Merry Christmas Y'ALL!

With the main Christmas event behind us and the New Year approaching we are incredibly thankful for the Christmas season here in Louisville and the family that God has placed around us. Being away from family is crummy to say the least! Thank goodness for Skype and emails!

We've managed to spend lots of time with friends and enjoy good times all around. The day before Christmas all Luke could do was stare at the tree and proclaim that he was BORED! Bored because all he could do was stare at his prezzies! I think I fixed that with a few chores, but the excitement was pretty real for him!

We had a kind and grateful lady staying with us for a few days while her brother was in ICU and recovering from multiple surgeries- so the house was full and busy. For Christmas dinner we also had a seminary family from Louisiana over- they have 3 kids and everyone had a blast! This is the first Christmas dinner I've ever hosted and it was great! All of my china plates -that we received as wedding gifts- were brought out and used after over 6 years in storage! FUN!

Luke of course loved his new Lego set and first Nerf gun. Megan opened more art supplies and drawing pencils. Ellie received her first cross stitch pattern. All are busy with their new projects and prezzies- cool! Keith's mom always comes up with the best gifts and this year it was DAVEY CRACKIT the nut cracking squirrel.

We have another week of no school here and we are enjoying the break. I'm on my second puzzle, Ellie has made several scarves, Megan has been knitting dish clothes and Luke continues to discover new Lego designs to create! Keith is still at the books! He has a J-term class next week with plenty of reading and assignments to complete. I'm just thankful we get to see him lots even if his nose is in a book!

It snowed here last night and the skiff of snow is still on the ground outside- brrr... I'm still thinking that we will not be using our Sorel boots and heavy winter jackets too often! But if we get a big dump of snow- we'll be the most prepared!

Thank you for all the Christmas wishes and love! I'm still procrastinating on the seasonal letter and card... maybe a New Years' note will make the mail soon!

Love to all!

Lefse! Yummy Lefse!

Keith has a great friend from his Greek class that knows how to make Lefse! Norwegian folk- like us!

Pete and his wife Katie have all the right gear- grooved rolling pin, round non-stick griddle and fabric covered rolling disc! For those missing out and not in the "know"- Lefse is a potato flat bread that you roll out thinly, cook quickly and eat with butter and sugar rolled up. YUM!

The first time we tried making Lefse it was a real adventure as the dough was un-cooperative and we were lucky to get anything onto the griddle! This time we had the right dough and I even tried a batch of our family recipe that worked! There was lots of Lefse consumed and enjoyed that night! The kids had so much fun.

When I was growing up my Grandma Handy would make a batch of Lefse at Christmas and send it to us on the Greyhound Bus. I can remember all 4 of us piling into the car to drive the the depot to get the treasured LEFSE! We would then ration the Lefse until it was gone!

I'm thinking that our Lefse making days have just begun!

School Photos.

Gramma Ruth and Papa!

Today was the very sad day that we all knew would come. Gramma Ruth and Papa had to go home. We had a great 7 days together and it went WAY too fast. The hardest part of moving was leaving the grandparents, but Skype and visits will have to do!

Papa helped find a great college basketball game to see. Gramma helped bake cookies with Luke and took on a sewing project with Megan. There were numerous Christmas light tours and games of Crokinole played during the visit. Mom and Dad were pleased with the Seminary and St. Matthews area that we have put down "roots" for now.

They flew out from Louisville at 5 am to a snowy and chilly Canada today. The kids will be sad when they get home from school, but we'll keep everyone busy with Christmas preparations. Time to make the gingerbread house and see if the hubby is up to some outdoor lights!

Semester #1 is DONE!

Time always goes too fast when you are having fun! Keith wrapped up his first semester at SBTS Dec 4th after a long list of exams written and papers due. Keith loved all his classes and I think he still cannot believe that he gets to do all this studying and learning. Of course Keith came down with a nasty cold a few days after he was done!

The kids had their Christmas choir concert last Friday and I had the joy of helping in the back stage area. All these little shepherds and angels would say to me, "Hey you are Luke's mom!" I have many little people and their families to get to know while we are here! The singing and music was incredible. Ellie's middle school grades even sang one song in Latin. At the end of the performance ALL the kids sang the Hallelujah chorus- WOW!

Dorothy Sayers Classical School has proved to be a huge challenge for the kids, but I am so pleased with their progress, love for learning and ability to diligently apply themselves to some hard subjects. We received their reports cards this week and the grades they earned represent EFFORT! Ellie can translate some Latin sentences, Megan can tell you the seven bordering states to Kentucky and Luke knows 25 greek and latin word roots! Now their mother is just trying to keep up at this point- my job is to keep the train moving with clean laundry, tidy house and good food! We are looking forward to 2 weeks off and some needed down time.

I guess after all the whirl wind of getting here we are now realizing how much has happened in such a short period of time. There are some days when I stop long enough to think about home and what that really means on this big earth. When we left for NZ we defined home as when we were all together- that has even more substance after the past few months here. We are settling into our new church here and loving the IBC family. God certainly provides a family for us where ever we go!