Thanksgiving with cousins

My parents did it again - they survived another Thanksgiving.  And this one added one additional grandchild, Maggie.  That makes 10 in all.  10 grandkids ages 8 and under.  Ward and Ann Park are the oldest.  Then they all start to get mixed up.  It only gets better and better as the kids get older.  I love seeing the personalities pair off and them forming bonds that will last a lifetime.

The pictures tell it all . . .

Ann Park and Tripp - two peas in a pod

These two didn't know what to think of each other . . .

Letting her get a little closer!

riding the pony!

Sweet Billy

Hot tub time!!!

Ashton kept us all laughing!

Sam and Hope had fun together too!

Ann Park and Maggie gathering pecans

I would be remiss not to include Ward and his deer!

The Story of Babushka

I have been doing a lot of research about Russian culture and want to incorporate some of what I learn into our family traditions.  I'm going to write a post about Christmas in Russia a little later, but while I was researching that I came across the Story of Babushka.

Here is a version of the story that I found in the San Diego Standard Times.  There are many different versions, but this one seems to capture it well.  I think that it has a great lesson for all. Enjoy.

THE STORY OF BABUSHKA

Long ago, an old woman named Babushka lived in a tiny cottage far from the city. One snowy evening, just as she was preparing her meal, Babushka heard a knock at the door. She opened it to find three men standing before her. From their rich clothing and fine features, Babushka guessed that they were men of learning who had traveled from far away in the East. They were shivering in the cold, and little slivers of ice hung from their beards. In their arms they each carried packages, and these were dusted with snow.

"Oh my," Babushka said, "you must be freezing out there. Please come in and warm yourselves by my fire."

The three wise men bowed in thanks and followed the woman into her cottage. "Forgive us," one of the men said, "but we have been walking for a long, long time. Tonight our journey ends, for we are going to the place where the King of Kings will be born this very night. We are bringing Him gifts, and we wish only to stop for a while to warm ourselves."

"Of course," Babushka said, "but you must eat something. I have prepared a nice hot soup. Please join me." She set a table for the four of them, filling bowls with steaming soup, placing crusty bread in the center.

They sat down at the table to eat, and the men told Babushka of the joyous birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, about to occur. "We are waiting for the brightest star to rise," they said, "for we will follow its path. The star will guide us to the place where the King of Kings is to be born this very night."

"How I wish I could join you and bring a gift myself," Babushka sighed.

"Come with us, then," the men said heartily. "The King of Kings will welcome you, but we must be on our way soon. Will you come?"

Babushka looked around and frowned. "I cannot leave just now," she said. "I must clean the house and prepare myself, but I will come as soon as I am ready."

With that she bade the men farewell and watched from the cottage door as they set off, following the starlight's path. She waved until she could no longer see them.

Inside, Babushka washed the dishes, swept the floor, dusted and tidied the cottage. She bathed and dressed in her finest clothes, and then, looking around, she began to gather gifts to take to the newborn king. Babushka was a poor, hardworking woman who owned little, but she managed to gather several small toys, some sweets and tiny candles to take with her.

She walked to the door, tightly wrapped her coat and scarf around her to keep out the cold, and set off.

Babushka looked up at the sky, searching for the star that would lead her to the birthplace of the King of Kings. "Oh my," she said, for no matter where she looked, she could not find the star. She had washed and scrubbed and readied herself for a long time, and as she worked, the stars had moved across the sky.

Babushka tried one road. She walked for a while, but eventually she realized she must have taken the wrong turn. She tried a different road, and then another, and another, always searching the sky for the star the wise men had followed.

People say Babushka never did find the right road, and that she is wandering still. And every year, at Christmastime, the children run downstairs to search for the gifts Babushka has left for them as she travels the world, searching for the King of Kings. In every house where a small child lives, the people say, Babushka leaves a gift in honor of each and every child and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born on Christmas Day.

Little Drummer Boy - Pentatonix

I am loving all the acapella music you can find on You Tube these days - and the Christmas music has not disappointed!  Here is a great rendition of Little Drummer Boy!

The Monster

Ward has been going deer hunting with Ted for the past two years.  He has never brought a gun but instead stood as a lookout for Ted as Ted taught him about these beautiful animals.  They have spent countless hours together in God's creation and I love that it is something that they do, just the two of them.  Ward loves it and has soaked in every word of advice from Ted and from Papa.

So on Friday Ted decided to give Ward an early birthday present (he turns 9 on December 13) - a real deer hunting gun with a scope.  I know NOTHING about deer hunting so don't ask me about what kid it is or anything.  All I know is that it is black and Ward loves it.  And also don't go all gun control on me either - we keep the gun in a locked gun safe at all times unless Ward is with Ted or Papa going hunting or to the gravel pit to shoot targets.

But back to the story.  It was Friday afternoon about 3:00 and my boys headed out to the deer stand to get comfortable for the next few hours.  Little did Ward know that he would shoot his first deer, dubbed "the Monster."  Here is the end result.

For those of you (like me) who know little to nothing about deer, this is a 4-5 year old buck with what is called an atypical rack.  He has 13 points which is HUGE by deer standards.  Can you tell how happy Ward is?

Ted did an "interview" with Ward after he killed "the monster" and he gave the play-by-play.  It is kinda hard to hear but every word is precious.  Enjoy!

Gotcha Day

As I sit here on this cold Alabama day my mind can't help but drift back to that VERY COLD day in Moscow, Russia one year ago.  I remember it like it was yesterday, and yet it seems so very long ago. Dad and I didn't sleep much the night before - the key lag is brutal - but even without the jet lag, I don't think that I would have been able to sleep much.

We had arrived the afternoon before and my heart was already beating a little too fast.  I had packed and prepared as much as I could.  I had two extra suitcases (other than the one with my clothes for the week).  One was filled with gifts for the orphanage workers and all the people in Russia who had helped us on our journey in Moscow.  The other was filled with clothes for Maggie and food, formula, diapers, etc.  I didn't know what would like to eat so I packed a variety of things - luckily she liked pretty much everything we gave her.

Dad and I met Vlad early in the morning and headed to get Maggie.  It had been snowing on and off since we got there and the snow only got worse the longer we stayed.  I didn't care how cold or snowy it was - I just wanted to get to that orphanage. I didn't know how the "handover" would be and it was storage - took less than 15 minutes.  We went into the orphanage director's office and I gave a caretaker the clothes I brought for her.  I also gave them all the gifts I had brought for them.  Before we knew it, Maggie was there.  She looked hysterical in the huge snowsuit that I brought for her - it was way too big but it was all I could find.

When I see that picture I can't help but laugh.  I had also brought her tights, a dress, a sweater (with a hood) and booties.  She had all that on under the red snowsuit!  And when I got her back to the hotel and started stripping her down, I saw that they had left on another layer of tights and an undershirt.  I guess they thought that she would be cold!!  But I am thankful that they left those clothes on her because I have them and I can show them to her one day.  

We left the orphanage almost as soon as we arrived and headed back to the hotel.  Maggie was probably very scared.  She sat in my lap ( there are no carseats in Russia) and was still and silent - a far cry from her behavior in the car now!!!!  Dad and Vlad were up front in the car and I just cuddled with my baby girl.  She was MINE and I would never have to leave her in that orphanage again.  

When we got to the hotel, we went up to the room to play and just hang out.  Dad took this picture as we were walking into our room.  It is still one of my favorites.

Right after that picture was taken is when she lost it.   She started crying uncontrollably.  I had never seen much of any emotion out of her.  She seemed scared of dad and didn't know what was going on. Dad decided that he would leave and let me handle it.  Within about 3-4 minutes I had her settled down and smiling - even laughing.  This picture was within 20 minutes of that initial meltdown.  

The rest of the week is somewhat of a blur.  I went to a lot of Russian office buildings - one to get her new birth certificate with Ted and me listed as "mother" and "father" and another to get her Russian passport.  I also went to the American embassy to get my big manilla folder with all the important documents I would need to get her back to the United States.  

So today as I think about what I am thankful for, I cannot get past that little girl.  I am thankful for her broth mother who gave her life.  I am thankful for the doctors and nurses in the hospital who took care of her before she went to the orphanage.  I am thankful to the orphanage director who did the best he could and ran a pretty good orphanage.  I am thankful for her caretakers who clearly loved her and taught her how to love back.   No the journey was not easy - and yes, we have our days like with any other child.  But she is MINE.  Always and forever.

Our latest bike rider

He's not 100% by himself but he's got the balance part down.  All that's left is starting and stopping.  It isn't going to take him long!

Snapshots

Here is what we have been doing this week in snapshots:

1.  Working with Ward on his spelling words.  Pretty hard for 2nd grade I think.  Hard work paid off!

2.  Working on my list of "activities" for these little fellas who will appear after we get home from Thanksgiving.

3.  My latest addiction.  I just can't stop.  They are too delicious.



4.  Advent starts the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  Gotta get the Advent calendar ready to go.  This one uses stickers and they kids got it from church.  Not nearly as elaborate as the one I usually use, but we may go with it this year!



5.  Indian headdresses.  Enough said there.



6.  T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

7.  Two of my little Indians who can't wait until Thanksgiving!

A few things

A few things from today:

1.  Mammogram - It was a total non-event.  I can't believe that I spent one minute worrying about it.  It did not hurt at all.  I should know the results within the week.  Praying all is well.  If so, I don't have to do it again until I am 40!

2.  I had a date with this little man.  He makes me happy (most of the time).

When I picked him up from school he requested Michael Jackson on the radio and sang "Billie Jean" at the top of his lungs.  I love him to pieces - even if he is my "hardest" child.

3.  Last night mom and dad came over for a surprise visit.  Maggie was so happy to see them and she loved having Cher Cher read to her.  It makes my heart melt.  And to think that she was sitting in an orphanage this time last year.  Oh how far we've come!

4.  Preschool pictures make me laugh.  The props are terrible and so are the fake backgrounds.  They are so forced and you can tell that the kids don't want anything to do with it, but for some reason I always feel like I have to buy a few . . . if just to remember this short time in their lives.  This year they did one of Sam and Maggie together.  It is priceless!  The face Maggie is making makes me laugh and Sam's hand around her waist!  And they look like they are sitting on an overturned wicker trashcan!  Too funny!!!

Ann Park's First Reconcililation

Ann Park had her First Reconciliation this morning.  For those of you non-Catholics, that's confession.  It is the second sacrament she receives (first being baptism) on her way to First Communion this spring.  She was very excited and it was a special day for all.

Right afterwards - giving her the "robe" just like the father did in the story of the Prodigal Son

Reading her a special prayer

Mommy going in for a kiss!

Getting a candle (this year they were smart and went with battery-operated candles!)

Sweet girl (I look soooo tired!  Depressing!)

Ward is pumped to be here, as you can clearly tell in this picture

It meant a lot to Ann Park that Grandmom was there for her!

TMI

As the title of this post suggests, there is going to be a little too much information in this post about me and "woman matters."  So if you are one of my 5 readers and you don't want to know stuff like that about me, just skip this post.  Don't worry, you're not really missing anything.  And it will be short.  I just need to vent . . .

Not really vent, but to get something off my chest (ha!) and say that I am soooooo nervous for Monday because I am having my first mammogram.  It makes my stomach turn a little bit just to type it.  To be honest, I should have gotten one last year when I was 35.  I basically came up with a bunch of excuses why I could just wait - because breast cancer has never been in my family, "they" used to recommend that you get your first one at 40 (now they say 35), etc.  But I know that I need to do it.  I feel like I hear that someone has breast cancer way too often.  And one of my friends (whose mom, aunt and grandmother have ALL had breast cancer) just found out that she had "the gene" and just had a double mastectomy.  Seriously.  Breast cancer is not a joking matter and I know it.

So I am going to have my breast touched by a stranger/nurse and smooshed until they are pancakes by a machine.  No, I am not looking forward to it AT ALL.  But I know that it could save my life.  And looking at the faces of my four children husband, I know that it is worth it.