Christmas Traditions

Living overseas, away from family has really made us figure out which Christmas traditions we want to carry on in our own little 3 person family. :) Christmas is a favorite holiday, and it's great to be able to share with family and friends when we are home, but being able to share it with just us three makes it wonderful too.

Our first tradition is putting up Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving, we can't wait any longer, or I would have us put them up December 1st.

One of my family's traditions was doing puzzles at Christmastime. Well this Christmas I have bet (kinda, 'cause I'll just get one of my own 3 Musketeer bars) Spencer that I will finish every puzzle we have, which is 12 in total, before Christmas day. Most are just 500 pieces, so easy, I can do three in one day. But these 1000 piece ones are giving me some troubles. I need more puzzle people in this house too, because Tyler doesn't like it, and Spencer has lost any interest in it.

Can you tell I take this seriously? Tyler took this without my knowing.

The next tradition is writing our letter to Santa Claus. This year Spencer was able to write his own, and he had quite the list, but there is one thing that he REALLY REALLY REALLY wants this year, and he's hoping so badly that Santa will bring it to him. (it's a marble maze construction thing, where you see the marble go from the top to the bottom)

The next tradition lasts 24 days! We have this book my mother-in-law gave us one year, which has a scripture of Jesus' birth, a Christmas hymn, and then a Christmas story for each day before Christmas. So we start it on December 1st, and this year we have really stuck with it. It's a great way to keep in mind the real reason for Christmas.

The next tradition kinda just happens. We get SO EXCITED for Christmas around here. We can hardly stand it! We love being able to care for others during this time, and be loving and kind and thinking of others. It's just so EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lastly, our best, yummiest and most delicious tradition is Monkey Bread on Christmas morning. This is the one tradition I love most, but the sad part is, Africa (both Congo and Zimbabwe) doesn't have buttermilk biscuits. Yes I could make them, but that adds one extra long step to an already long process. :) So, needless to say we can't wait to get back to the States to be able to have more!

I love Christmas traditions, and one more we have is our annual Christmas Letter, which will be up here next. We have many other traditions and one that I also love is that we give Spencer an ornament every year for something that happened that year. This year he got a Bear dressed as a Buckingham Palace Guard from our trip to London. It's fun to keep all of our fun memories alive with his ornaments.

What are your favorite family traditions?

Golfing

Tyler decided today that it would be a Daddy and Spencer day. :) So they decided to go golfing.

I love Spencer's outfit, it's so like golf!!! :) Plus I think he looks REALLY cute in it. :)

Showing off his golf swing.

30th Birthday

Today is my 30th birthday. Wow. I'm thirty! It's weird to think that I'm this old already, because I remember growing up thinking that those who were thirty and older were considered old people. Um, not so much.

I don't feel 30, but I do feel older. Which is good and fine. I don't mind getting older because that means my life is being lived and I'm loving it. Today I've been thinking back about my life and what I've accomplished, and I think I've done quite a bit in thirty years.

I mean, first off, I accomplished all those goals as a baby, walking, talking, feeding myself, and figuring out how to go to the bathroom the right way.

Then growing up as a kid I had a great childhood. It was fun, and full of play. I made some great friends back then, some I'm still in contact with and others I'm not.

Then came the pre-teen years....wow, now there is some confusion for ya. I think I handled it...hmm....as best I could. They were not my favorite years, I did too much thinking for my own good, which I try not to do too much now. I was more down on myself, which I still get some now, but have pretty much thrown that out the window.

Then the teen years. Those were fun years. I finally found some of my bestest friends and got some kind of confidence to do the things I knew I should. I was my best self I could be during those years. Great friends, great weekends with them, and getting along with parents.

I LOVE MY FRIENDS!!

This was an EPIC trip we took up to D.C. together. Such fun times!

This is most of us from the above photo 12 years later.

Graduating High School.

College years, those two years I was able to graduate with an Associates Degree and find the man I was to marry for all eternity. Which now that I think about it, I don't think either one of us knew that was going to happen so quickly, or why it was, but it did, and it worked! Thank goodness for just doing what we feel we should when the Spirit is pushing us in these directions.

The love of my life.

Then came adulthood or married life. We worked, and worked, and worked!! Some hard years, but a learning curve for us I think, and enough love to get us through.

Then came parenthood. More confusion on how not to mess up this little person I have just been given. And more love than I could ever imagine for another person.

He's turned out well, yes? :)

Then came moving, yep that's what I'm calling that and this part of our life, because we have moved A LOT. Five times in one year, not fun, but we made it. Now moving every two years. And during all of these moves we have seen the world!! Which I've always wanted to do, and I have. I have been able to do so much, and see so many things I wanted to see.

My life now is college, and making sure Tyler and Spencer are taken care of.

I still have so much life to live and accomplish which I can't wait to do. Most of all I can't wait to be able to share it with Tyler and Spencer. They are my rocks and have made my life so much better than I could ever imagine.

I have changed in these thirty years, but that's good. We will always change, but we have to make sure that we change in a good way. I have more confidence in myself, sometimes, and I have noticed that the fear of not looking good or acting right or talking the way people want me to talk is gone. I am me. I have learned much from my thirty years, but the thing that NEVER changes is family. FAMILY is what is always there for you, what always has your back, what will never fail you in life. Thank goodness for that! :)

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER

I love my birthday, but I love my birthday more for the family and friends I get to share it with. Happiness is everything to me, and today my happiness cup is overflowing.

Birthday Wishes

I did this last year for my birthday, and wanted to try and have it done again, because I really love this as a birthday present. :)

I know you aren't suppose to tell what you wish for, but I'm going to tell anyway, because it involves ALL of you!!!

My wish for my 30th birthday this year (which is on Thursday) would be that everyone celebrates with me!!!

Here's what you have to do (and you have to do one of these if you want to help me have a fabulous birthday!):

1.Dance a little dance sometime during the day, and do I mean just wiggle your hips a little?? NO! I mean turn UP the music and DANCE!!!!

2.Sing out loud in the car on the way to work, even if you get strange looks from others, then you know you are doing it right. :)

3.Help someone out. Plan on holding the door open for anyone ahead or behind during the day whenever you walk through a door. If someone drops something pick it up for them. Just be on the lookout for things you can help them with.

4.GIVE! Give out hugs, give out money, give someone a listening ear, do something where you aren't thinking of yourself.

5.LAUGH!!!!!! Tell funny jokes, or have someone tell you their funniest joke.

That's it! Pick one or more of the 5 things I put up here, and that can be your way of saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECCA!!

Comment and let me know what you did! :) REMEMBER: THURSDAY!

Game Drives in Hwange

While in Hwange we went on two game drives during the day we were there. It was great! Although we saw no cats (lions, leopards or cheetahs) we did see lots of other animals that we were excited to see.

Our first drive we got up and left by 5:30am. It was early but we knew the most animals would be waking up by the time we got there and then we'd get to see them all.

Right when we drove into the Park we saw a Kudu and some Zebra.

As for these next few pictures you will realize that Zebras are my most favorite animal here.

So pretty.

LOVE this picture.

We got really close to the Zebra, it was awesome.

This was the first time we had seen so many giraffes!!!

The two giraffes on the right were hitting their necks against each other. They were play fighting, but the sound that it made was crazy! It was like two pieces of wood being hit together.

A bird/hawk we saw, and of course I've forgotten the name of the bird already. sorry. And the wing-span on this bird was incredible!!! At least five feet or more.

While at the watering hole we had the luck of seeing a mama white rhinoceros and her little one. They are not seen quite often in the park, when we told others that we saw them they were quite jealous.

The majestic sable. Tyler's favorite.

The car we were driving in and the view we had.

Kudu!!!

Love this photo too of the close up of the Kudu. The insides of their ears were pink pink, almost red.

A crazy looking bird.

That mound is a termite mound, they are everywhere here!

Another peek at a Zebra.

More giraffe during the afternoon drive.

All the elephants at the watering hole in the afternoon. This group was leaving when we got there, and then another family came in while we were sitting there.

Another story about this watering hole is that when we drove up and after these elephants left, a giraffe came to drink. But he kept looking over at the far brush. We asked our driver/guide why the giraffe kept looking over there and not bending over to drink, he said that it could be because a lion was over there. The giraffe wouldn't turn it's back on the brush, and would take quick drinks. Because the giraffe is so tall it can see most things other animals cannot. In the end, we never saw a lion, and left with the giraffe still there.

Cute little baby elephant.

These birds are crazy looking, and we have them at our house, but this one was getting really close to the car so I got a better picture of it.

A jackal. It amazes me how much these animals really blend into their environment, it's awesome to see it.

The next few pictures are of the sunset that night. I love taking these pictures.

On our way back to the camp it was getting dark, but our guide had a spotlight, and we spotted a hyena!!!! It was limping and we knew that most likely he wouldn't last the night, sad but true.

Well that's it about our week trip to Victoria Falls and Hwange!! Hope you enjoyed the pictures! It was an awesome trip and we will be making it again this January with Tyler's parents. It'll be interesting to see what the difference is from the dry to rainy season, and to see what animals there will be.