December 31, 2008

Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Another month has gone by and I’m happy to say, there hasn’t been anything dreadful, like last month, phew!

I can’t believe another year has passed. Time really flies the older you get. Our days are filled with things to do, so I suppose it really shouldn’t be such a shock. The Christmas season has been very modest for everyone I know. For me, it was a huge reminder of what the season is truly about…and for that I am grateful.

We had the boys from the time school ended for the holiday break, until this past Sunday. We all love to have them here. Elise loves them so much and every morning would say Shh Shh (for Shannon) and De De (for Devon). It is so great to watch the three of them interact. It brings out a considerate and compassionate side of the boys that they generally do not have for each other. Over the past year and a half, they have made some really significant improvements with how they treat each other…a little more concern, respect and sensitivity. I’m really proud of them for that.

Another first this year, was that Shannon and Devon both purchased gifts for others with their own money! I took Devon, and Brian took Shannon. I know for certain how excited Devon was to buy gifts for his family…he wrote on the gift tags that he paid for them with his own money, and it was tithed. Both of the boys were very thoughtful and generous with their gifts, realizing perhaps for the first time during a Christmas, how much more fun it can be to give, than receive.

We opened Christmas gifts on the Tuesday before Christmas because Brian wanted to make sure he was able to spend some quality play time with them before they left to go back to Lakeland. All the boys (dad included) got Nerf Dart Guns for Christmas. They played inside the house, built forts/shelters, and got to play soccer a lot. I think they were all happy to have the extra time to play. The time was extended even further when their mom decided to not come to get them on Christmas. She didn’t come and get them until the Sunday after Christmas, which left the boys all a lot of time to play with their gifts and read their new books.

Grandma Campbell and Grandpa Ken came over for Christmas brunch and brought lots of goodies for the kids and a wonderful present for Brian and I, which was a certificate to watch Elise and the new baby during this coming year. It was great to see Elise really enjoy Christmas. Last year, she was more interested in the paper and garbage. This year, she really loved the gifts she received and hasn’t stopped playing with them yet!

There really isn’t too much to say negatively about the month. From what I understand, most every family got some kind of cold/flu during Christmas. We weren’t immune to it either. I did take a trip down the stairs and hurt my shoulder. The doctor thinks it’s sprained or fractured, but I don’t want to get an x-ray to see. No matter what the results were, there isn’t a lot I can do…being pregnant. On the positive side of pregnancy, there were no trips to the hospital this month and the baby is strong enough I can feel kicks every now and then. We’ll find out next month whether or not it is a boy or girl. During Christmas brunch, I started having some pretty strong contractions that kept me in bed for a few hours. The doctors say I should expect continuing complications during the pregnancy, but not to worry about them. They’re more of a nuisance for me, than a concern for the health of the baby.

We’d love to hear from your family to see what’s been happening with you all. I really don’t know, (because I receive so few responses to these emails/blog posts) if this even gets read by most of the people I send it to. At any rate, I hope you all are well. We think of you often and pray for you always!

Love,
terrah, brian, shannon, devon, and elise

Okay, so I’m a few days late for this month’s update, but as they say “Better late, than never”.

November has been a very busy and sobering month. Between soccer games, holidays, and the pregnancy, there is the regular hussle and bustle of every day life.
There have been some really trying things happening this month. Our friend from church was in a horrible accident where his wife was killed by a drunk driver, and he remains in the hospital. Our other friend from church has a son who is dealing with brain cancer/surgeries etc. And our very own sweet bun in the oven, put us all in for a scare yesterday that landed me in the hospital to make sure everything is okay. Trials from heaven never cease, and neither does the love and mercy we feel from our Heavenly Father. Our gratitude for the many blessings we have in our lives is full to the top of our cups this month.

We were able to visit Hawthorne for Thanksgiving with the boys and Elise. They loved it! Elise can now moo like a cow! She loved seeing all the animals. The boys did too…they even helped feed the cows with Luke. They really enjoyed watching movies (Iron Man, Spiderman, and Nacho Libre) inside, and playing soccer with Brian outside. They kicked the ball into a tree and it took us a long time to get it down. It was too dangerous to climb that particular tree, so Brian took a large fallen limb and poked at it until it fell out of the tree. Brian and I were able to locate so many constellations in the clear winter skies of the country. We tried to use our telescope, but the eyes truly seemed to be our best tool for viewing the stars.

Shannon is starting to mow the lawn to earn money and did a great job this weekend. Devon helped around as well. They both like to work if there is a paycheck at the end of the road, especially Devon!! He wants to save up hundreds of dollars for some automatic derby race car thing (he said) OR he wants to save up all his money to buy a ton of Legos (which would only make the ridiculous amount of Legos they already have even more ridiculous. Seriously, there isn’t an inch of shelving space available for any more Lego ships! I have no idea what he’d do with them all.

Elise continues to sign. She’s doing great with following directions, and telling us exactly what she wants. Her new favorite thing? First thing in the morning, she says “BA!” She means bus. She loves looking out of her bedroom window at all the school busses. Second to that, she can say ball now, and I mean say it, not just sign it. So she’ll stand by the door and say ball, ball, ball when she wants to go outside to play. Brian set up the soccer goals in the back yard and she loves playing and kicking the balls around.

We hope everything is going well for each of your families. You’re always in our prayers, and we love you!!

--The Denhams