Getting Excited

No Pictures today. I have not taken any photos in the past few days! I know that I will have plenty of opportunity in the days a head to be taking photos. Only a few more days and we have our Extended Pauls Family Christmas. All of my mom's brothers, sisters and their families come. If everyone is here we are 48 with two more on the way. This year we are going to be 45 maybe 46. We will only be missing my aunt who we miss every year. I cannot imagine how hard it is for her to not get to come year after year due to her chemical sensitivities. Yet she always blesses us by sending food along. The other two we may miss are my cousins boyfriend (all depends on work), and his son. We are having a very full house, and we are excited to have everyone here!

When Grandma Pauls passed away, we decided that our once a year family gather around Christmas time was something we wanted to continue with. It is nice that for the most part we live all with in two hours of each other (with the exception of Brendan and Krista), yet with all of our busy lives Christmas tends to be the one time a year we get to see most of our family members. I like the idea that our kids will grow up knowing their second cousins. I got to know a few of mine during my years at Bible College and I would not trade that for anything. While grandma may not be with us in body she is definitely with us in spirit. We will have way too much food (a Mennonite thing), yet that is also a good thing just in case some extras show up. With Grandma everyone was welcome no matter who. We are going to have fun. We are going to laugh, maybe cry a bit. We are going to have some great talks and just be together as a family. I love it. Now all I am hoping is that the new couch, love seat, chair, and ottoman arrive on time! Delivery is set for Friday, yet we are not sure about the love seat! Oh well we have lots of places to sit and chat, I just want the new stuff though!!!!! :)

So this year with our own kids we have decided to cut back on what they are getting for Christmas. They are still getting gifts and we got some great things on airmiles for them, and we are choosing World Vision gifts. I am so excited about this. Every week for a total of 7 weeks are picking one or two World Vision Gifts from their catalogue. Our kids have everything they need and a lot of things that they want, so instead of adding a ton to the pile of toys we are adding some while giving to others what they need. We are also being intentional and trying not to buy toys that will end up in the garbage in a year or less. Our hope is that our kiddos will grow up knowing that blessing others is just a part of life, and something we enjoy doing. I look forward to the day that Kenzie and Jaris will sit next to me and look through the catalogue on line and pick gifts to give to others too! Yet maybe that can be a few years away, because I am having too much fun picking out gifts to bless others.