Christmas at the cabin with the Riehls!

We got to spend Christmas with my family in the beautiful, new cabin!!!!!  Late Christmas Day night, we decided to head up to the cabin after coming home from Mike's family gathering!  It was a good time to drive because the kids were tired and slept soon after we hit the road!  Mike swung by Starbucks for a drink and we were off.  I was his DJ as we drove three hours north.

When we arrived, we took the kids right to their cabin beds but the rest of my family were up playing Marble Chase.  Hadassah, Jeremiah and Matthew were already up and having a good time!

Friday morning we slept in and then ate a big breakfast.  Mom made breakfast casseroles and the food is always very plentiful and yummy at the cabin!  We then listened to the girls sing a few songs and we were off to opening gifts!

Mom and Dad went to the woods and picked out this tree!  It was a big one with long branches but nice!

Colson and Austin have so much fun together!  I love these two!!!!

We tried to get a photo of the boys and then the girls but Kaden didn't want to be in the picture.

Austin was given Peter Rabbit toys and he played with them so much already!!!!  Thank you Jody!

What a lot of sass and drama right here but the girls had a blast!  The twins do a great job at helping and keeping things under control!

 Ashlyn received these magnet shapes and they are super cool!  Again, thanks to Jody!

Each family decided to go on our own with a gift for Dad's this year.  Look at that long M&M box!!!!

These two are so cute!

This is us!!!!  XOXO!!!

I couldn't wait to give Jody a gift!  I knew she would love this leather bag as much as I love mine!!!!  Urban Southern for the win!!!!!

Mom and Dad gave each grandchild a gift in big gift bags!

And then we had a feast with crab legs and brisket!!!!

Dad's gave us a new Dewalt blower!  Perfect for those "out of gas" days and for quick clean ups!

Matthew got gift cards!

Hadassah received a rug for her room!

Every now and then Mom would pick out a name from a basket and then we could pick a gift card on the table!  So fun!  The older boys were included and the little ones could pick a book from Mom's basket!

So many blessings!

We spent the next three days at the cabin.  Dad kept filling up the wood box with the little boys right by his side.  The weather was rainy and we all were wishing it was snow!!!  Mostly everyone went home Sunday but us and Dad's stayed up one more night!  Mom never watched The Star so we gathered on the couch for that fun, sweet Christmas movie!

We headed back home on Monday after Mike and Matthew went and bought a basketball net and set it up in Dad's pole barn!  This will be the new past time game for the boys at the cabin!

This whole Christmas of 2019 was great!!!!  We enjoyed all the gatherings we went too!  The workers banquet was fun!  Both family days were exciting!  Christmas day spent at home was perfect with our children and then seeing Ritchie again was a delight!

We are incredibly blessed this holiday season and for that we want to thank God!!!!!

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas!!!!

Christmas with the Lapp Family!

The day after Christmas the Lapp family all met at mom's house for our Christmas celebration!  There are lots of December birthdays and Mom had these cute cupcakes for all the birthday children!

Mom cooked up a delicious lunch for us and then we gathered in the sun porch for some singing and gifts!  We don't pick names on this side of the family but Mom always has something for everyone.  This is a special time as she loves on each person!  We miss Dad so much at gatherings like this!!!!  Dad would be proud of his children and I wish we could play more settlers games!

We did play some games and spent the rest of day eating cookies, sipping coffee and playing basketball.  It was 9:00 PM and we started to clean up!

We decided to come home and pack up for the cabin and head straight there!  This was another great Christmas spent with the Lapp Family!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

We had a great Christmas celebrating the birth of Christ!!!!


Christmas Eve was spent right here at home with the children.  Hadassah was with Jeremiah and his family and we missed her not being here when we opened up the stocking stuffers.  I was struck with the thought that our children are growing up so fast and I need to treasure these moments more than ever!!!

We opened the small stocking gifts and then watched the Grinch together all snuggled on the couch!


Christmas Day was great!!!!  Hadassah came home and Jeremiah joined us all day long!  I made a breakfast and the table was set in white dishes and candles!  Then we read the Christmas story in Luke 2 and talked about the birth of Jesus as Ashlyn was on the seat of her pants waiting to open the gifts under the tree!!!!  She was so excited!

In the afternoon, we ate oyster soup and snacks!!!!

I love to try to visualize the birth of Jesus as to how it must of really been.  I'm probably so far off but I also know that any birth is not a clean, pretty experience and so how in the world was it for Mary long ago?  In some kind of stable or cave?  Not in a hospital or a midwife beside her or not even her own mother at her side!!!  This must have been scary for both Joseph and Mary!  Did your husband deliver your first baby?  Alone?  Not mine!!!!!  And thank goodness but they knew God was with them and that was maybe the expected route?!?  To not have running water or a ton of clean towels and no heat and a soft bed!  It's so raw when I really think of how it must have been!!!!

Maybe Joseph went running out to the streets or to the owner of the cave and asked for help?  The Bible doesn't say that they then were taken to a clean, warm room.  I just can't imagine how difficult life must have been for this first birth!

In Luke it says that the shepherds came quickly to find this newborn king!  I'm usually exhausted and so tired and just done after giving birth and I'm sure Mary was too!  They had just made a long journey to Bethlehem and I'm sure she was both hungry and very tired!!!!  To welcome strangers to come and see her newborn boy must have been a humble experience.  And a true way of God telling them again that He is in control!!!!  To send a host of angels to proclaim His son's birth must have been a wonderful story for both Joseph and Mary!

How long were they in this cave?  When did they move into something more comfortable?  How old was Jesus when the wise men arrived?  I wish we had more details in the Bible to tell me but we do know that a group of Magi or wise men were on the search of this new King!!!!  They saw a star in the East and went after it.  They arrived at the Herod's palace asking to see this new king and to give gifts!  This must have been a royal arrival if they gave such costly gifts!  We think of three men because there were three gifts.  We don't know this for sure and there may have been a whole company of men out looking for this new king.  Herod was angry and had his scholars search the scriptures and they found that he would be born in Bethlehem.  He sent the wise men to find him and instructed them to come back to him with a report so that he could go worship him also.  The wise men went to Bethlehem and when they saw the star again, they rejoiced and found Jesus!  Again, how must of this been to have royal kings arrive at your door with gifts for Jesus!!!???!!!  In a dream, an angel appeared to Joseph and said that they must flee Bethlehem and go to Egypt because the wicked king Herod was on the look out to kill Jesus.  He was the king ... not Jesus.  Also, the wise men were instructed by God to not return to king Herod and to go back home another way.

Herod was angry when he realized that the royal men were not returning to him.  He made a command to kill all the baby boys two years and under in that whole region!!!  He wanted to be sure that this new king would die.  How terrible for all the families that had to be the victims.  How could this be a peaceful time in history?  So many mothers were ripped from their babies!!!  It must have been terrible!

Jesus however was safe and sound in Egypt with his parents.  God was protecting them and in another dream an angel told Joseph when it was safe to finally return back to Galilee.  The wicked king Herod had died and it was safe to go back home!  This must have been tough for both of them to be on the move and find a home in Egypt until it was safe to go back to their relatives and familiar home town!!!  So much of this story I have to wonder how it must have really been BUT GOD ALWAYS CARED AND PROTECTED THEM!!!

Ashlyn was finally cheering when we started with the gifts!  Austin went first and then children enjoyed the gifts!  I really was surprised and nearly in tears when Mike gave me my gift!!!!  A diamond bracelet!!!!  He said for years that someday he wants to buy this for me but I had no clue he decided now was the time!!!  Thank you BABE!!!!!

The rest of the day was spent here at home with us playing a game of Citites and Knights!  Mike went to pick up Ritchie at the airport at 4 and so we invited Matt and Lena to come over for supper!  We combined her foods with my menu and we cooked up crab legs, crab cakes, sweet potatoes and cold shrimp for us all to enjoy!!!!

It was great to see Ritchie again and the kids all played with new toys!  The men turned on Dumb and Dumber and laughed their way through the movie.  I think this movie is ridiculous but it was fun to see them laugh and have a good time!  Ritchie ended up spending the night here and then going home the next morning.

Christmas day was such a great time here at home with our family!!!!


Merry Christmas!!!!!