Mark lit a fire the first evening we were home. How I have missed sitting and snuggling up by the fire with him. Lulu was a bit nervous about the popping and
crackling of the fire and Levi got to enjoy his first time ever being in our home.
Here is our moving crew. That's my older brother Todd and his amazing wife Stephanie along with Mark and Lulu. Todd and Stephanie were such a blessing to us. They showed up early Friday morning (the day after Thanksgiving) and started moving everything out into the van and their truck. The day before it was pouring down rain, Mark prayed for nice weather so we could move everything with out it getting all wet and the Lord gave us a beautiful clear day with blue sky and sun! We finished in time to rest a bit and then head over for a Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house.
This is a picture of our moving caravan and you can see the black van in the
rear view mirror that Mark drove. This was the most fun I have had driving in a while!!
And here is my mom who did
ALL the cooking for our
fabulous Thanksgiving dinner. It was so great to go enjoy a wonderful meal with our family right after doing all that moving.
Thank you mother for all the leftovers that you stocked our fridge with and thank you Todd and Stephanie for all you hard work helping us move. Daddy we also want to thank you for always being there for Mark and I and allowing us to live in your rental house this past year. We love you all and are so thankful that God gave us such an amazing family.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 107:1
The Christmas party was so much fun. They rented out a building at the local fair grounds that had an indoor carousel. This carousel was 110 years old and had recently been restored. All the kids (and adults) got to ride this all night as much as they wanted. It was a blast. Lulu had so much fun and was the last one off for the evening. Even Levi got to go for a few rides while sleeping on me. It was truly my favorite part of the evening. Mark enjoyed watching since he gets a little ill if he goes round and round too many times, but he did go a few time around and then he was designated the official picture taker. Lulu and I could have rode all evening. 
After we had a great dinner and rode the carousel Santa and Mrs. Clause arrived and handed out gifts to each child. I was so surprised when they called Levi's name. Every child's name was called and they all went up one at a time and sat on Santa's lap and received a gift. Well, I had Levi in the front carrier when his name was called so I got to sit on Santa's lap with Levi.
Lulu was a little unsure about sitting on Santa's lap. She watched Levi and I go up and then saw a few more kids go visit with Santa. Here is a picture of her with Mark checking things out while we waited for her name to be called.
When Lulu's name was called Mrs. Clause saw that she was a bit nervous so she reached out her arms and Lulu climbed up in her lap instead. It was really cute and worked out great......no tears!
Lulu was so polite and said "thank you" to Santa and Mrs. Clause and then she was off to open her gift. It was so fun to see all these kids receive gifts and open them. And everyone was so grateful. I didn't see or hear a single kid complain.....it was so neat to be around all these wonderful families.
Look at that face! Lulu was thrilled to get some My Little Pony toys. The really neat thing was that there were about 30-40 kids here and not one gift was the same. This company was very generous and made it truly fun for everyone. Levi received a Leap Frog alphabet toy that he will get to enjoy in a couple months.
Here is Levi sitting with daddy enjoying looking at all the people. 
The party was great and I was able to meet so many people that Mark works with and their wives. Lulu and Levi both had fun. After the party we went over to the co-owners house for some tea and coffee. We were able to visit and get to know some of the families better. While the wives were inside chatting the guys were outside sledding. It had snowed while we were at the party and the house we were visiting was up in the hills so they had a LOT of snow. I got to see Mark fly down this hill on a sled....he had a blast. When we drove back to our hotel this is what the parking lot looked like and to think just hours before there was no snow at all and we were walking up and down the main street.
This past weekend was Mark's company Christmas party. The party was 
Once over the pass we stopped for some coffee so we would be awake for our 4 more hours of driving. Lulu had a hot chocolate and thought she was so grown up drinking her "coffee."
The men and their hats sitting in Starbucks. 
When I called to check on our room I told the lady at the front desk that we would be arriving around 10pm. So she said they would leave the key out under the mat.....
This was Lulu's 
Daddy and daughter crossing the street. 
We had a great time walking the town. There was really no one else there since it was so cold out. Every shop we went into we were greeted by the friendliest people and it really made us enjoy the small town feel. We live in a very fast paced urban area so this was such a treat for us to slow down and enjoy this lifestyle. 
