Our parish’s sanctuary has been expanded and part of the remodel involves new flooring. Before the marble is installed, parishioners were given a chance to write a verse on the concrete. (We did this a few years ago prior to the new carpet installed.) Philippians 3: 20, 21 is the verse that is on Astrid’s marker. ❤️ I didn’t realize this until just now when I found my 2017 post, but Phil 3:20 is the verse I chose back then, too.
I have been feeling an emptiness inside today. I miss my littlest girl.
A friend of mine posted his on FB. This sums up a lot of what’s on my heart.
Christmas morning was spent at home.
Here are the “read” gifts they received. This year we opted for “practical use” material.
The “want” gifts.
ETA 12/27/21: Shecklet #1 finished his LEGO set in no time, Shecklet #2 can’t wait to use his new ski gloves (he wore a hole in his old ones,) Shecklet #3 found the perfect place in her room for the fuzzy purple rug, and Shecklet #3 has been having fun taking pictures with her camera.
The “share” gift. I may or may not have gone a little overboard here, but the deal I got on Perler beads was too good. 40,000 beads should keep them busy for a while, right?!?
After lunch, we headed south to spend the afternoon/evening with Jake’s family. Everyone was there – including Tippi!
Merry Christmas!!
We attended 4pm mass at our parish to celebrate Christmas. Aunt Larissa joined us for mass and afterwards we had heavy appetizers for dinner. Jake returned to church to run the cameras for streaming the 10pm mass.
We decided to try something new and hot glue our gingerbread houses together before decorating them. Since we didn’t plan on eating them, it saved in frosting and time! Win-win!
After the decorating was completed, we polled several family members and here’s how the results came out:
Best use of frosting: #4 (Shecklet #3)
Best use of candy: # 1 (Shecklet #2)
Best traditional house: #3 (Shecklet #4)
Best whimsical house: #2 (Shecklet #1)
Our friends the J’s hosted us and another family for an afternoon of sledding and cookie/gingerbread house decorating. It was SO much fun! The table was decorated in such a festive way and the treats, including a hot cocoa bar, were amazing!
My good friend and her family welcomed a new baby in late November. I was able to meet her today, catch up with MS, and get to see my godson as well!
Prenatal Partners for Life was a huge support to us during our pregnancy with Astrid as well as the time after her death. Mary, the founder of PPFL, asked if I would write about our time with Astrid for her to use in their fall newsletter. I was honored to be able to share about the short life of our little girl and the impact she continues to have on all of us.
Costco had a great deal on pork loins, so I grabbed two so I could replenish our marinated pork chop supply. Gotta keep the grill master stocked with options!
Two loins sliced up = about 50 chops. I made up four different marinades (making multiple batches of my favorite, cilantro lime.) I’m looking forward to some tasty winter grilling!
