Two Short Years ago Today...

I looked out a plane window with tears in my eyes.

I stepped foot in a country that would forever have my heart.

I had butterflies in my stomach and was more nervous than I have ever been.

I watched the clock on my ipod slowly tick the wee hours of the morning away.

I jumped in a van and dizzily watched this new land pass by.

I walked in a courtyard, squeezing my best friend's hand as tight as I could.

I looked up....I saw you.

Love you so much Yonatan.  Thank you for turning my world upside down.

Its a Snow (wait, Freezing Rain) Day...

Yay for Snow days!!! Today we finally had the time to just go out and play. The boys and I started out in the back yard.  We were amazed at how hard the snow was (our huge snow fall ended up being a lot of freezing rain on top of old snow...yippee). Yonni wasn't heavy enough to make footprints and Elijah only made prints if he jumped.  E tried his "snowboard" out on our tiny hill, while Y stuck with the red bullet.

Soon we decided that this was just not exciting enough, so we walked over to Mr. Joel's hill for some more fun...

After that, we decided to "hike" through the woods behind Mr. Joel's house and ended up at the church to see if Daddy was there. After making it to the soccer field opening, the boys were "exhausted". E said they had to stop and rest!

I'm a Mean Kitty Mommy!

So all morning, Emma "the QUEEN of our house", has been acting completely crazy.  She has been running around the house quickly...which is odd for her because she is sooooo lazy.  She has been pawing everything....again odd.  And most annoying, she has been meowing extremely loud all over the house.  I was about to post on Facebook "is there any other cats out there acting crazy???".  Anyway, a few minutes ago, I was sitting in a chair feeding Miles, our super adorable little guy that we get to spend the days with, and then Emma runs into the living room....jumps on the couch....meows and stares at me, and then starts pawing the couch like she would her litter box.  It was in that moment that it struck me.  I all of a sudden felt awful.  It just dawned on me that Sunday night...yeah like a day and a half ago...I was cleaning out the litter boxes in the garage and had locked the cat door so they wouldn't some out there while I was doing it!!  I immediately jumped up, with Miles still sucking down the bottle, ran with him to the garage and to my horror realized I NEVER had UNlocked the door. Those poor 2 kitties did not have bathroom access since SUNDAY NIGHT!!!  (that would explain why Charlie pooped in the bathtub last night....something that he has NOT done in a very, very long time.  I just was to clueless last night to figure out why!)  Anyway, I think I'm gonna spend the rest of the day feeling bad and being a little extra nice to them...and I guess be thankful Emma didn't pee on our bed last night!!

Day 22...

Yesterday was Elijah's first day home on break. We filled the day playing in the living room, having fun with Miles, finishing up with some final touches at church for Christmas eve, making sour cream cut out cookies, hanging out with the cousins, then a sleepover AND all the boys kept saying was, "3 more days" :

Day 21...

Last Day of school for 2010!! Whoo hoo :) Elijah's day ended with combing the 2 first grades at the Spanish Immersion School and having a Christmas party. They had cupcakes, a craft, a lesson on Kwanza, and a book exchange.

Day 20...My Favorite Tradition

The moment I saw this calendar in 2006, I knew this was going to be yearly tradition for the Williams' household. It began that year with Elijah opening a new door and learning little words every night to relate the story of Christmas, then the next year he was able to say phrases and it kept on getting better! Last year was Yonni's first year with this tradition, and it was a little rough remembering, but we still went with it. This year is a completely different story. Elijah practically has it memorized from last year and Yonatan just amazes us with how much of it he remembers every night. By Christmas Eve, both boys will read US the story of Jesus' birth and I know I will be all teary-eyed and hopefully video recording it.

Other than learning the story of Christmas, this calendar celebrates children from all over the world. Every night there is a different country that is brought to our attention and then we pray for the children of that country. Its super cool when we get to day 17 because that is when we get to specifically pray for the kiddos in Ethiopia. Of all the different little traditions we do every year, this one is by far my FAVORITE!

Day 19...

Today was our last morning with Grandma; we rushed her to the airport right after church. We then had a yummy lunch at mommy's favorite Red Robin, and then headed to the Bosh-Baker wedding. It was so pretty. Brittany's dress was gorgeous!! After the wedding, we had a fun time at the reception and then left a bit early so we could make it home so Elijah could get in bed since his vacay hadn't started yet. All in all, a good day.