Trying to Catch up on Life.. and a BIG Thank You!

Okay! So my life has been so crazy this past month! Man, Oh Man! Between the Holiday's, Parties, Sports and my Sub-for Santa Project... We had a great Holiday Season! We were able to have our Fikstad Family Christmas party where all of my Mom's side of the family gets together and has a great time visiting, eating, visiting with Santa and enjoying each other! I was a little worried just how Avery would take "Santa". All month we have been talking about Santa, watching Santa shows and talking him up... hoping.. just hoping she would take well to him! Boy... did she ever! She was a Crack up! Santa walks in and she YELLS, "SANTA! OH SANTA! HI SANTA! LOVE YOU SANTA! SANTA! SANTA! SANTA! We were All cracking up! She wouldn't leave him be! Poor Santa.. she ran up to him the whole time he was giving out gifts, hugging his arm, telling him Hi over and over and over! Santa would hug her and pick her up and put her on his lap in between kids and talk to her.. even though it wasn't her time to get her gift! What a great guy he was! Thanks to Santa for making her experience a great one! Some Santa's would have just ignored her or would have gotten tired of this little girl bugging him... not our Santa! So Thank You Santa.. if you are reading this! I really appreciate you for making Avery's experience such a delight! You will have to see the photos... then you'll know what she was doing! We got it on video.. it was great!

The kids and I slept out under the Christmas Tree again this year.. waiting for Santa! Nick didn't want to sleep on the floor... so when we woke up.. we had to rush into the bedroom to get him so he wouldn't miss her face when she saw that Santa came and left presents, ate his cookies and left his little special surprise... So I'm not sure if we will be able to keep that Tradition up... we don't want Papa to miss out on the excitement! We might just have to bring in his cot and let him sleep on that! ha! ha! Christmas was Great! We had such a great day! Christmas Eve we went over to my parents house to have our Annual Christmas Eve Party! So the kids got to play with their cousins and open their Christmas PJ's.. then when we got home, Uncle Bub came over to visit for a while.... then also came back in the morning to watch the kids open their presents and have Christmas Breakfast with us! We love Uncle Bub so much and are so glad he's here to share in our special times.. my Mom and Dad came over to see what the kids got and then we went to visit my Aunt Julie.. so all in all.. it was a great day! The kids had a great time!

I just wanted to say thank you for all of you who helped with our Sub-for-Santa project! I was so stressed out about it this year, with the economy the way it's been. I scaled way back and still didn't know if I was going to be able to get them all taken care of. I lost several sponsors this year, and other's had to scale back because it has just been such a hard year for everyone... which I totally understand. There were several generous people in my life that stepped up and helped me make this a success and I am very grateful! This year we were able to provide Christmas for 27 kids! What a great experience it was. So Thank you, to all of you who helped make this happen. This is such an important project Preston and I do every year and have done since he was just little. There are so many people out there who are suffering and need help so seriously, Thank you for helping us touch those children's lives! You all mean so much to me! We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives... you always help us in our little.. and sometimes big Service Projects! It means so much to me and I love you guys all so much!

Our New Year's ended up to be pretty relaxing.. we were going to go to Nick's Bosses get together, but I haven't been feeling the best lately.. plus Preston was going to be home and we decided to let him have some friends come over and celebrate... plus we are drags I know, but we hate to leave Avery too! We are getting to be old and boring! ha! ha! So we stayed in, got pizza, watched movies and Nick blew his duck call at midnight! Even little Avery stayed up to enjoy the festivities! It was fun!

As I look back on this past year.. there have been lots of ups and some downs... isn't that how life has been lately for everyone? There are several of you who have also had some major trails in your lives and I hope you know that we will always be here for you! We have such great family and friends and I don't know what I would do with out all of you! Thank you for being such a great part of our lives and making such great memories for us and our kids! Life will always have trials and disappointments.. but it will also have such great times and joys.... one thing I am working on and trying to remember is.. it's those around who, who will help get you through.. good or bad... the people in your lives are the ones who help make things bright. Like one of my favorite quotes... "Life is what you make it!" We can get up each day, face the things going on with our day, no matter if it's good or bad with a smile or a laugh! There are so many things in our lives that we can't control... they are going to happen no matter what we do... so why not smile and laugh and make Enjoy the Journey NOW! Don't miss out on life or the joys it can bring... cherish your kids, your family and friends... enjoy the love and friendships you have and try to make everyday a better one than the day before! I hope you all have a great 2009! We love you guys so much and are so grateful that you are a very special part of our lives!