What a good day! Praise God that Jesus came in the flesh to save us! Also Praise God for the blessing of gifts even here on earth!
John, Malachi, and I have all had a very fun day. We read the Christmas story out of Matthew, opened presents (oh my!), and had breakfast. We played with our new toys, went to the theatre to see Bolt!, and then played Go Fish before Malachi went down for a nap. He's pretty good at that game (he did have some help).
I'll have to post some pictures but now I'm going to nap.
I love you all!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
1 day to go!
It turns out that the person who needs to be held back from the Christmas tree is me! All the presents look so pretty, I just want to open them!!!
John's working all day today. When he gets home we're heading over to our friends for dinner. Then to church, then possibly back to our friends house. When we get home we're opening our Christmas eve presents. Malachi's getting pajama's and John and I are getting TX A&M sweat shirts. We'll all wear them tomorrow morning. Of course Malachi will wear them tonight.
I have some housework to do today, but I really don't feel very well. I started getting sick yesterday.
I'm very, very excited for tomorrow. It's going to be such a joy to see Malachi open presents.
John's working all day today. When he gets home we're heading over to our friends for dinner. Then to church, then possibly back to our friends house. When we get home we're opening our Christmas eve presents. Malachi's getting pajama's and John and I are getting TX A&M sweat shirts. We'll all wear them tomorrow morning. Of course Malachi will wear them tonight.
I have some housework to do today, but I really don't feel very well. I started getting sick yesterday.
I'm very, very excited for tomorrow. It's going to be such a joy to see Malachi open presents.
Monday, December 22, 2008
3 Days to go!
We're so excited for Christmas this year. This is the first year in a couple of years that we've been able to buy presents for each other. We're having some fun with that. We made a deal at the beginning of this year that we wouldn't make lists for presents. John's theory is that if you are close enough to be married to a person, then you should know what they want with out needing a list. So far this year we've done pretty well. But Christmas morning will be the real test of this experiment. I know for sure I'm not getting the present that I really, really want since our Christmas budget didn't really allow for a $10,000-ish vehicle. But we were really blessed by the addition of my income and John's raise this year. Our Christmas budget was certainly much bigger this year than the previous two.
Tonight we wrapped all of Malachi's gifts and put them back in the closet. One of them did get left under the tree (his Christmas Eve gift). I'm going to have to keep a very close eye on him to make sure that he doesn't open that. Then on Christmas Eve all the rest of the presents will get put under the tree. John's working every day this week except Thursday. We both wish we'd known my office was going to be closed this week. We may have had him take off some days this week. Oh well. We had a great vacation over Thanksgiving. He so rarely uses his PTO, I hope it rolls over.
Tonight we wrapped all of Malachi's gifts and put them back in the closet. One of them did get left under the tree (his Christmas Eve gift). I'm going to have to keep a very close eye on him to make sure that he doesn't open that. Then on Christmas Eve all the rest of the presents will get put under the tree. John's working every day this week except Thursday. We both wish we'd known my office was going to be closed this week. We may have had him take off some days this week. Oh well. We had a great vacation over Thanksgiving. He so rarely uses his PTO, I hope it rolls over.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
So cute!
Malachi was watching me put on make-up today and he said to me "I wish Grandma and Grandpa would come for Christmas." I thought that was so sweet, also I was excited because he expressed what he wants in a grammatically correct format. I was so proud of him!
I've been working extra hours this week because our office is going to be closed all next week. I'm working this afternoon because I'm hoping to see friends tonight. One of John's friends finished his first law school semester on Tuesday and came back from Austin to visit. Unfortunately his wife had to stay and work :(
John and I are so excited for Christmas to come. Malachi is really excited too! He keeps telling us what he's getting. Which is interesting because he's probably not getting those things. Although he did give us one good idea. He did find one of his toys which is unfortunate, but I suppose maybe we shouldn't have made our closet the hiding place since he goes in there to play. Although in truth he goes into every closet to play - except the one in his room, but that's the hiding place for John's (he's the one that suggested it because he never goes in there. I haven't been able to figure out where mine are being held. They're in a place I never go in the house, but I can't think of a place that I never go) presents this year, so I don't want to put Malachi's in there too.
John ordered something for me from Amazon, but it came broken. Then he re-ordered it and the replacement came broken. Now he's thinking they may not replace it again. I don't know who's fault it is, but it makes me sad. Every time he gets me something he says I'm really gonna like it, so I'm sad I may not get this thing that I'd really like.
John got Malachi a set of armor. It came with a sword and shield, I think Malachi is going to flip! We also got him The Dangerous Book for Boys, a plastic golf set, a Cars book with dashboard (which is what he found), his grandparents bought him a rumbling bridge for his Thomas table and some friends of mine are giving him a Thomas bed set. He saw the pillow, so we let him have that. He's still getting sheets and a comforter. We also got him Cars bedding. We were going to get him a Cars bed, then we decided on a plain bed with Cars bedding. He was given a plain white bed and now we're getting the bedding. I'm still using the crib sheets that we have and they're getting so old that it's hard to put them on. I really had to fight the bed the other day to get his sports sheets on. We're still using the crib mattress so it just shows how shrunken the sheets are. We also need new mattress pads, but I don't know if we're getting those.
I think I did pretty good with John's presents this year. Overall I think next Thursday will be a good day. Our family tradition is to have orange rolls and hot chocolate before opening (that came from my side) but our own little twist to it is John reading the Christmas story before we open presents. Up until now Malachi's been a bit oblivious to presents. Since his birthday is right before Christmas he was a bit aware last year what the presents were, but waiting for the Christmas story was ok. This year might be a bit harder. It will definitely be a lesson in self control for Malachi and patience for me while I try to hold him back :)
We're celebrating with Raul and Valerie this weekend, and then on Christmas eve at 8pm our church is doing their annual Candles, Carols, and Communion. We've actually never been, so I'm excited to go. Christmas day is just the three of us. I thought of maybe going to a movie but I don't think there'll be anything playing that day that he can watch. There is a kids movie that'll be playing, but I think he might be a little young to appreciate it since it's live action.
I've been working extra hours this week because our office is going to be closed all next week. I'm working this afternoon because I'm hoping to see friends tonight. One of John's friends finished his first law school semester on Tuesday and came back from Austin to visit. Unfortunately his wife had to stay and work :(
John and I are so excited for Christmas to come. Malachi is really excited too! He keeps telling us what he's getting. Which is interesting because he's probably not getting those things. Although he did give us one good idea. He did find one of his toys which is unfortunate, but I suppose maybe we shouldn't have made our closet the hiding place since he goes in there to play. Although in truth he goes into every closet to play - except the one in his room, but that's the hiding place for John's (he's the one that suggested it because he never goes in there. I haven't been able to figure out where mine are being held. They're in a place I never go in the house, but I can't think of a place that I never go) presents this year, so I don't want to put Malachi's in there too.
John ordered something for me from Amazon, but it came broken. Then he re-ordered it and the replacement came broken. Now he's thinking they may not replace it again. I don't know who's fault it is, but it makes me sad. Every time he gets me something he says I'm really gonna like it, so I'm sad I may not get this thing that I'd really like.
John got Malachi a set of armor. It came with a sword and shield, I think Malachi is going to flip! We also got him The Dangerous Book for Boys, a plastic golf set, a Cars book with dashboard (which is what he found), his grandparents bought him a rumbling bridge for his Thomas table and some friends of mine are giving him a Thomas bed set. He saw the pillow, so we let him have that. He's still getting sheets and a comforter. We also got him Cars bedding. We were going to get him a Cars bed, then we decided on a plain bed with Cars bedding. He was given a plain white bed and now we're getting the bedding. I'm still using the crib sheets that we have and they're getting so old that it's hard to put them on. I really had to fight the bed the other day to get his sports sheets on. We're still using the crib mattress so it just shows how shrunken the sheets are. We also need new mattress pads, but I don't know if we're getting those.
I think I did pretty good with John's presents this year. Overall I think next Thursday will be a good day. Our family tradition is to have orange rolls and hot chocolate before opening (that came from my side) but our own little twist to it is John reading the Christmas story before we open presents. Up until now Malachi's been a bit oblivious to presents. Since his birthday is right before Christmas he was a bit aware last year what the presents were, but waiting for the Christmas story was ok. This year might be a bit harder. It will definitely be a lesson in self control for Malachi and patience for me while I try to hold him back :)
We're celebrating with Raul and Valerie this weekend, and then on Christmas eve at 8pm our church is doing their annual Candles, Carols, and Communion. We've actually never been, so I'm excited to go. Christmas day is just the three of us. I thought of maybe going to a movie but I don't think there'll be anything playing that day that he can watch. There is a kids movie that'll be playing, but I think he might be a little young to appreciate it since it's live action.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Atlanta Here We Come!!!
On February 12th John and I will fly to Atlanta and stay for two nights. On the 13th from 7am-5pm John will be doing his Oral Assessment. I'm so excited to go with him!!!
I'm going to spend that time seeing Atlanta. I don't know what I'll do but I'll figure it out.
I'm going to spend that time seeing Atlanta. I don't know what I'll do but I'll figure it out.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Congratulations John!
John got an email from the Department of State today saying he passed the QEP (Qualifications Evaluation Panel) and is one step closer to being a Foreign Service Officer for the DoS. Before you ask I'll tell you the next step.
He needs to go to D.C. sometime early next year for a day of interviews and testing. He'll be put into a group and they will be given a situation and have 30 minutes to make a proposal on how to address the situation. I believe he'll also do this on his own, also the interviews. I'm so proud of how far he's made it and everyone I've told so far (which is probably everyone who reads this) has been very proud. I have full confidence in his abilities to "knock 'em dead" in D.C.
Good job baby!
Oh btw, we were at a church Christmas Party last night and we both performed with groups so I'll let y'all know when the videos are on YouTube.
<3
He needs to go to D.C. sometime early next year for a day of interviews and testing. He'll be put into a group and they will be given a situation and have 30 minutes to make a proposal on how to address the situation. I believe he'll also do this on his own, also the interviews. I'm so proud of how far he's made it and everyone I've told so far (which is probably everyone who reads this) has been very proud. I have full confidence in his abilities to "knock 'em dead" in D.C.
Good job baby!
Oh btw, we were at a church Christmas Party last night and we both performed with groups so I'll let y'all know when the videos are on YouTube.
<3
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
1 more thing...
Bethany and I checked the race results yesterday and found our exact times. I ran the 5k in 36 minutes and 23 seconds! This is such a great accomplishment for me. I really thought that we'd do it in about 40-45 minutes. To find out that we did it in under 36 1/2 minutes is so encouraging.
Now John and I are thinking of doing one together next year.
Now John and I are thinking of doing one together next year.
We're back
The National Zoo was fun, unfortunately it was too cold for the panda's to be out in their habitat. But we did get to see them sleeping in their cages. We also got to see some gigantic elephants, plus a baby elephant. The lions were actually pretty active and that was fun. Malachi really liked a young gorilla that was hanging out by the window and running around.
That was Friday. On Saturday we went to D.C. to meet our friend Jessica who we all knew here in Dallas and her new husband. We decided to meet them at the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian at 9:30. We got there at about 9:15 and found out it didn't open until 10:00. Turns out none of the memorials or museums open until then. We did walk over to the capital and hang out there for a little bit before walking back. Jessica and Armando didn't make it to the museum by 10 so we went in with out them.
Malachi LOVED it! He wanted to see everything! We saw rockets, planes, lunar modules, and so much more. We let him run around for the most part. John and I didn't really get to see too much because Malachi was running around so fast. Once the museum got really full he went into his stroller which he wasn't too happy about.
After the NAS Museum we headed over to the Natural History Museum and Malachi had to stay in his stroller most of that time because of how busy it was. Holy Cow was that a busy place! We headed over to see the dinosaurs, and we saw the lions, giraffe's, etc. (the stuff we see in a zoo, but less alive), we also saw some good water animals. Of course we also had to go see the Hope Diamond. It's so pretty! The gift shop had plenty of Hope Diamond booklets, necklaces, earings, etc. But we got Malachi a really cool popcorn rock that will grow crystals when we pour vinegar over it. The growing process will take about 1-3 weeks, so we hope Malachi can wait that long, but we thought it would be a fun thing for him. I got a heart shaped rock that's black but really sparkly. It looks great under some good lighting.
After that Joshua and Bethany were gracious enough to take Malachi back to eat lunch and nap so John and I could enjoy more of D.C. John and I had been on our feet for over three hours so we took a little break while trying to think of what we wanted to do next. I really wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial and the White House. John really wanted to see the Capital, The Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. Unfortuantely what he wanted and what I wanted were on the opposite sides of the Mall and we were in the middle. The mall is really, really long by the way.
So we decided that with how the Metro Stations worked we'd head over to the Lincoln Memorial first and then over to the stuff that John wanted to see. So we started walking (no Metro by Lincoln), and while we were walking we stopped at the Washington Monument quick just to get a little close to it. While we were on our way there our friend Jessica finally called us (2:00pm) and said that they'd meet us there at 2:20. So we hung out waiting for them, and waiting...and waiting. While we were there we had a pretty good view of the White House so we decided that we didn't need to go over there because it wasn't actually very close to anything else we wanted to see.
Finally we met them at about 2:45. We had a blast with them. Armando is really nice and we hadn't seen Jessica since Malachi was in the hospital when he was born. We did all that was on our schedule with them. Walking over to Lincoln first. We then took quite a walk to the nearest metro. On our walk we saw the buidling for The Department Of State. John got a picture since he's applied to it. We were all very excited that we got to see it.
We took the Metro to the opposite side of the Mall and saw The Library of Congress, The Supreme Court and The Nation's Capital. We got to only go into the Library because both the other buildings were closed. But it was still very cool to stand on the steps of the Supreme Court. We were all getting very tired so we decided not to cross the street and go over to the Captial because it didn't look like we'd get close to it anyway.
After that we decided to go to the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial because it was on our way home on the Metro. It was already dark by the time we got there, so I think we enjoyed it less than we might have. But it was still cool.
One more Metro ride and we were home to Josh and Bethany. I think we got home about an hour or more later than everyone originally expected so we rushed out quick to dinner. Josh and Bethany took us out to the Ethiopian restuarant they like to go to. They're adopting two children from Ethiopia so they're getting themselves aquainted with the food. It was actually really good! The national dish they have wasn't actually one I liked, but the other stuff was great. They warned us it was spicy and it was, but nothing we couldn't handle. I don't think it was spicier than what we get here.
Sunday morning we were off to their church where we heard a good word from a guest speaker. It's too bad we didn't get to hear their head Pastor speak, but we enjoyed it none the less. Sunday afternoon was full of napping for everyone but John (who did homework). Sunday night we had their friends over for dinner and really enjoyed a visit with them. They have a 15 month old son, William, he and Malachi really enjoyed playing together.
Monday morning was full of laundry, packing and getting ready to leave. I filled their dryer too full and couldn't get all my laundry dried. It was quite a fiasco really. Currently I have one suitcase full of laundry that wasn't dry. I'm going to have to re-do all the laundry today. I was thinking that we'd get home with time enough for me to throw it in the dryer.
Unfortunately both our flights were delayed. What a travel day! We didn't get home until 9:45pm and we should've gotten home around 8:00 at the latest. I wont bore you more with the tedious travel details, but it was bad.
We're home now and getting back into the swing of things. Malachi's excited to be back at school, and I'm now back at work. John's heading to work and is expecting a crazy week. This is the last week of his school semester and he's really excited. He's going to be so busy this week though, so if anyone in town wants to hang out this week, let me know!
I found some work to do (yay!) so I'm off to do that. I hope everyone had a great weekend! Now the countdown to Christmas begins!
That was Friday. On Saturday we went to D.C. to meet our friend Jessica who we all knew here in Dallas and her new husband. We decided to meet them at the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian at 9:30. We got there at about 9:15 and found out it didn't open until 10:00. Turns out none of the memorials or museums open until then. We did walk over to the capital and hang out there for a little bit before walking back. Jessica and Armando didn't make it to the museum by 10 so we went in with out them.
Malachi LOVED it! He wanted to see everything! We saw rockets, planes, lunar modules, and so much more. We let him run around for the most part. John and I didn't really get to see too much because Malachi was running around so fast. Once the museum got really full he went into his stroller which he wasn't too happy about.
After the NAS Museum we headed over to the Natural History Museum and Malachi had to stay in his stroller most of that time because of how busy it was. Holy Cow was that a busy place! We headed over to see the dinosaurs, and we saw the lions, giraffe's, etc. (the stuff we see in a zoo, but less alive), we also saw some good water animals. Of course we also had to go see the Hope Diamond. It's so pretty! The gift shop had plenty of Hope Diamond booklets, necklaces, earings, etc. But we got Malachi a really cool popcorn rock that will grow crystals when we pour vinegar over it. The growing process will take about 1-3 weeks, so we hope Malachi can wait that long, but we thought it would be a fun thing for him. I got a heart shaped rock that's black but really sparkly. It looks great under some good lighting.
After that Joshua and Bethany were gracious enough to take Malachi back to eat lunch and nap so John and I could enjoy more of D.C. John and I had been on our feet for over three hours so we took a little break while trying to think of what we wanted to do next. I really wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial and the White House. John really wanted to see the Capital, The Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. Unfortuantely what he wanted and what I wanted were on the opposite sides of the Mall and we were in the middle. The mall is really, really long by the way.
So we decided that with how the Metro Stations worked we'd head over to the Lincoln Memorial first and then over to the stuff that John wanted to see. So we started walking (no Metro by Lincoln), and while we were walking we stopped at the Washington Monument quick just to get a little close to it. While we were on our way there our friend Jessica finally called us (2:00pm) and said that they'd meet us there at 2:20. So we hung out waiting for them, and waiting...and waiting. While we were there we had a pretty good view of the White House so we decided that we didn't need to go over there because it wasn't actually very close to anything else we wanted to see.
Finally we met them at about 2:45. We had a blast with them. Armando is really nice and we hadn't seen Jessica since Malachi was in the hospital when he was born. We did all that was on our schedule with them. Walking over to Lincoln first. We then took quite a walk to the nearest metro. On our walk we saw the buidling for The Department Of State. John got a picture since he's applied to it. We were all very excited that we got to see it.
We took the Metro to the opposite side of the Mall and saw The Library of Congress, The Supreme Court and The Nation's Capital. We got to only go into the Library because both the other buildings were closed. But it was still very cool to stand on the steps of the Supreme Court. We were all getting very tired so we decided not to cross the street and go over to the Captial because it didn't look like we'd get close to it anyway.
After that we decided to go to the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial because it was on our way home on the Metro. It was already dark by the time we got there, so I think we enjoyed it less than we might have. But it was still cool.
One more Metro ride and we were home to Josh and Bethany. I think we got home about an hour or more later than everyone originally expected so we rushed out quick to dinner. Josh and Bethany took us out to the Ethiopian restuarant they like to go to. They're adopting two children from Ethiopia so they're getting themselves aquainted with the food. It was actually really good! The national dish they have wasn't actually one I liked, but the other stuff was great. They warned us it was spicy and it was, but nothing we couldn't handle. I don't think it was spicier than what we get here.
Sunday morning we were off to their church where we heard a good word from a guest speaker. It's too bad we didn't get to hear their head Pastor speak, but we enjoyed it none the less. Sunday afternoon was full of napping for everyone but John (who did homework). Sunday night we had their friends over for dinner and really enjoyed a visit with them. They have a 15 month old son, William, he and Malachi really enjoyed playing together.
Monday morning was full of laundry, packing and getting ready to leave. I filled their dryer too full and couldn't get all my laundry dried. It was quite a fiasco really. Currently I have one suitcase full of laundry that wasn't dry. I'm going to have to re-do all the laundry today. I was thinking that we'd get home with time enough for me to throw it in the dryer.
Unfortunately both our flights were delayed. What a travel day! We didn't get home until 9:45pm and we should've gotten home around 8:00 at the latest. I wont bore you more with the tedious travel details, but it was bad.
We're home now and getting back into the swing of things. Malachi's excited to be back at school, and I'm now back at work. John's heading to work and is expecting a crazy week. This is the last week of his school semester and he's really excited. He's going to be so busy this week though, so if anyone in town wants to hang out this week, let me know!
I found some work to do (yay!) so I'm off to do that. I hope everyone had a great weekend! Now the countdown to Christmas begins!
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