Christmas Catchup

Its been a while, I do apologize! Things have been a bit hectic around these parts. Mom came into town with her dog lancelot. We got Anhalt all setup in record time! It was great because so many people came out to help. Christmas Eve at Anhalt was great. It was beautiful, we had almost 1000 people between the two services. 

Christmas Day was relaxing and pleasant. We slept in, opened presents and stockings, drank coffee, and enjoyed each others company. Then mom and I started cooking our traditional lobster stuffed beef tenderloin, loaded mashed potatoes, broiled asparagus, and yeast rolls. The Taylors came over and brought a delicious salad and stuff for bananas foster. Amanda also came over with a beautiful cherry cheesecake. It was a yummy meal all around. 

After dinner Ben, Blake and Camron put together this amazing lego kit Camron had gotten for Christmas. Amanda's four girls came over later in the evening which was so fun! All of the kiddos enjoyed a fantastic game of Wii while the adults sat around and chatted. I love my friends and family.

Ben, Jen and Camron with the legos.

Jen and Camron...aren't they cute. 

The day after Christmas we spent the morning cleaning up from our Christmas eve service. And again, we tore down in record time do to the help of some amazing volunteers. Ben and Blake left to go hunting in the panhandle and Mom and I headed out to shop a bit. 

So here are a few of the favorite things about this christmas...

1. Having my mom, brother, and me all under the same roof at the same time

2. Having my good friends the Taylors and Riedels for Christmas dinner

3. Enjoying our 4th annual Christmas Eve service at Anhalt

4. A few material items like, my new digital watch, my new fancy silver watch, my new Keurig single cup coffee maker, and new running shoes!! (what else can a girl ask for). 

Mom and all the dogs!

My sweet and helpful husband

As you well know from either knowing Ben or reading many of my blog posts...Ben never does anything small. If he gets something he gets the biggest or most expensive one. We don't have one mini horse, we have three; we don't have one water bottle, we have 30; we don't have one hunting knife, we have 15; we don't have one blanket, we have 25. Okay so you get the point. So I ask Ben to go to the grocery store while he is out and to bring me back a few things for the cookies I am making (i have been baking like a fool and am out of staple ingredients). So I ask him to bring back some baking soda. And this is what he comes home with....

Yes, this is the mammoth size baking soda (it looks small in the picture, but look at the bowl or the socket behind it for perspective). I say to honey, "this is a really large size baking soda, I will never use this all." And he says, "you said the orange box. They had a yellow box, a yellow and blue box, this is the only box they have." "Seriously," I say, "this stuff will expire before I use it all." He says, "there is no expiration date." I say, "yes there is and is says...2011." "See," he says, "you will use it by then." "No, I won't. The recipe only calls for a teaspoon." "Well, how was I supposed to know that," he says. Oh my husband, he was just trying to be helpful...now i have an industrial size box of baking soda in my kitchen. So if you ever run out, you know where the stash is :). 

On the other hand, Ben did do an excellent job vacuuming and mopping the whole house for me today!!

Christmas Musings

It is that time of year when we all spend time stressing about buying presents, getting groceries, preparing the holiday meal, dealing with family, and so much more. Well this year, the Blevins' are doing things a little different. It has been a hard year for most people economically, including us. So this year, we are only buying presents for our niece and nephew. And let me just tell you how much fun it is to buy for kids. In my opinion, this has been way less stressful than buying for adults who have everything they could possibly need or want. 

This year our Christmas celebrations will be lacking a few key people like my amazing in-laws, Lynn and Terri; my sister-in-law and her family, Lyndsey, Richard, Macy, and Little ER; Pop and Mimi. This will be our first Christmas without mimi since she passed away in March. Read Terri's blog for a beautiful tribute to her. Pop will be in Florida visiting Ben's aunt and the rest of the fam will be together in Tulsa. The good news is, we all get to be together for New Years!! 

Nevertheless, I am so excited because my mom gets here tomorrow. You see she is my right hand lady at Christmas time. My mom is one of the few people (besides Jen Taylor) that I can shop and work with without getting frustrated. For the past four years, my mom has made the annual journey to come help me and the rest of the Riverside crew prepare for our Christmas Eve service at Anhalt. We transform this old German Dance/Beer hall into a beautiful wonderland for our two Christmas eve services. And trust me it takes a lot of work to get a 150 year old building looking good!  It is always so helpful to have my mom, because she just knows what to do and she doesn't have a problem telling others what to do. (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree). 

So we will have mom and hopefully my brother Ryan for Christmas, along with our good friends the Taylors and hopefully the Riedels. We won't have the pleasure of the Deans, like we did last year, because Jamie's little one has not arrived yet, so they are having Christmas at her house. Of course we will have our annual stuffed beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, asparagus, yeast rolls, and dessert. Yum Yum!! 

The hard part about Christmas at the Blevins' house is that I work most of this holiday season, including Christmas Eve. Since I am in charge of production and programming of Christmas Eve, it pretty much consumes the two weeks prior. Even though this is the 5th year we have done this, I am still not tired of it. I love my job. I love that I get to organize and put together what we hope is a life changing experience for our community. I love that I get to work with an amazing community of people who are focused on bringing G-d's shalom to a chaotic world. I love that Jesus is my boss! 

My prayer this season, as it is every December, is that I won't get so wrapped up in the planning and production, that I forget to remember and celebrate the reason for this season...the greatest gift of all. 

Walking Like a Champ!!

Well G-d is so good!! This morning Lori is walking like a champ. She is putting weight on both feet and walking great. She ate and then had a solid pooh....thank goodness. She is still a little tender in her right hip/leg, but nothing like last night. She is awake and alert. She even grabbed her frozen ball when she went outside to potty...that's my girl. 

You know I asked specifically for G-d to make her be able to walk fine in the morning and He, OF COURSE, answered our prayers. Thanks again for all the phone calls and prayers. You must love me to be that concerned over a dog!!

Please Pray

I need to call in a prayer request from any one reading the blog. When I came home this afternoon to let out the dogs, I discovered that Lori was having a really hard time walking on her back legs. She could barely get up and then walked really gingerly the whole time. She had also had diarrhea, so I thought maybe she was just sore or cramping. I took her to the vet and he looked her over and said it could be two things. One, she was just really sore from having to poop so much or two, something could have happened to her back or legs. Well he treated her for thefirst possibility hoping that would be it...but she is getting worse. She can't stand at all on one of her back legs now and will not move at all. After standing for a few seconds she just collapses. Presently she is laying on her bed in the utility room and has not moved since I put her down there earlier this afternoon. 

We are going back to the vet tomorrow morning for an x-ray to see what is going on...but we have a long night ahead of us. Ben, of course, is gone, so it is just me... and you all know how well I handle hurting animals. Can you please please please pray that she is alright. And that tomorrow morning she is moving around perfectly and that Dr. Elbel will have the wisdom to know what is going on. I know she is just a dog...but she is a huge part of our family. When you don't have any children, dogs are your family.  

Anywho, sorry for the diatribe. Thanks for praying

Lori appreciates your prayers. 

What were you doing at 10:00pm?

While many of you were probably gearing down for bed,  watching tv, or perhaps sipping hot cocoa by a warm fire...i was doing this...

The newly roofed mini horse barn (or at least temporarily roofed)

Yes that is sleet you see coming down in the camera.

That's right I was putting a tarp on the top of the half finished mini horse barn in my backyard. You see my sweet husband and his good friends started this project about a month ago, but have yet to finish it. So we had three lovely walls up, but no roof. Well tonight after the temperature dropped 40+ degrees and we got an onslaught of freezing rain, I started to feel bad for the minis. Where are they going to sleep in this cold, cold weather? The trees they typically sleep under have lost their leaves, so not much protection there. And the mini horse barn, sans roof, provides absolutely no protection from the brutal downpour of sleeting rain. 

So in comes mini farmer Brooke to save the day. I decided that I am going to put a roof on the mini horse barn. I head out to the garage grab the tarp and some rope and trapse out onto the back pasture (mini pasture that is). Well just as I throw the tarp up ontop of the frame, the freezing rain comes pouring down. Note to self: Don't be looking up throwing a tarp over a mini horse barn roof when it starts sleeting....that stuff really stings your face. 

So I battle with the trusty blue tarp in the gale forces winds, all the while trying to remember the knots Ben has taught me over the years. Finally, I get the back of the tarp tied down only to have the front of the tarp come slapping back at my face. So I run around to the front and try to secure it, but I realize I have cut the piece of rope too short. Then I can't find the scissors to cut a new length, so I have to let go of the tarp and it goes slapping back. Finally after finding the scissors, cutting several lengths of rope, tying some crazy non-boyscout knots, and a few bad words, the mini horse barn has a temporary roof. 

So I think to myself, the minis are going to be so excited that mom fixed them up a shelter. They will come bolting over and take refuge under their new roof...but no...this is what they are doing. 

That's right, just chowing down while the sleet comes pelting down. Oh well...at least I feel better now. 

And you might be asking where is Ben in all of this...in Stratford hunting...yea away from the farm. Seriously, I think everytime he leaves, G-d tests my menagerie endurance. The big horses in the backyard and now this. See Ben, I do like the minis, I gave them a roof!!

That's the sleet collecting on the deck. Seriously, it was 75 degrees this morning. 

Are you serious?

Okay, so Ben tells me yesterday afternoon that he has good and bad news and then asks me which I want to know first....so naturally, I want to know the bad so we can move onto more happy things with the good.

So here is what he says... in the wrong order.

"Well, we are getting rid of bandit" (our really not nice mini horse) and I say, "but that is good news". Then he says "but we are trading him for a micro mini potbelly pig".... "A WHAT?" I proclaim. He looks at me with that charming smile (the one that I feel deeply in love with over 6 years ago) and says "a micro mini potbelly pig". Again, I say "WHAT"? We go on like this for what seems like 5 minutes. Then I just start saying, "no, no, no, no..." for the next few minutes, just so he will know that I am serious this time. You see I have this tendency of saying things like, "just do what you want, I don't care," when in actuality I really do care and don't want to do what he wants. You see this kind of nonchalant attitude has led to the acquisition of 4  mini horses, 2 squirrels, and 2 dogs...a true menagerie. 

Now I will tell you all this...(secretly)...I have enjoyed most of these furry friends. Well at least the two dogs, two of the mini horses, and one of the squirrels. But now a PIG. Are you serious? So I put my foot down this time, no pig! Then it sort of turned into...no pig in the house...then to no pig loose in the house. What!! I am giving in yet again. So come Christmas, I am sure that I will have one more somewhat furry friend to add to the menagerie. 

I am such a sucker!! 

PS. I would like to blame this pig infatuation on my good friend Jamie. She wanted to get one, then decided to have a baby instead...but Ben got stuck on the idea. 

Seriously...we could really have one of these in our house!!