Thomas Book Review

I meant this summer to do a short book review of Sacred Marriage and Sacred Parenting, both books by Gary L. Thomas that I read this summer. I don't have a lengthy review for them. I just want to say that they were both very good reads, whether you're married or thinking about it, no matter which stage of parenting you're in or thinking about it. Thomas makes you look at your marriage/parenting from a bit different aspect and shows these relationships (as spouse or parent) as a reflection of our relationships with God. I would highly recommend these books. One point that really stayed with me is that just as we do not want our children to fail or get hurt, and we pick them up and comfort them when they do, so God does the same with us. Do we turn our backs on our children when they make a mistake? No! Neither does God. This is why he keeps giving us chances: We are his children and he loves us dearly, more than we could ever love our own children or spouse. That is so hard to imagine. A point to ponder.

More Christmas

Okay, once again I'm behind on my blogging. Let's start back to Friday last week. Jon's parents and brother Caleb came down and spent the afternoon at our house. Finn got his birthday present-a wooden rocking horse. He enjoyed it while Ben took a nap. The boys were excited to see everyone. That night we met Jon's brother Nathaniel, Sarah, and their baby Ella at Famous Dave's. Excellent food, as always. I was feeling very good and I ate more than I should have, as always. I highly recommend it if you've never been to one. And if you don't like meat, you're really missing out. I prefer the brisket, if anyone is wondering.

Saturday we headed to Nathaniel's to celebrate our Christmas. The boys got a bunch of new toys and books. We all got very nice gifts. We had a good dinner of prime rib and other things, but mainly prime rib. It was good to see everyone again. The boys had a great time with Ella, who is 4 months younger than Finn. Ella and Finn spent a lot of time chasing each other in circles. We now have a big kitchen for the boys that we need to work up the courage to put together. Ben is itching to open the box of food that came with it.

On Monday night we had our first experience at the Spec'n Dicken German pancake supper. They have bacon and/or sausage in them. They were very good, and I am never one to pass up pancakes. It is a fundraiser for the Christian grade school here, Timothy Christian. Ben also loves pancakes and ate 1 of these plate-size cakes by himself.

Tomorrow I will have my second doctor appointment. Things seem to be going well so far, and we continue to pray for a healthy baby.

I am off to rest while the boys are both sleeping.

The Week In Review

We had a very nice past week. Our good friend Kris graced us with her presence on Wednesday. We didn't do a whole lot. She came along to get groceries, we did some cooking, played some cards, watched some TV, played with the boys, talked a lot. Just a nice time to do nothing together. She came to church with us Friday morning and headed home as we were getting ready to head to my family for a quick get-together.

We drove up Friday and encountered a car problem; namely, the car didn't want to stop. Thankfully this didn't happen until the last hour of our trip. So with some sitting and waiting and car restarting, we made it safely to my parents. The return trip on Saturday was quite nerve wracking. Thankfully the boys slept the first 3 hours out of the 4-hour trip, and we only stopped once. The car is currently in the shop. We're afraid we may be car shopping in the near future.

It was also very cold in Minnesota this weekend. We hit 30 below zero. Thank God for furnaces and blankets so we can sleep comfortably.

We had a good time overall and received some very nice gifts. I think my favorite was a set of books Ben got, 1 each with letters, numbers, and shapes. Each item is given in English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. So Ben may be able to count to 10 in five languages before too long. I guess I'm easily impressed.

We've had a nice quiet couple of days now. I'm trying to work up the ambition to take the Christmas tree down. I also need to put some old toys away since the boys have plenty of new stuff to keep their attention.

Jon and I celebrated our 7th anniversary yesterday. We headed out without the boys to do some mattress shopping. We were successful and should be enjoying our new bed in 7-14 business days. We also went to eat at Carlos O'Kelly's, a Mexican restaurant. We had never been there before and were right next door. It was very good and I would highly recommend it. Refried beans are my new favorite thing right now. We were only gone about 4 hours, but we are thankful for the time away and for such willing babysitters we have in church.