crowell

Christmas Traditions

As a family, we are trying to come up with fun and meaningful family traditions at Christmas time and, actually, all year round.

One of those traditions is decorating a gingerbread house each year. No, we don't bake the walls and do all that jazz ourselves. Grandma E has sent us a kit each year to decorate and it has been such a great time! Dan gets to put the house together and give his creative input in on how the house gets decorated and I take the pictures.

This year, we started letting the kids sleep under the Christmas tree on Friday nights. We knew it had to be on a weekend night because they do exactly what we thought they would and that is, talk and giggle and whisper late into the night. I've been tempted to do the same myself!

We attend a candle lit Christmas eve service at our church when we are home. Another fun time we have that started way back with my sister and her boys is piling everyone into the car for a ride around town to look at other's Christmas lights and decorations. There has to be Christmas music and a little hot chocolate in a thermos to keep the chill away.

We also like to bake cookies that the kids can cutout and decorate. This year, we had a cold and snow Sunday that was perfect for making sugar cookie cutouts and gingerbread men.

We have also been reading a Christmas story each night and putting a new ornament on the tree that talks about why we celebrate Christmas.

We will head to Colorado on Saturday to spend Christmas there with our families. May God bless you and your family this Christmas!

The perfect Christmas tree

Sunday, after church and a quick lunch we drove to our friends Dottie and Andy's house to cut down a tree. I happened to mention to Andy at church that morning that we were going to try to get a tree and he graciously said that we could come to their place and find a tree.

We didn't have to walk too far into the woods before Andy pointed out a tree that he thought would be great. It was hard for me to tell because it was about 40 ft tall and it's hard to actually see up that far. Anyway, they cut it down quickly and then cut off the top of the tree. Dan and I carried it back to the car with the kids tagging along. We tied it to the top of the car and away we went.

After a quick stop for a new tree stand, we did a little trimming and then we decorated it. I have to say that it is the most lovely Christmas tree we have ever had! It's around 11 ft tall and it is splendid!

I'm Thankful for...

I just want to say that I'm so thankful for many things. I'm thankful for the sweet innocent faces of my children, for intricate snowflakes and cold winter weather, for warm woolen socks, for a fire to take away the chill, for the fresh salsa John made and chips to go with it, for Diet Pepsi (I'm trying to quit!), for my down comforter to snuggle under, and for all the great fun family can have while under one roof.

For Thanksgiving this year, my twin sister, her husband and my nephew came up to visit us for a week. Dan' s sister, her husband, and our niece and nephew came for a few days. We had 13 under this roof and it was quite a time we had! We had an incredible feast on Thanksgiving day and rounded out the day with games, movies and more eating!

Friday, we drove to a neighboring town to see the fish house parade. In case you don't know what that is, I'll explain. Since it gets so darn cold up here, people drag little houses out onto the frozen lakes to fish out of all winter long. One lake close to us has around 25,000 fish houses on it during the winter. They even put up street signs on the lake so you know where to go! Anway, the parade featured some of these fish houses on trailers. It was a balmy 30 degrees the day of the parade so "out of towners" didn't get too cold! :)

After that fun, we went to another town to see them light up the town. We ate some warm mini donuts and stood by a bonfire. We were waiting for the fireworks but ended up leaving just before they started because everyone was tired and hungry. We played more games (apples to apples and up the river/down the river). A person (who shall remain nameless) couldn't contain his/her flatulance and cleared the room of people more than once. Ahhh, only in the presence of family...

Our guests cleared out of here Saturday afternoon. Remarks like, "I sure do miss everyone!" were heard uttered from each of our lips the rest of the day. We had an incredibly fun time and thank the Burchs and Torpys for their company!

Kitty Kat Prance

The girls had a little dance number that they did for an retirement home this past Saturday with their dance class. They were little kitties and they did the kitty kat prance. They were mad before the performance - I can't remember why. Here are a few shots...

It's time for a haircut...

Last evening, Dan and I were preparing supper in the kitchen and doing some catching up while the kids were doing various things. After seeing new artwork on the kitchen cupboards and then going into the bathroom and seeing marker all over the countertop, we sat down to our meal. Dan looked over at Kylie noticed that she had trimmed her hair during all the hoopla. They had all been very busy!

Here's what we saw:


































Her nice little bangs are pretty much gone. Oh well, they will grow back! :)

Smell my finger...

I have a funny one to tell on Kylie and Levi. I was in the kitchen when I heard Levi yelling for me from the living room. He complained, "Mom, Kylie told me to smell her finger and so I did. She didn't tell me she had just stuck it in her butt right before that! Ewww, that was gross!"

I asked Kylie why she did that and with a smile she sweetly said, "I don't know." Then I had a talk with Levi. I explained that if anyone asks you to smell their finger (or pull their finger) you should politely decline the offer. :)

You just can't make up stuff like this, eh! Real life at the Edblads.

Halloween

This year the kids were a pirate, a cowboy, one ballerina, and Jesse the Cowgirl from Toy Story. All came from our dress up box or from around the house and didn't cost us a dime. Costumes can get so expensive!

We took the kids to a church here in town and did "trunk or treating" first. There were probably 20 cars with their trunks decorated parked in this church parking lot and kids could come and "trunk or treat" there. It was really fun and the kids enjoyed looking at everyone's trunk and nabbing some loot but ... call me a traditionalist because I think the way we used to celebrate Halloween is still the best way. It was still early when we finished there so we took the kids to another town to "trick or treat" door to door.

It was fun for all of us as Dan and I ran into lots of people we knew. Unlike many other Halloweens, the weather was mild and great for being outside! We returned home around 8 pm after getting some pretty full sacks of candy.

Pumpkin carving extravaganza!

We did it tonight. We carved 4 pumpkins and roasted two batches of pumpkin seeds.

Shelby carved her headless horseman entirely by herself. I can see she has her Dad's artistic flair. Levi and Kylie picked out designs that kept Dan busy for the rest of the night. Macy wanted a regular ole Jack-o-lantern and I could handle that so I helped her carve her pumpkin up.

Much to our delight, this year the pumpkins had many seeds in them. We made one batch of salted seeds and one batch of cinnamon and sugar seeds. They both turned out pretty tasty.

At the end of the evening, we carried them all out onto the porch and lit them.

Levi's magic trick

No tape there, folks! Somehow he just breaths on the spoon and it sticks.

It's snowing...

Really! Actually, not this very moment but it was snowing yesterday during church and they are calling for more flurries today!

It's a bit hard to find others who love snow like I do (Leigh, are you still with me?) but I have 4 little ones that I'm raising the same way!

We tried on our winter coats, snow pants and boots yesterday. We only need one winter coat and 2 pairs of boots - not bad!

We are ready old man winter! Bring on the snow! Lots of it please! :)

Here Turkey, Turkey...

Levi was looking out the front window of our house today and he said, "Mom, there's something weird in our yard." We all ran to the front window to see. We never know what it might be!

There were turkeys right there in our front yard! With the noise and excitement, we scared them and they started to run. I seriously thought about grabbing a gun, ya know, with Thanksgiving just around the corner but then I returned to my right mind and I grabbed the camera instead. By then, they were across the road. We counted 10 of them! Too bad we couldn't have had one on the Thanksgiving table!

It's snowing!

Just kidding. This morning Macy came running into my bedroom. She excitedly announced, "Mama, it's snowing!" I looked out the window because I'm sure it's snowed here this time of year before. A deep frost covered everything in view. I told her that it hadn't snowed but it had frosted overnight.
About ten or so in the morning when the sunshine started to warm the earth, she happened to look out the window and questioned, "Why is all the frosting melting, Mama"?
Aren't kids great! :)

Leaf Hunting

We went out for a leaf hunting walk the other day. I brought out the mittens and gloves box for the first time this season and the kids had quite the time bedecking themselves with all sort of coverings. Check it out...

Yes, that is a face mask with another hat on top. :)

Dance the night away

We attended a wedding in Minnepolis this past weekend for one of Dan's cousins, Jenny Severson. Anyway, we had quite the time attending the ball (Princess Macy's words for the reception) after the wedding where the kids kicked it into high gear on the dance floor. There was a pretty good band, good food and great company.

Cuttin' a rug at the Edblads...

The kids love Jason Aldean and their favorite song is Hick Town. They wanted me to put that particular song on for them so they could dance. We even had the disco ball going. Then a slow song started playing and they grabbed Dan's hats and started slow dancing. We were cracking up! Enjoy.

Fall, wondeful fall!

This has to be one of my most favorite times of the year! I coundn't stand to live someplace where everything stays the same all year around. Yuck!

We had to take a trip over to Pine River this morning to get tags for our vehicle and the fall colors were spectacular! The oranges, reds, yellows and greens are at their most vivid right now.

My view out my kitchen window looks like this:

It started raining overnight and hasn't stopped. We have the fireplace on since we haven't broken down and turned on the heat yet. It's 41 degrees and the perfect day for tucking oneself into a chair and reading, maybe I'll do that now!

Wish you were here ~

Guess who's 10...

Wow, that's hard to type! Dan and I are both amazed and incredibly grateful for our gift from God, Shelby!

Her birthday was Sunday and we started the day with balloons and streamers all over her room. We went to church and then took a drive to see the beautiful fall colors. We went fishing and we had a campfire outside that was shortened by a bit of rain. She had her favorite meal and we opened presents and had cake from Dairy Queen - mint chocolate chip - her fav!

We asked her what she wanted to do on her birthday. She chose fishing and the campfire and said she really just wanted to spend family time together. Isn't that cool?

She will have her friends birthday party this coming Saturday when we will take 7 screaming,

giggling girls bowling. :) What fun!

Our testimony...

Our pastor asked Dan and I to give our testimony in church today. We both wrote down what what we would say and then meshed them into one. We read these words to the congregation this morning:


Dan and I have known each other since we were in high school. We dated through high school and married 2 years after graduation. We didn’t really decide that a walk with God was important until the birth of our first child, Shelby. Something about bringing a child into the world brings back all that training from your own childhood. A longing to raise her in the way of the lord took root in both of our hearts and God began to move us from knowledge of him into a true relationship with him.

Four years after the birth of our daughter, we found out that we were pregnant again! What a great surprise it was when we found out through a routine ultrasound that we were carrying not just one or two but three little bundles of joy!

25 weeks into the pregnancy, I went into labor. I was airlifted to a hospital in Denver that specialized in pre term labor. The doctors worked valiantly for a week before my body decided enough was enough. My internal organs began to shut down and I was scheduled for an emergency c-section to save my life and the life of my children. Levi weighed 2 lbs. and Kylie and Macy weighed 1 lb. 14 oz and 1 lb. 12 oz at birth. Our children were rushed off to the intensive care unit. The doctors didn’t want us to get our hopes up but God instilled in our hearts such a peace that passed all understanding, we knew it was from Him. We watched and prayed as the children struggled for their lives for about 8 weeks and then finally, they turned the corner and began to grow and get stronger. We were very aware that it was only by the grace of God that our children were alive and without any lasting effects from being born 3 ½ months early.

Our move from Colorado to Minnesota came a few weeks after the triplets were released from the hospital. We moved into our house in the middle of December. We were given strict orders to keep the triplets in the house until RSV season was over and that would be sometime in April or May! We both knew that we needed to plug into a church right away and we prayed that we would find one that we loved without having to visit numerous churches. My mom was here to help with the children and she and I attended the Log church one Sunday in January.

Our move up here has been incredibly challenging and very difficult in the area of our finances. Through it all, we have learned to lean on God in a way that is not possible if the road would have been smooth and easy to travel. God has impressed upon our hearts the need to tithe even when there isn’t enough money to go around. We have seen his faithfulness in BIG ways and we are learning to stand on his promises. We KNOW He is good all the time and that he is working in our lives to bring about good things.

We can’t begin to describe how this church and this body of believers have been crucial in our walk! Our personal walk with Christ has grown tremendously through the preaching of Pastor Fred and the incredible classes that have been offered like the Beth Moore bible studies and Lord Change My Attitude study that we completed this summer with Paul and Dixie.

We are both more determined than ever to walk a victorious Christian life. We are so thankful that he chose us, to work in us, to shape us and mold us into His likeness. May we always be faithful!

The land of Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox...

Legends of Paul Bunyan and Babe, his Blue Ox abound here in Minnesota. One such legend has Paul and Babe galivanting around Minnesota and their tracks filled up and made the 10,000 lakes we have up here. Many statues of Paul and Babe can be seen all over the state.

This summer, the lakes area had statues of Babe the Blue Ox all over at different businesses. Our friend, Josh, was the artist and sculptor of the oxen. Their final wrap up for the summer was at a local amusement park called Paul Bunyan Land.

We spent a warm and sunny Saturday there, where we rode rides, had lunch and watched the ox being auctioned off at the end. We also won a couple of t-shirts to top off the day!

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