In the Spirit

It was a long weekend around here for the kids and I.  Kirra and I went to Jaret's chapel on Thursday afternoon.  They did a nice job of leading chapel and Jaret was proud that he had a part to read aloud. He did well, speaking very loud and clearly into the microphone.  After school, we went shopping for our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, a little later than usual this year but we got them put together so we could drop them off at a local church.  The kids were excited about the toys we included.  We had a special moment praying over the boxes before dropping them off.  Jaret was so grateful for the opportunity to drop it off and see how many big boxes were packed full of shoeboxes to be delivered around the world.  I am grateful for opportunities such as this to help my children be compassionate and want to give back to others.  As they are getting a bit older, I look forward to more opportunities to help them want to give and serve.

"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" ~ Acts 20:35

I think I have said this before but I absolutely love this time of year!  Christmas is my favourite holiday to celebrate and usually I wouldn't begin decorating so early but with some of the recent snow and cold weather, it just felt right.  Thursday night my girlfriend Kelli and I went shopping at Dutch Growers as they had a sale on everything Christmas.  I bought a few new decorations to add to my tree and displays.  We had a wonderful evening shopping and then visiting over Starbucks afterwards.  Armed with my new purchases, I couldn't resist but spend Friday decorating the house.  

Jaret had Friday off, after Parent-Teacher Interviews Thursday evening.  We decided that the kids would have a pj day and enjoy some movie time with our plans to not leave the house at all.  We chose a good day for this since it was -40 something with windchill.  But, getting out the Christmas tree and decorating helped us forget the cold outside.  I even began playing Christmas music to really help with the mood in the house.  Around 4 o'clock that afternoon, we heard a knock on the door.  It was the neighbour kids who had been locked out of the house.  I am grateful that they immediately came to our house.  The kids were excited for an impromptu play date complete with hot chocolate.

Saturday was uneventful and other than running some errands and cleaning the house, we didn't do too much.  Sunday was Grey Cup Sunday and we had plans for our friends Sean and Ruth to join us for some food and football.  The kids were so excited to have a play date with Clive, Pierce, and Maeve.  They played and watched Planes while the adults hung out upstairs watching the football game.  Jaret helped with some decorating as he set his Lego guys up in football formation on the field, aka - the kitchen table with a football tablecloth.  It was a wonderful game and the Riders pulled off a win (45-23)!  Hedley did a fabulous job of the half-time show.  Sean and Ruth left a little early so they could get home and get their kids to bed.  We put our kids to bed but Jaret did sneak down and watch the end of the game and the Grey Cup presentation.  I enjoyed the cuddles with him and wanted him to watch history being made as the Riders won at Mosaic.  I can imagine my parents and sister had a fabulous time partying it up at Mosaic!  It looked like a rockin' party!  Way to go, Riders!  So proud of you and your Grey Cup WIN!!

Wonderful weekend!  I feel so grateful - so blessed!