Tag Archives: family

A New Family Member

10 Apr

Last Friday afternoon, I took Katy to the vet at PetsMart to get a comprehensive exam and heartworm test. While I was standing in line, I saw a flier for an adorable 7-month-old puppy who had been rescued from an Indian reservation in New Mexico and needed a home. She was very sweet and gentle, had heartwarming puppy dog eyes, and just happened to remind me a lot of our dog, Katy, with the short hair and tan and black coloring.

Travis and I had been unofficially discussing getting Katy a friend to play with so when I saw Charlie, I asked the vet techs about her. One asked if I would like them to bring Charlie into the exam room with me and Katy so we could see if they got along. After hesitating a little, I said ok. Katy pretty much ignored Charlie the whole time, except for a momentary growl when Charlie backed her into the corner.

Before dropping Katy off, I took a couple of photos on my phone and then called Travis. “I found the dog we should adopt,” I said. “She’s so cute and sweet.” I told Travis I would send him the pictures. After I picked Katy back up and headed back home, Travis was back from work and I sort of jokingly asked him, “So do you want to go look at Charlie?”

“I kind of do,” he replied honestly. So I filled out the adoption application and we returned to PetsMart. We took Charlie out on a walk and then talked to the vet techs about her medical history and what the adoption arrangement and fees would be. We planned on talking to the office manager, who would know more of the financial specifics, the next day before we made a decision. But I left our application with the clinic just in case.

The  next day, while I was painting our front door (again!), the vet who had picked Charlie up called. After answering our questions and doing a little interview, the vet offered us the chance to adopt Charlie. They wouldn’t charge an adoption fee, would waive the membership fee for signing Charlie up for a vet plan at their clinic, and would spay her and get her up to date on her shots for free. It was an offer we couldn’t pass up.

So we have a new family member – Charlie. Travis and I talked about a lot of different names, including Stella, Scout, Brooks, and Sienna. Finally, we decided to do what we did with Katy: keep the name she came with. She looks like a Charlie and even though at first, I didn’t like the name for a girl, it has definitely grown on me.

About Charlie, she is estimated to be 7 months old. She is a hound mix – her bark sometimes tends toward the howl that hounds are notorious for. She has had a hard life. She was about 15 pounds underweight when the vet found her, her ears have been bitten up by bugs, and she had ehrlichia, which is caused by ticks, giving her a slight limp in her left hind leg (which has since been treated and disappeared).

She’s not quite potty-trained yet so that’s been an adventure for us. There have been quite a few mishaps but I think we’re starting to get the hang of it. I’ve definitely learned that you cannot underestimate how much dogs need to go to the bathroom.

Even though it will take a while for us to bond with her as much as we have with Katy (who we’ve had for a year and a half now), I think it was a good decision to get her. She’s the sweetest dog, very mellow, and Katy and her already love planning with each other (although it gets a little too rough at times).

Rescuing a dog is not like getting a newborn little pup right from their litter. They’ve been beat up, scarred and a lot of times, abused. They are “broken” dogs. I’m not sure if Charlie would have lived much long had she not been rescued. I like to think of rescuing dogs as analogies of the gospel. God didn’t choose the people who were easy to love, the cute ones, the tidy and well-kept ones. He chose the ones who were beat up, living on the streets, and in need of some serious help and care. It’s not easy to love a rescued pup right away, when their coat is matted and they don’t know proper dog etiquette and they bark and growl and want to raid the trash. But they are worth redeeming.

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Beach Longings

10 Jan

Relaxing in a hammock on Isla Mujeres

We’re back from the beach! Travis and I just got back yesterday from Mexico. We went to the Cancun Palace in Cancun with  my entire family – parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law.

While the actual vacation was wonderful, both of our getting-to-the-airport experiences were stressful. When we were flying out, the check-in line was a couple hundred people long and there was a problem with my ticket – I had booked it in my married name but my passport is still in my maiden name. Two years ago, I had used a certified marriage certificate to verify the name change but this time, I was told that I should have booked my ticket in my maiden name, to match my passport. Finally, after standing in line for 30 minutes and up at the counter for another 30, we were checked in. Security was fairly quick and we got to our gate with plenty of time.

When we were flying back to the US, the hotel had gotten our airport transfer times mixed up. Travis and I were flying out at 7:45 am, so we were supposed to leave for the airport at 4:30. But the hotel had us down for leaving at 12:30 with some of our other family members. Finally, after a whole hour, the hotel called us a taxi (and paid for it) and we were off. Luckily, the check-in and security lines were very short so we had enough time leaving too. Praise the Lord!

The rest of our vacation was great though. Travis and I shared a room with my brother Chris and sis-in-law Meg. They’re great – I really enjoyed getting to spend time with them. Besides the givens of eating lots of delicious food and drinks, we also took a trip over to Isla Mujeres, where we visited a sister resort to the Cancun Palace (that’s where the picture above came from). We played beach and water volleyball, tennis, ping pong, chess, and pool. We drove little 2-person speedboats and went snorkeling. We laid on the beach and by the pool, reading and talking. We had our family Christmas celebration and went shopping at a flea market.

The whole crew (clockwise from left): Brian, Travis, Jeremy, Dad, Chris, Meg, Mom, Jen, and me

We also visited the Sun Palace that was just down the street from our hotel. There was a bartender there that made all sorts of different fruity shots for us and then sent many tequila shots down to the beach where the guys were playing volleyball. All of us kids ended up pretty drunk that night.

While I didn’t like that we had drunk so much, I will say that the Lord really used that night to bring us closer together and break down some walls. Meg has been very hurt by her parents who are divorced and she feels very responsible for the well-being of her sisters. She wants God in her life but is having a hard time trusting that He can help her in the situation with her mom and sisters. She also has a hard time believing that anyone can love her for who she is.

Jeremy, Jen and I, upon hearing this, started telling Meg about the gospel and how God loves her enough to send His Son to die for her. The 2 things that were the coolest for me were that 1) I am now positive that Jeremy and Jen are believers. They totally get the gospel, which is TOTALLY AWESOME!! and 2) I got to see the state of Meg’s heart. She is very shy and has a hard time opening up to our family so being able to see her heart is a privilege. I can now pray for her in a specific way, as well as follow up later about this conversation. I did talk to her again the next day, just to make sure she knew it wasn’t just something I said while drunk but it’s what I truly believe.

My brother Chris also opened up about how he felt about his job and purpose of life but our discussion was cut short when it was time to go to dinner. Both Chris and Meg are searching. They want God but it seems that they’re not quite to the place of having an intimate relationship with Him. But this definitely energizes my prayers for them!

Cruising around in our mini speedboat

The one main spiritual thought I had during and after this vacation is how much I long for heaven. Being in a paradise like that, with no cares or worries, with my family that I truly love and enjoy being with, I felt an inner temptation to anxiousness. I felt I couldn’t possibly enjoy the vacation enough and that all the days were going by way too fast. I had to remind myself that my heart is really longing for the thing it was created for: perfect communion with God.

In the book I read on vacation, Soul Craving by Joel Warne, he writes, “The new country we have entered [as Christians] never had it in mind to simply waft us a few comforting breezes or provide us a place to vacation from our regular world. It wants to become our regular world. It wants to become, in fact, a new world inside us, remaking all our inner geography.”

Being with my family awakens my heart’s desire for fellowship, for being deeply known and loved. The gorgeous tropical landscape and sunshine reminds me how much I want to delight at the dawn of each new day and feel utter contentment at each sunset. My heart aches for God.

There is a longing awaken by such an experience that cannot be entirely satisfied. And like C.S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

 

The view from our room

To see more pictures from our vacation, click here.

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Our Colorado Christmas

27 Dec

I love Christmas and I’m kind of sad it’s over. To me, it means family, friends, cozy feelings, sparkling lights, and delicious food. I especially enjoy decorating our house for Christmas. Here are the decorations I put out this year:

In the kitchen

Closeup of the ornaments - can you tell that I love green and blue?

Closeup of the snowflake tree - I bought these at Target. Love them!

I don’t care about the presents (though I did get awesome presents this year!). And even though this Christmas was different than all the others of my life, in that I did not celebrate Christmas Eve or Christmas Day with any family except for my wonderful husband, it was still a great time.

On Christmas Eve, we slept in and then went to see True Grit at the 10:55 am showing (it’s a goode movie, btw). Then we made chicken wild rice soup and watergate salad for our special dinner that night. We opened our stockings, attempted to do a really difficult crossword, went on a walk, and watched a cheesy Lifetime Christmas movie. Around 5:00 pm, we had our Christmas Eve dinner, just the 2 of us. We had chicken wild rice soup, crescent rolls, green beans, watergate salad, and pumpkin pie. Then we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church and we’ll probably come home and watch another cheesy Lifetime Christmas movie.

On Christmas Day, we also slept in (gotta love that!). And by slept in, I mean we got up around 9:30. We made monkey bread for breakfast (it’s like sticky cinnamon bread) and then opened presents. I got a gorgeous, sparkly scarf and Target gift card from Travis’ sister, a new wallet and necklace (that I love!) from Travis’ parents, and then we received Starbuck’s coffee and Scattergories game as joint gifts. Travis got new work gloves, a fly-fishing vest, a gift certificate to Gander Mountain, and a fish knot booklet. After gifts, we watched yet another cheesy Lifetime Christmas movie, made sugar cookies, went on a walk, and then went to our friends Ahren and Lauren’s house for Christmas dinner. It was Ahren’s family, Lauren and us. It was very nice for them to let us be a part of their family Christmas. We even played 12 rounds of Scattergories!

Then yesterday, I made myself be a bum. I am learning that my constant activity comes from a lack of trust in the Lord. I feel like I constantly have to be productive because bad things will happen if I’m not on top of things. So I fought the urge to be productive and I was completely unproductive. Ok, I did do the laundry, take Katy on a walk and work out. But I mostly read and watched movies all day. And I reminded myself – I am not lazy. I am choosing to rest today. And it was great.

Hope you all enjoyed your Christmases! On to the New Year! 😉

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Thankful.

25 Nov

Travis and I made it to Minnesota, amazingly. The 16-hour drive to Nevis (where Travis grew up) was brutal. I hit a wall around hour 14. I had been driving but after encountering some icy roads in Fargo, I decided Travis should drive. I had planned to stay awake because I knew Travis was exhausted too but I literally could not. I felt drugged – I would wake up periodically to check on Travis but would fall back into my comatose state faster than he could respond.

Then, when we finality got to his parents’ house, I crawled into bed to take a nap. After 3 glorious hours of unconsciousness, I felt human again. I was so completely out of it that Travis said I was sawing logs like he never heard before and when he tried to poke, shake, clap, and yell at me to get me to stop, I wouldn’t respond. He resorted to pinching my nose shut, so I couldn’t breathe. Apparently, that was effective. Good to know my survival instinct still works.

This Thanksgiving is the first in the last 3 years we’ve been back to the good ole Minnesota. It’s a good feeling. I love the snow, the cold, seeing everything covered in white, people bundled in warm clothing. Up here in the sticks, you also see people wearing blaze orange and camo hunting gear, even though they’re not hunting. Ah… Minnesota. Good to be here.

I am very thankful to have inlaws that I really love. Travis’ family is great. Very laidback and down-to-earth, friendly, welcoming, supportive. I am so glad we came back to spend Thanksgiving with them.

Being here brings back a lot of good memories and fuzzy feelings. It makes me very excited at the thought of moving back in a few years. To live near family, enjoy snow all winter long, play on lakes all summer long. I didn’t realize how much I loved Minnesota until we moved away. But I’m still very glad we moved to Colorado, not only because we’ve made good friends and had great experiences, but also because we now know that if and when we move back, we will be choosing Minnesota because we love it, not just because we were born here.

I am thankful that God created this great state.

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The love of family

17 Jun

Tonight, I finished the book I was reading called The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond. It was a very good novel about a little girl who goes missing and the ensuing panicked search for her. The book was a little slow moving in the drama at times but it was nonetheless very insight and interesting. It said a lot about the nature of memories and human desire to preserve moments that are, by definition, passing by.

Which led me to look through old picture albums – first, the one with pictures of Travis’ and my engagement, wedding and honeymoon. Then, my study abroad trip in Venezuela. And finally, pictures of my childhood.

And it was in looking at pictures of my childhood that I realized what a blessed childhood I had. I was surrounded by loving adults – my parents, of course but also aunts, uncles, grandparents. I didn’t realize how good I had it – of course, children never do.

My mom’s mom is who I get my middle name from – Ruth. Grandma Ruth. She lived in Hendrum with my Grandpa Ralph, in a small house on the corner. I can remember exactly what the house looked like inside – you entered into a small mud room, where you could either go down into the cellar (which I never did) or into the main part of the house. Through that door, you came into the kitchen. Straight across the kitchen, there was a cold, mysterious room. The door was always shut because that the kids were not allowed in. Once, we went in and discovered the entrance to the attic but were so nervous about getting caught that we ventured no further.

To the left of the kitchen was the dining room. The right hand wall was lined with windows and the wall to the right of that was lined with cabinets. In the middle of the floor stood a giant table – so big that it took up most of the room. On the left wall, there was first the door to a small bathroom. Then there was an armoire that took up what little wall space there was. Then, the door leading out to a landing that led to the next floor.

Straight ahead through the dining room was the living room. In my memories, the furniture was never quite arranged the same when I came over. But I do remember a TV, a couch, some lamps, a bed perhaps (for when my cousins slept over) and a card sorting machine that my Grandpa liked to use when playing cards.

On the way to the upstairs, you passed by another room, one step down from the stair landing. That was the den – I’m not sure I ever went in that room. It was Grandpa’s room.

There were two flights of stairs – halfway up the second, there was this opening in the wall. It had a door and a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. I think we called it the Fort. It was big enough for 3 of us kids to fit in there at the same time, 4 if you really squeezed. Whenever we went over to Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Ralph’s house, we would race each other to that little room. There was a latch on the inside, so you could allow others to enter (or not allow) at your own discretion.

At the top of the stairs, there were 2 bedrooms – 1 had several beds in it and the other just 1. The room with just 1 bed was Grandpa’s room. We hardly ever went in there either. The other room was fun because there was a hole in the floor that looked down into the living room below. It was entertaining to listen to the adults down there, talking, when all the kids were upstairs.

But I digress. All these memories came flooding back into my head as I looked through my photo album tonight. My Grandma Ruth died when I was only 12 or 13 – I was old enough to understand what had happened but not old enough to really understand. Growing up, I had thought of her as a little bit weird – she had a back condition that made her slightly hunched over. The pictures in my album don’t disclose any animosity toward her but I can’t help but think… how did I act toward her? Did I love her? Did I thank her for the gifts she gave me, as they were sacrifices on her behalf? Or did I act like a stupid child, ungrateful, only focused on superficial details?

These thoughts so overwhelmed me as I looked at those pictures tonight that I started crying. I wish I had known her. I wish I could have told her that her love and generosity mean the world. I wish I could’ve gotten past the outward appearance and seen her for the amazing person I hear she was. Even if I had been older, if I had known her better and been more mature, I don’t know if I could have put into words that kind of emotion.

The same kind of emotion that I feel for my mom. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by how much I love her that I can’t bear the thought of this world existing without her in it. How does one go on without your beloved parent? And I know that I fail to express how much I love her, that I fail to show her how much she means to me. I don’t call her all that often, I don’t say in words how much she means. And I realize that I’m losing precious moments – they’re floating away on the winds of time – but I get too engrossed in the minute details of life to remember these truths. WHY?!?!?

The same goes for when I’m looking at pictures of my dad and me growing up – all the memories we created together. That man has a heart of gold. I know that I am precious to him and that he loves me more than words. Knowing that makes me love him even more. How do I communicate that kind of love back to him? How are words adequate for that kind of love?  The truth is, they just aren’t. And they never will be.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t try to communicate those feelings and that is where, I fear, I fall very short. I have found myself looking at gifts lately and wondering, “Did I thank that person for this?” Remembering that Travis’ parents paid for the groom’s dinner, I wondered “Did I ever tell them what a huge blessing that was?” I think I did, but I can’t remember. And what if I didn’t? I can barely stand that thought!

Every time I feel like this, so overwhelmed at how much I love my parents, I wonder why I live so far away from them. Why did I choose to move, so that I only see them 2-3 times a year? But I have to remind myself that Travis and I chose to follow the Lord and no matter how much human love consumes one’s heart, devotion to and love for the Lord always have to come first. He is ultimately the one Person who matters. And I have to entrust my heart, and all the love therein, to Him.

But I do pray that it is in the Lord’s will to let Travis and I move back to Minnesota to be near our parents when we start having kids (in a couple of years). I want my kids to know their grandparents, because they are the coolest people ever.

I love you Mom and Dad!

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How dreams create desire

27 May

Two nights ago, I had a dream about babies. A friend of mine (who is now 44) had a baby – it was a weird dream. That’s not the point. The point is that I woke up really wanting to have kids. And the more I thought about it, the more I realize that I do want kids. Like, now.

I’ve tried to convince myself that I enjoy just being married, I enjoy having this freedom without kids. And while that is true, I am starting to think that I might rather have kids than my freedom.

I still think kids are at least a year and a half down the road – Travis and I both agree that it would be good for him to be done with grad school before having kids. But why not have kids right after he’s done?

We’ll see what he thinks about that.

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Kids

19 Jan

I know its an exaggeration but it seriously feels like everyone in the world is having kids except for me and Travis. At first, it was just all of our church friends. But now, all of our friends from MN are having kids too! It’s craziness!

I have to admit, it gets me thinking more and more about having kids of our own. I mean, how could it not? I get to see the pleasant side of things, when the baby is cute and cuddly and wearing adorable little outfits. I don’t see the a.m. feedings or sleepless nights or long stints of crying. I do though somewhat experience the new parents’ inability to do anything spontaneous and eventually, when they get older and can’t get sleep anywhere, anything past 7 p.m.

Travis keeps reminding me, the grass is always greener on the other side. And it’s not that I don’t enjoy our childless freedom right now. We just bought plane tickets for a 3-day Christmas/Valentine’s Day trip to Salt Lake City at the end of February. I am going to start training for another triathlon at the beginning of February and am still planning on training for the Twin Cities Marathon after that. Travis has already written every single date of every single hunting season for every single animal in his new planner. We couldn’t do any of that if we had a kid right now (well, I guess Travis could write the dates in his planner… but they wouldn’t amount to anything 🙂 ).

Even though I am excited to have kids, I really feel (mostly) ok with waiting. I don’t have the kind of overwhelming anticipation about having kids that I had about getting married. Not because I’m less excited but more because I am more confident that right now is not the right time for kids. When Travis and I were dating, I didn’t give a rat’s @$$ about timing because I wanted to be married. NOW. Period.

But with kids, it’s different. You can’t date a kid and get used to the feeling of being in a parent-child relationship. You’re not a parent and then you are. You’re just a married couple and then you are parents. There is no in between, no easing into it.

I think the reason why seeing other women having babies makes me want one is because I know that I will enjoy it so much. It is a new season of life and while there are trade-offs and limitations, I’m sure any new parent would tell you that they’re totally worth it. And while I am still confounded by the fact that Travis and I are old enough to be parents (!?!?!?!), I really want to start a family.

Which begs the infamous question: “So when are you thinking about having kids?” I think it will be another 2-3 years, according to the Kluthe timeline (God may have something else in mind, as He did with the Normans). We would like to have some more of our student loans paid off/down and for Travis to be done with grad school (which he expects to happen spring/summer of 2011).

All in good, and God’s, time!

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Minnesota Christmas

28 Dec

I’m in Minnesota right now at Travis’ parents’ house in Grand Rapids. We got here last night after driving up from Pine City, where we were at my parents’ lake cabin for Christmas with my family.

Christmas was nice and relaxing. We ate and opened presents late on Christmas Eve, then went to church and ate some more on Christmas Day. The church service on Christmas made me cry. It was a small-town Lutheran church and the pastor (a female) gave a confusing, vague and heretical sermon about the inner holiness that we need to see in every human by having our eyes healed by the baby in the manger. I know that there are members of my family who aren’t trusting Christ for salvation and it broke my heart to realize that hearing messages like that might make them think that they’re ok and don’t need Christ. I was actually so frustrated with the sermon that I went up to the pastor afterward and told her my concerns. She looked at me with pity and compassion, agreeing with everything I said and contesting nothing. I walked away even more frustrated. I wanted to tell her that she was leading people to hell with her heresies but I didn’t. I don’t think it would’ve done any good anyway.

We visited our good friends Mark and Sarah last night at Mark’s parents’ house. They live in NC so we don’t get to see them very often. Mark was the best man in our wedding and they got married about a month after we did. They just had a baby girl in August. So weird! It is very hard for me to grasp the fact that Travis and I are old enough to be parents and it could be just a matter of a few years before we actually are. So weird.

But I am think I am ready to have kids for the most part. We are going to wait until Travis is done with grad school (God willing) and we have more of our debt paid off. But I’m thinking we should wait only another 2-3 years at the most. I’ll be 28-29 then. Our relaxed, spontaneous family vacations are limited. Kids will change the dynamic even more than spouses did. But as with them, it will be for the better. Good additions to the family. Plus, I love having “sisters.” 

I don’t know what we’ll do with Travis’ family while we’re here. Usually we go to a movie, sledding, snowmobiling, read, ice fish and talk. This year, Drew (our nephew) got Big Buck Hunter for the TV so Travis will of course be playing that a lot. It’s great being on vacation and just chilling with family. It makes Travis and I wonder what life would have been like had we stayed in MN instead of moving to CO. It would have been WAY different. And I think, easier. But we are glad that we moved. We believe that God led us out to CO and that He has us there for a reason. We still talk seriously about moving back in 5-10 years but Colorado is where we’ll stay for now.

Nevertheless, Minnesota will always feel like home.

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Majorly bummed.

22 Dec

So the whole job thing didn’t quite work out as anticipated. Not only am I not starting in January, I’m not sure I’ll get a job with that organization at all. From what my friend D (who left D2S to work for them) tells me, it sounds like they are rethinking a lot of things and haven’t figured anything out for sure. They’ve even talked about changing her level of responsibility and even her payscale, which is totally not cool. So D is glad that this happened before I got in the middle of it but it’s still a major bummer. I was really ready to leave AND I was really excited about the new opportunity.

But it doesn’t sound like they’ve for sure decided to not hire anyone… it’s just more about timing. Do they hire someone now or 3, 6, 12 months from now? If D has any say in it, if they do eventually decide to hire someone, I would be offered the position. So the hope and potential is still there. It’s just no longer on the near horizon.

Before I found this out yesterday, I had been reminding myself of God’s goodness, love and perfect timing. After I found out, I saw how easily I could abandon all those truths and instead be mad at God. “Why can’t I have this job? Why did You let me get all excited about this when You knew it wouldn’t happen? Why do You have to teach me to rely on You this way? I really wanted this job and You knew it!”

That’s what I wanted to say.

But I can’t let that be my attitude. God does have perfect timing and He is good, regardless of circumstances. And 24/7, He is not only able but willing to provide for me. So when I am tempted to lament to myself “I can’t take any more of D2S! I want out NOW!”, I have to remind myself of 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” and Psalm 55:22 – “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” It makes it sound like D2S is a horrible place to work (which it isn’t) but it helps to remind myself that God will enable me to endure, to perservere, to press on even when the going is rough.

On a positive note, there is a blizzard moving in across Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota so Travis and I are leaving for Minnesota a day early (tonight!) I haven’t even started packing but luckily, I did my baking last night so that’s all ready to go. I didn’t get a chance to buy my oldest bro’s Christmas present (was going to do that tonight) so we’ll have to figure out a Plan B for that.

The positive side, though, is that 1) One less day of work 2) One more day with my family and 3) One less day of work.

Hopefully Christmas and my fam will cheer up my spirits.

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Top 10 Things I Love About Christmas

15 Nov

1. It signifies Christ’s entrance into this world as a human and as the Savior for humankind.

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2. Family

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3. Christmas Songs (the tradition ones sung in church like Come All Ye Faithful and O Silent Night) and Music, mostly notably Kenny G and Manheim Steamroller (my parents’ influences, what can I say!)

kennygxmas2

christmas-mannheim-steamroller-cd-cover-art

4. Christmas Trees

Christmas_Tree_Decoration

5. Candles and Fires

candles

fireplace

6. Snow!

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7. Christmas Decorations

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8. Food!

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9. Church Christmas Programs

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10. The indescribable, irrepresentable cozy feeling of Christmas

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I love Christmas and am SO READY FOR IT!

Travis and I are going back to Minnesota to see our families December 18-27. Can’t wait!

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