May you and yours be blessed this Christmas

Twas the night of thanksgiving and all through the house .Not a creature was stirring except this Grandma’s “mouse…………


It came upon a midnight clear…..hmm, I have being seeing “midnight” quite often lately.

Hark the Harold “angels” sing…..yes the “angels” (our grandkids) woke up at 6:00 am this morning “singing?”

Silent night…….ahh …..an emty nest….lock the doors…..turn out the lights

Oh Come all ye Faithful…….our nest may be emty but many still gather at the “home” place quite faithfully.
It is not unusual for me to be up late at night. I love the quiet…….the time when all is on place and I can putter around the house….catch up on things….chat with a friend …… read a book or answer a phone call from one of the kids who is just checking in.

Tonight as I was thinking about the annual Christmas letter and what changes we have had in the year 2011 I realized that in one years time our whole family has moved. One year ago this week we moved my parents to town ……. we moved to the home place…Chad and Jenna followed 2 days later and moved to our farm. They are wonderful neighbors….. Justin and Kate got married June 4….…We moved Kate to Monticello to be with Justin………….at the end of the summer we moved Kate back to their home near Hospers so she could finish up at Northwestern. (Yes Justin still lives in Monticello…..they see each other about every 3 weeks )The next week we moved David to Northwestern to go to college. Last week we moved Daniel and Brianne and their family to a house in Boyden. What a lot of work…. Dan and I told everyone to stay put for a while!! When you move you realize just how much “stuff” you actually have…it made me question about our values and goals in this earthly life………

It also made me think about the Holidays…all the gimmicks to buy “stuff”…..people frantically running around in the midnight hours to get “stuff” ….or trying to come up with a gift for someone who already has everything.

I love Christmas….. I love buying special gifts for the people I love… I love baking and decorating and all the hoopla that can go with Christmas .But this year I am getting rid of “stuff”….. I have been cleaning…making piles for each kid (they have their own house now!) and what a wonderful feeling . This year I want Christmas to be about giving instead of receiving and focusing on what God gave . I wonder how God felt when He Gave the gift of His Son. Giving a gift is a wonderful feeling……I love it much more than receiving . So instead of giving “stuff” I want to do something different this year. I want to give something that comes from the heart and keeps on giving…hmmm I don’t have it all figured out yet. I challenged my kids a few years ago to do a random act of kindness each week of December and then tell me about it. I did it too and it was SO rewarding. An old man that I helped at Walmart will still thank me every time he sees me.

If only we could give our family and friends the peace…peace …peace …. that comes with a Silent Night. If only we could give them the TIME it takes to sit and read a book to a child ….watch a sunset or capture fireflies on a warm summer night…..that is the kind of gift I am shopping for this year…. One that touches the heart and keeps on giving! One that makes you grab your faith and look to God who has been so faithful another year.

May you and your family be blessed in the year to come!

Fa la la la la…. la la…la….la………………may your year be filled with laughter.

What child is this….??? Hmmm I think it is David…..we very rarely see him!!

Grandma got run over by the John Deere…….well that too is a possibility.

I’ll be home for Christmas……………..our door is always open and you are always welcome.

From a MOM's heart...............

After 12 years of following Kate across the state of Iowa playing volleyball....tonight may have been her last season....As I went down the bleachers to be there if she needed me I had mixed emotions. As I saw the big eyes fill with tears, I blinked and  I saw the tall skinny 5th grader get her first all tournament medal ......the tears were the same because her team had lost the championship game......she has always put team first.... I saw the girls hugging her and I remembered all the friendships she has made all over the state of Iowa. Parents came to her and thanked her for taking care of their own daughters...that reminded me of some of the wonderful friendships we have made over the last 12 years. We traveled to conference games.....AAU games.....Club ball games and now college games. We have met wonderful people.

I think back to all the accomplishments and honors that Kate has recieved.....the papers filled with photos and interviews....the all tournament teams she has been apart  of.....the State tournament championships that she has been a part of....the club ball sucess that came from a few girls ...a devoted  coach and a couple of practices. The Jr Olympic team that put together a few Iowa girls and played teams from countries all over the world. These things were all wonderful and fun and I am proud of her for all the accomplishments BUT I am even more proud of her for having such a love and compassion for all the people that were with her on this journey..... To see her help her injured teammate off the floor...to see her cry with a teammate who  has tough things going on in her life..... to see her celebrate with and for those around her....... I love to watch all the little girls from camps come and find her after  a game  knowing that she will take time for them......I am proud that she kept her love and passion for the game even though things were sometimes very difficult........ I saw her reach for every ounce of courage and strength with in her  to stand on the sidelines for the first time in her life and cheer for her team after she  she tore her ACL... ...the long hard rehab it took to come back and fight for a position on the team...... I am proud of her for putting others ahead of herself......and  having a servant heart. At  Kate's wedding her husband gave a wonderful speech that thanked all of those people at the wedding that were a part of kate's life that made her in to the person she was today....... I too want to thank  all the volleyball people that supported and encouraged her  on this journey.

  So...all the hardware is on a shelf....all .her medals are all in a box..... volleyball is now over....... but who she has become because of it all is just beginning........  I wasn't ready to shut the chapter of this book but tonight I realized that the book is actually just beginning and I can't wait to see what is next for Kate Buyert Boersma.!

A Wedding Day..........June 4,2011

Justin a nd Kate........the hot June day started very early, it began at Justin and Kate's new home by Hospers. We planned for months and I took a deep breath that morning trying to slow down the day. I wanted time to just slow down ....I tried to take in all the sounds , the laughter and excitement. I wanted to capture the moments , I wanted to just say stop! (no not stop the wedding) I think I just wanted it all to last a little longer!
No matter how hard I tried too slow things down it went to fast but it was a wonderful fun day. I found myself stepping back and just watching........it so fills a mom's heart to see her daughter so happy on her wedding day....to help her into the dress of her dreams and tie up the back just perfectly is just a moment that a mom will always cherish. It is part of the process of letting go I think.

I also wanted to freeze the moment before I had to walk down the aisle with Justin......It was Dan standing in the back with Kate....he was holding her flowers. He was talking quietly to her . He was once again the calm behind the "storm". (for some reason Kate and I are considered the "storm" at our house). The moms always get all the credit for pulling off a beautiful wedding but as always he is the calm before...during and after all of our "storms"!
The next moment for me was having the grandkids come down the aisle......first Christian and Patience...so proud to be a part of the wedding! Christian actually had the "real" rings in his pocket and was very proud of this fact and took his job very seriously! Next came our Olivia and Danika....Danika took a little coaxing and then decided to run...the flowers petals were thrown up in to the air and caused a pretty fluttering to the ground even after the wedding started. At the end of the aisle each one fo them stopped to hug Justin....he bent down and hugged each one....I think my love for him grew that moment....he knew the moment he met Kate how much she loved those little kids and he too gathered them in his arms. I think it showed me just how much he loved Kate!!
Kate asked Daniel to do a reading during the ceremony...... The words were beautiful but having him read them touched my heart.
Yes the day still all went on to fast no matter what I did!! It was fun to see Justin and kate have so much fun a the reception and dance....to see Kate and all her girlfriends and teammates dancing and having fun...and yes even Justin cut loose on the dance floor!! So we gained another wonderful son in law ... It was a good day.... God continues to answer prayers. He is faithful!