'Tis the season

-
I know I am biased but I am thinking these little faces are sooooooo gorgeous!
Lucy is wearing a Scottish kilt that has been handed down to us. Again, maybe my Mom can post a comment about the history of this kilt but I think it was something she wore as a little girl.

Griffin LOVED seeing Santa. I think he surprised Santa with his friendly greeting!
"I want gorilla mountain and a camera, a real one, and the underwater shark attack, and the playmobil octopus and the star wars volcano and a hot wheels truck and new computer games and some new books and..." Santa, did you get all that?? Yeah, Lucy was not going withing 2 feet of him without a candy cane bribe, which she grabbed and ran away with.
We went back for a second year to the local State Park that hosted Santa in their gorgeous lodge. What a wonderful experience for the kids. They hung out with Santa for 15 minutes without any other kids being around and I got to reconnect with a new friend who works at the park. Then we had a wonderful dinner in their restaurant. We drove the long way home to check out the Christmas lights and sing along with carols in the car. After changing into our pj's we all snuggled onto the couch to watch the original Grinch cartoon. By the end of the night I had tears in my eyes. I am living the life of my dreams and all my wishes have come true. It was one of those nights where everything was absolutely perfect. I am soooo thankful for this life, these 3 wonderful people I get to call my family, for our marriage, our home, our health. I am proud of the choices I have made and energy I have put into making this life. And for me, this is what Christmas is all about.

Comments

MountainWave said…
Amen to that sister. I am proud of you too and I admire your life very much. Love you all, Sara
4:43 PM
MountainWave said…
By the way, how'd Griffin's basketball game go??
4:49 PM
Christi Gast said…
Thanks, Sara! Well, Griffin's team was beaten soundly but Griff scored one of the 2 baskets his team finished with, so he was really pleased. Also, he had a great time playing! :)
9:01 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Griffin is 19.

-
Image
My heart is all jumbled up on this big day.  Last July, Griffin moved to Muhlhausen; Germany to attend university and live with his love, Alicia.     He has regaled us with stories of exploring Berlin, using the train system on his one hour/each way commute every day to school,  embracing the traditions and holidays of his new community,  learning to live independently and all the responsibilities it entails and perhaps the biggest challenge of all...becoming fluent in German.   I am so proud of him.  This is what we raised him for, to be independent, to have big dreams, to work hard to make your goals a reality.  I am stunned by his bravery, joyful at his quest for adventure and impressed by his commitment.  And today, like most everyday, I carry a deep ache to hug my son, to go to bed and know he is tucked in safely just a few feet away, to make him a birthday fruit pizza and snap pictures when he blows out the candles.  I will content myself to video chat with my guy tonight and spe
Read more

Dr. Seuss Party, Part 1 Decor and Food

-
Image
I have to say,  Bruce and I totally knocked ourselves out to throw Lucy the best Dr. Seuss 4th birthday party that we could and I am pretty proud of the results!  It was a wonderful day for her and hopefully for all her friends that came. Our kids have LOVED the story The Lorax for a while now and were so excited to go see the movie.  Bruce had a brilliant idea to make his own truffula trees .  With some PVC pipe and spray paint he put these together.  I made the tops out of tissue paper (tutorials widely available).  Of course, once I got started on them, I just had to make some extras to hang around the dining room.  I used the extra paper to make a super colorful one for the front porch.  These were so easy and cheap to make, I highly recommend them as party decorations for all different types of themes!   I printed out some of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes and gussied them up with some fancy paper cutters (Thanks, Lisa!)  and hung them around the dining room
Read more

Watch out world, here she comes! Lucy is a very sweet 16 today.

-
Image
  Our baby girl is 16 today.  This has been an extraordinary year for her.  She has dominated her academics, was a leader on her future problem solvers team, and was part of a marching band that competed in finals at the State level.  She is interesting and kind and bold in her own way.  We are so proud of the person she is becoming!  All that AND she recently received her acceptance email to the Gatton Academy !!  It is a two-year residential STEM program on the Western Kentucky University campus in Bowling Green, KY.  It's basically college with training wheels.  This was a goal she started with Grandad Lowbridge many, many moons ago and although we will miss her like crazy....I can't wait to watch my daughter SOAR!  Birthday Interview What activities/sports/clubs were you involved in this year? Marching band, academic team, literature club  What pets do you have? Cookie and Juniper  What do you want to be when you grow up? something to do with biology? Where is 1 place you r
Read more