Drumroll, please...

There are three times in my life when I've been completely, never-saw-it-coming, rug-out-from-under-my-feet surprised.

The first was my 13th surprise birthday party thrown by my friend Colleen.

The second was my work wedding shower. I thought it was a going away party for my friend, Dorothy. Instead, it was a shower for me. I was floored.

The third was this Christmas.

Somehow, some way, I always have an inkling of what is to come. Even mine and Sabe's engagement wasn't a complete surprise. There were elements of it that were surprising but we had already talked timing so I knew it was coming.

Not so with this Christmas.


I didn't intend to build the anticipation like I have, I just wanted to make sure I could sit down and give it a post it deserves.

I said in a previous post that we had a good Christmas, and we really did. It felt more relaxing than some of our past visits around the holidays and we had a good time with both sides of our family. A lot of that was due to not having to split one day between our two families. 

We spend Christmas day at my sister's, hanging out, opening presents, eating, all the good Christmas stuff. This year was no different, but added to it was Addie being older and more interactive, which was a lot of fun. In our family we take turns opening presents. I really like this tradition and as our family has grown it has morphed more into age groups taking turns, rather than individuals, in an effort to speed along the process.

When all the presents were opened and we were wading through the wrapping paper and ribbons, my brother suddenly said that there was a gift waiting for me in my niece's room. My first thought was, "What? Why is there a present for me?" The siblings and our spouses hadn't exchanged presents this year so I thought it odd that there would be a gift for me.  Next I was thinking, "What could it be?" All of this was transpiring in my head as I stood up and made the short walk to Bryn's room.

So, I opened the door

And saw this

And I cried.

There it was, not just any Madsen, but MY Madsen! I was completely taken by surprise. I really didn't know what to say - I couldn't believe it. There are still moments when I think about it and I get a little choked up all over again.

It's not the bike itself - as awesome as it is (and it REALLY is!) what overwhelmed me the most was what the bike was a result of - my family and their love for me. My brother orchestrated it all and everyone pitched in. That they wanted to do that for me and did it is still pretty overwhelming. I feel totally undeserving and so glad to be a part of my family.

I love and appreciate them, I always have, and I recognize how special they are even more now that we live far from them, but not only do I love and appreciate them, I just think they are pretty great.

Still can't believe it.

I am thankful for my family, for the amazing gift they are to me and for the gift they thought to give me.

Wanna go for a ride?

What we've been up to...

 A little TV watching from the baby stroller Addie got for Christmas...

 Some birthday party goin'...

 Some candy collecting...

Ponytail wearing, chocolate pudding eating...

Finally outside and chalk drawing...
 

Hanging with friends...

Driving...
 

...with a little car trouble along the way.

I know I owe you a post about my Christmas SURPRISE - I was waiting to take another photo and now that I have it, it is late and I am off to bed. Soon, soon - trust me, it is worth the wait!

I am thankful we've been able to get outside for a bit this week. I'm not ready for heat and humidity, but these cool, spring-like temps are welcome (even though I'm a little jealous of the snow that is falling right now in Illinois!).

When you're at Mimi's...

...you can have ice cream for breakfast.

(I tried for an ice-cream-stained-face photo without the pacifier, but she wasn't having it.)

...you can touch all of the "no-nos" and rearrange them without getting in trouble.

...you can watch as much Curious George as you want.

...you get lots of hugs and kisses, even more than usual.

...your laundry comes out looking like it has been professionally laundered (how DOES she do it?!)

...you can carry around Dixie cups full of Goldfish crackers or whatever snack you choose, forget where you left it around the house and another, new, full Dixie cup appears without question.

...did I mention you can eat ice cream for breakfast?

I am thankful for my mom. At her house, it really is home.
 

Looking back at Christmas & forward to a new year

I've been hibernating for the last couple of days and it's been great. The weather has been cold (relatively speaking) and dreary so Addie and I have stayed in, caught up and are cleaning out.

It's hard to believe that Christmas was over three weeks ago. A few days before the big day we headed back home to spend some time with our families. Addie did very well on the drive up - I was really proud of her. Instead of doing our usual overnight drive we got up eaaarly and drove during the day.

Breakfast on the road

 

Catching some zzzzs

Waking up...

STRETCH...!

We're STILL in the car?

Back to sleep!

I was able to post from Missouri where we spent some time with Sabian's family. We visited Sabian's grandma, met some new family members, took care of some last minute shopping and waited for the snow!

  
We did get that white Christmas but the snow did not keep us from getting to Illinois safely Christmas Eve night. We woke up Christmas morning at my mom's, packed the car full with gifts and food, squeezed the three of us and my mom into the car and made our way to join everyone at my sister's.

 

  

More food, more presents and SNOW (did I mention that already?!). We had a really nice, relaxing day. Addie was not as much in to opening presents as I thought she would be. More so, she was interested in what everyone else, namely, people her size, were getting. I think there was so much activity and there were cousins in both families to play with so she was distracted from the actual present opening. Once she had the chance, she enjoyed all of her gifts, especially her baby from her Mimi.

There was one huge surprise waiting for me on Christmas day, something I never saw coming.

BUT...it deserves a post all its own, so you'll have to wait for that one.

A couple of days after Christmas Sabian made the trek back to Illinois on his own. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law, Addie and I stayed behind to hang out for a little while longer, enjoying some more time with family and friends. It's always hard when Sabian isn't with us but it is always good to have more time at home.

We never see everyone we want to and never get to do all we want to but I have determined that I'd have to stay at least a month for that to happen. We really enjoyed our visit although I have to say, one great thing about living in Florida is NOT having to wrangle my child into a puffy winter coat every time we go out and then squeeze her into her car seat wearing said coat.

I was a little anxious about the flights home. There is no direct flight from St. Louis to any of the airports near here, but we did have the advantage this time around of flying into the new PCB airport, which is closer than any other airport we've used before. In the back of my mind I knew there was no reason for me to worry but I was anticipating every move I would have to make and how I was going to make it with Addie in tow. The last time I flew with her she was less than a year old and in some ways a little easier to manage. But, her being older now also had its advantages.

She was great. We flew first to Houston and then to PCB after a two hour layover. Our layover gave us enough time to eat lunch, change diapers, meet some new friends and run around the airport, burning up some energy. On both flights we had at least one extra seat next to us, allowing Addie to have her own space and also on both flights were a lot of kids, so if Addie felt like she had something to tell the whole plane, it really wasn't a big deal since there was someone else trying to do the same thing.

Par for the course, Addie fell asleep just as we were landing our second flight. She missed seeing Sabian as we found him at the baggage claim waiting for us but she soon woke up and was very happy to see who held her when she opened her eyes.

Our car seat suffered a casualty (losing an arm rest) during the ever-so-gentle handling throughout the trip but we did receive all of our baggage and the broken arm rest was soon forgotten as I opened the trunk to the car and found another surprise - an iPod Touch! This was just one of a few surprises Sabian had waiting for me, including some of my favorite candy, a clean house and some other treats.

My first couple of days back were super relaxing. I felt no push to get unpacked and thanks to my mom, my laundry was done. Sabian had also put away our Christmas gifts and other miscellaneous items we'd sent him back with the week earlier. What wasn't put away was at least in the right room or near where he thought it would go but wasn't sure. Did I mention it was a good thing we didn't plan on making the trip back with Sabian? With all of our stuff the car was packed - too full for Addie and I to fit!

The trip back to Wewa is always bittersweet, but I am thankful for a wonderful Christmas with our families, visits with friends and a safe trip back to the panhandle. Now, on to 2011!

Happy 2011!

Nine days in to the new year and I can finally send a heartfelt "Happy New Year!" your way. Addie and I are back in Wewa and are slowly working our way through mounds of clothes and many miscellaneous items that need to find a place to call home. In the meantime, we've enjoyed a very relaxed first weekend back. I've refrained, for the most part, from doing too much cleaning and laundry and have just been spending time with Sabian and Addie. The clothes and cleaning will certainly wait for me this week.


In short, we really had a wonderful Christmas with our families. We were even treated to a white Christmas! Much like a storybook, it snowed on cue on Christmas Eve and continued to flurry a bit on Christmas. Everything was covered in white. Addie enjoyed the snow until her hands started to hurt from playing in it a little too long. 

There's plenty to share about our time home but those posts will have to wait. I just wanted to throw out a fresh post and hope to get to writing more this week.


I am thankful for a safe, uneventful trip back to Wewa and my husband, for the little surprises he had waiting for us, including a clean house.