Christmas 2015 Joulu

Christmas 2015. Mei Mei's first Christmas! What a privilege and honor to watch her wonder and joy. What a privilege and honor to be her family. To be parents to Mei Mei, Little Miss, Mr T, Mr A, Missy and Mr D. My heart is full.



We decorated our second day in Maine.



And did our cleaning and baking on Monday and Tuesday. Grandma and Grandpa arrived on Tuesday to celebrate with us, and brought enough food to feed an army (and amazingly it is all gone now, pretty much). On Wednesday we cooked some of the food, and prepped as much as we could.



There was no snow when we arrived in Maine, but it snowed a little on my birthday. Mei Mei loved snow! Until she got cold. But hot chocolate made everything better:)

Oh, and the bump on her head? She took a long dive down church steps head first. So thankful for guardian angels!



Our happy girlie! Five months with us on the 27th!




We really enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa with us this Christmas. No playing in the snow with them, but we had some nice muddy walks:)



We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. In the morning we have rice porridge with an almond, and our big meal early in the afternoon. Mr A read from Luke 2 this year. With Mei Mei in mind, we opened presents before church, and after the candlelight service she soon went to bed.

Despite catching her crying in the picture above, she really had a wonderful day. We all did.



Mei Mei loved her Duplo-legos, but her favorite toy was this wooden pounding toy. Grandma was so smart to stick it in a box (after the balls went everywhere).



And on Christmas morning there were little things to find in the stockings, too.



After Christmas our temperatures started dropping.



And as I type this, it has been snowing all day.



With the wind from the lake we have hunkered down inside, working, playing games, getting math done (Mr A!), reading and writing blog posts.



We hope your Christmas was full of joy. As we posted on our facebook page, the to-do list may never be completely accomplished, the stress levels often high, sleep sorely lacking, yet the main thing is remembering Jesus - the One who fills our empty places, the One who brings hope to a dark world. The One who loves. No matter what. The One who fills us with Joy. No matter what the circumstances are. Celebrate Him! Invite Him to come and fill your life.

We were created to be complete in Jesus.

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Hyvää joulua ja joulunaikaa täältä Mainestä ihan jokaiselle lukijalle! Toivottavasti joulussasi on ollut iloa - olivat olosuhteesi mitkä tahansa. Jeesuksen syntymän ihme - Jumala ihmiseksi pelastaakseen sinut ja minut, täyttää ne kaikki tyhjät paikat sydämissämme, kunhan vaan otamme Hänet vastaan.

Me vietimme joulua Kapteenin vanhempien kanssa aattona, ja nautimme joulupäivän hiljaisuudesta. Kun tulimme Maineen, täällä ei ollut lunta, mutta sitä satoi ensin syntymäpäivänäni, ja uudestaan tällä viikolla. Tänäänkin koko päivän. Mei Mei rakasti lumessa leikkimistä, kunnes tuli kylmä, mutta kuuma kaakao teki kaiken paremmaksi taas:)

Oli hienoa kokea ensimmäinen joulu Mei Mein kanssa. Kaikki oli niin ihanaa ja ihmeellistä pienen silmissä:)