Christmas Letter 2009

Thanksgiving was a beautiful day up at the Douthit Ranch, with not a cloud in the sky. The rest of the week has been 100% at church getting ready for Sunday's dedication. This week's blog is our Christmas letter......for a way to cut down on paper & stamps and for all you wonderful friends who read this faithfully anyway. Have a good week & look for dedication pics next week!

Christmas Letter 2009

Greetings in the name of Christ!

The Strawn’s have had an exciting year and life with two kids seems to get better and busier as the days go by. How thankful we are for such times in our lives.

Early this year, Sarah finished up classes to become a licensed EMS Instructor, and taught her first class over the summer. At the same time, the Rescue squad in Bridgeport was breaking away from the fire department to become its own entity, so there was a flurry of activity for many months. Sarah then dropped her membership from the FD, focusing on EMS, her first love, & the new department.

The week before Holy Week, the church decided to have a ground breaking for the long awaited building project. Pastor and a trustee put in several late night hours moving offices, tearing up old wood floors, and saving anything that could be saved in the old parsonage, as razing that building was now imminent. Construction of the new building started immediately. Pastor sat on the new building committee as many decisions needed to be made over the course of the next 9 months. How appropriate now that the new sanctuary is dedicated the first Sunday of the Church Year, complete with a Reredos & Predella made from the old wood floors. Many more late night hours were put into those projects with that same trustee.

In May, Sarah’s parents came to visit & we took a weekend camping trip to S. Dakota in the

new camper. In August, Al’s parents came to visit with their new Stallion Trike. With it being the week of Sturgis, Al & Dad took a day to drive up and saw the bikes there. What a time they had! The rest of the summer was filled with teaching, building, going to the race track & Pastor’s Con Ed. Throw in an LWML trip to Oregon for Al and you have summer gone by quickly.

Eden turned 4 in August and started preschool soon after. Lars turned 2 in September. Just before his second b-day, we learned that Lars has several food allergies and the crying since his birth has mostly been about that. It was essentially eating away his intestinal track & causing pain after every meal. So, as if we didn’t have enough going at the time, we went through the cupboards & threw away or donated nearly everything, then started over. It has been a long learning process & making two meals every meal was daunting at first, but Mom is getting better at it. He also has Speech Therapy & Occupational Therapy two mornings each week.

The gardens produced wonderfully this year & Sarah canned over 100 jars of food. We also traded or sold both vehicles to buy newer & more economical transportation, which has paid off already in fuel. The Bport Garden Club asked Sarah to have the parsonage be one of six homes featured in this year’s Christmas Parade of Homes, so that’s been another exciting & busy activity to prepare for. We are all busy, but still have time to bake cookies & read stories pretty much whenever we want.

We hope this finds you well & healthy. May God bless you abundantly~

Allen, Sarah, Eden, Lars & Baby due in May

New Shoes and Socks for almost all

With our lives being so hectic for the better part of a month now, things have been falling through the cracks at home. Lars was out of yogurt & cheese for a week, milk was sparse, though, supper was sparser. Not because we couldn't buy it, but because we were never home long enough to enjoy it and never able to get to the store.

Christmas boxes lie all over the place in various stages of being unpacked and I saw no need to vacuum or dust until it was finished. Which has taken quite a bit longer than I anticipated, because I want everything 'just right' for the parade in two weeks. We added a second tree this year, as well as several photographs from throughout the years framed and ready for a 'spot' somewhere. I hauled my Cherish Teddies out of the garage this year and realized that nearly half the box was from the Christmas collection, so I was happy to have thought to do that. It's been really fun, but I'm ready to be finished so I can sit around and enjoy it.

Sit around. That's pretty funny.


I won't even mention the lack of laundry &folding I have done lately. Pastor pulled undershirts out of a clean laundry basket for at least 4 days!


All of this leads me to the title of the blog. Eden said about 2 weeks ago that her feet hurt in her white tennis shoes. I checked the size and said, "they are a size 7 and your brown tennis shoes are a size 8. Wear the brown shoes." She agreed and we put the white shoes in the 'too small' box. After about a week of brown shoes, she was still complaining. Since she had holes in the toes and the sole was nearly gone, I said we'd look for some different shoes next time we went to SB. While we were at it, I thought, I may as well get new socks because I can barely get her feet jammed in these socks. Come to think of it, Lars' socks were getting pretty hard to get on, too.

Finally, on Friday, we were in SB and went to the shoe store. The lady measured Eden's feet and announced that the size 8 shoes she was wearing were probably hurting her feet b/c her feet measured out to be a 9 1/2 or 10. Wow, Mother of the Year here. While we were there, I had her check Lars' feet, which were also in shoes that were two sizes too small. Go figure. Since my shoes had holes in both toes and it was getting cold to be outside this time of year, I wandered over to pick out some for myself, as well. Daddy was the only one who didn't have time to look for any, and I'm hoping he can wait till the new year.

We left there and went to another store to get new socks for the kids. Apparently, you can't buy uni-sex tube socks for little girls, you either have purple bottoms or pink bottoms. We settled for white bobby socks instead. Lars got both dark socks for church as well as tube socks for the day, which make his feet even bigger and his shoes even smaller, so we had to get bigger shoes for him. Winter boots were a no-go, since we couldn't find any for him under $30. Unfortunately, this means he gets to wear Eden's pink, furry heart boots when it snows. Oh well, I did manage to find him some Navy snow pants, so it's not all bad.

Now, it's Sunday afternoon and I have to say I spent the morning tucking Lars' onesie, which was too small to stay snapped around his diaper, into his pants, which were half way up his calves and looked ridiculously small. The sweater he wore was about an inch too short on both arms and his belly stuck out the whole service. I guess it's time to go through his clothes, too!


Next weekend is busy from the get-go, so I won't guarantee a blog. It's furniture moving & last minute decisions, along with a walk- through of Sunday's service for the dedication. It's going to be a beautiful service & a fun but long day, I just hope nobody drops anything too important! The 42 page bulletin, which has been thoroughly proofread a dozen times has been sent to the printer and after next weekend, life should come back to the normalcy of Advent.

Well, maybe...

Another Week

Another week gone by and so little to show for it, really. It was a typical week with the exception that I spread out all the Christmas stuff in the guest room and tried to figure out what I had and what I needed for the Parade of Homes, which is fast approaching.

As you can see by the photos, piano lessons got a late start on Thursday because the girls needed to rake leaves to jump in. It was a perfect time to be outside and they had a bit fun to boot.

Saturday, I was up at 0230 with a little boy who was running around the house upstairs, laughing and playing in the dark. I rocked him and put him back in the crib just in time for the pager to go off and I was out the door. Since I had to be in SB by 0800 for an all day conference, I came home and got stuff around and ready to go for morning. When I was warm enough to crawl back into bed, I shut the alarm off and hoped the fog would be too thick to drive in come morning. No such luck. I left shortly after 0700 and didn't get home until after supper, picking up some odds and ends before leaving SB.

Meanwhile, Daddy had the kids to himself all day. After naps, he bundled them up and strapped them in the stroller for an auction a couple blocks away. Surviving that, they then loaded into the Ford and headed to church for an afternoon party.

Eden told me later that it wasn't a birthday party that they'd gone to, but they still had cake. When I asked her what kind of party it was, she said it was "Dying Dolly" party. After picking myself off the floor from laughing, I told her it was an "Anniversary" party. "OH!" she said, "Anniversary party".

Woke up to snow on the ground this morning, but now it is mid afternoon and the snow has melted with the sunny day.

With only an hour of daylight left, I'd better get the kids out for a some fresh air. We all seem to sleep better if we wear ourselves out there for a bit.

November already

Ok, I'm kind of excited to share this news. Early in the week, I got a phone call from a woman who asked if I would be interested in putting the parsonage in the Parade of Homes for Christmas this year. I hemmed and hawed, as I'm not going to be here for Christmas and didn't plan on a whole lot of decorating. But, it did sound like something we would enjoy and have fun with. So, naturally, I agreed on the spot. The parade is set for December 6th, which is the Sunday after the Sanctuary dedication, also Thanksgiving weekend. ALSO the week we’re going to have an out of town houseguest. Am I nuts?

I immediately started cleaning up and sorting stuff. With the weather being in the 70's all week, I've even managed to wash windows and screens. By Friday, I had a bunch of toys boxed up and ready to go to storage. Eden reluctantly helped me with that chore. With Daddy home, we loaded up the Ford and

took a trip to storage, swapping out toys, the play kitchen, more toys & the dress up box for several green and red totes, which are now sitting in the guest room, ready to be sorted through.

If anybody has any classy ideas for the big event, please let me know. Laura (bless her) offered her creative juices & even some decorations, so between the two of us, we should do alright!

In other news, Eden had an 'Un-birthday party' at preschool last week and brought home a jeweled cardboard crown, which she is particularly proud of and has sitting up on her dresser so Lars can't reach it. She has also begun counting her coins in her piggy bank on a regular basis, telling me how many 'monies' she has.

Lars has started trying to say words this week. If you didn't know what he was point to, you wouldn't have any idea what he was saying, but he's trying, which is better than not. Eden enjoys his speech therapy a lot more than him, she's very social and loves company!

Friday night, I wanted to get out and do something, but since all our excess savings went to paying for camper repairs last week (and we didn’t even get the tail light fixed), we were short for a sitter. Instead, we invited Douthit's over for Chimechangas & fresh tortilla chips with home made salsa. After one hand of cards, we were all too tired to continue playing. We wolfed down some cheesecake & crashed in the living room while the girls attempted to clean up the basement. I think the kids & I were in bed by 9:00 and Pastor headed out to the garage to do whatever it is he does out there.

Tuesday & Wednesday evening this week, I had to take a class for the EMS department and both nights we got out early, which is nice, except that I made it home before the kid's bedtime. I was hoping to get it out of it for a couple nights, but no such luck! Al was glad for my help, however, as he had to take the kids to one of his meetings. Apparently, Lars fell down the steps and Eden grabbed the sharp end of a blade all in a matter of minutes. Mommy to the rescue!

Saturday evening, the hockey game was accessible only on the internet, so the kids and I crowded around the screen and watched diligently. When Williams broke his leg, I thought I’d lose my supper, but everything stayed down. I wish they posted X-rays on the team website. We medical people like to see that sort of stuff, but alas, HIPPA.

Sunday afternoon, Lars hauled off and smacked Eden with a toy train, splitting her bottom lip & sending her into a screaming rage that lasted until she fell asleep an hour later. You know how those fleshy parts bleed so much. In the end, he gave her a pretty good fat lip and she collected much ammo for the next round.

Halloween

When I look over my calendar for the past two weeks, I see nothing but ink. And, oddly enough, since I'm not spending every waking moment working on a lesson plan now, I've had oodles of time with the kids. More than I would like on some days, but that's another story.

The preacher has been busy working on the building project. When he's not working, eating or sleeping, he's in the new sanctuary building the reredos with another trustee. The woodworking is coming along beautifully after several hours and weeks and months of work. It's been fun for him, as he doesn't have a lot in the way of hobbies at the moment. They hope to finish it later this week. Me too.

The new sanctuary dedication is set for the end of November, so, soon, it will all be over. It's a very exciting time in the life of the congregation. This is actually their 3rd sanctuary on the same plot of land, which I find unusual, but interesting, none-the-less. Every church is full of history if you do some digging and talking to the folks who've been around the longest.

As for myself, I've spent a lot of time the last couple weeks on the phone, making appointments for everything you can think of. Our new car, a 2000 Buick Century, needed a few things worked on before winter came, so we've gotten half of it done and are waiting on the other parts. The camper is finished in SB and we need to get over and get that. Pastor had LWML fall rally last Saturday and the nursing home servie last Sunday. We hosted a Circuit Social yesterday afternoon & evening at the parsonage. The hymn sing was great, with another pastor on the cello and me on the piano. Amazing how a few pastors and their wives can sing so loudly and sound so great!

Eden hasn't had much in the way of preschool lately, b/c of construction on the street of the preschool one week, and two snow days the next. Her Halloween party was a bust, but she didn't seem to notice all that much. She made up for it on Halloween night dressed as the cowardly lion along with her Tucan brother. They cleaned up the neighborhood, and it was a lovely 45 degree night, despite the snow piles yet on the grass.

I loved that the extra hour of sleep came on Halloween. Since the kids were out late, they went to bed late and, subsequently, slept late. Bonus to me.

We have been extremely busy on the ambulance the past couple weeks. I love the job and some of the new folks who have joined up with our department, still don't love the paperwork afterward. Nothing new, I suppose, in any line of work.

It's worked out that most of the calls have come in the night or early morning, before Allen has left for church, so I've been able to go help right away. Thankfully for the EMT in me, they have been a variety of calls with a slew of different challenges in each one. Who says small towns don't offer much?

Well, it's Monday morning and back to the grind. My list grew over the weekend somehow. I hope I get as many naps with the kids as I did last week. That was unusual, but a welcome change!

Enjoy the Halloween pics.