Thankful for Health

We are so excited to welcome in the month of December as we prepare to celebrate Christ's birth! We've got the Christmas music on, the decor up, and our paper chain countdown to Jesus's birthday is underway. 

But first, we will backtrack to where we left off.

On the first Thursday of November, the Hartter children spent the day at our house while Seth and Brenda went on a getaway and shopping trip. The children all had a lot of fun playing together and the day went well!

Going on a nature hunt (Shadrach was great at entertaining the younger ones!)

Lunch time!

Matt cleaned out the garage that weekend. Levi decided his car needed some engine work. 

The next week, Matt and I went up to Minneapolis with some coworkers (and Phil and Kelli) for an engineering conference. It was a very welcome reprieve as I was still feeling really burnt out from everybody being sick for the past month. Even though I didn't see Matt at all during the days, we still got a lot more quality time together than we would ever get at home! Kelli and I spent Tuesday at the Mall of America with two ladies from Lester, and Wednesday afternoon the two of us went shopping in Eagen. A highlight of the trip for me was the amazing restaurants we visited for supper! I love good food (especially when I don't have to cook)! 

Meanwhile, our children stayed with my parents for the week. Tuesday night, Levi threw up several times between midnight and six. My poor mother. I think they all had a fun week overall though. 

We came home Thursday night and it was so good to see the kids again! Friday evening, Joanna threw up twice. Then Micah got strange spots all over his face (still unexplained, though he has always been our rashy child so it was probably just his way of getting the flu). And Saturday morning, he threw up too. So...I guess you could say we were back to the daily grind. :)

Everyone was feeling better on Sunday, so we didn't have to miss church another time. Then on Tuesday after work, Matt went to urgent care and got diagnosed with strep throat again. I kept overdosing on vitamins and apple cider vinegar (a new one I learned about) and was once again able to narrowly escape getting it myself. 

A big pile of leaves!!

 

Thursday morning, we went to Baby Joy at Prairie Ridge and then to Brooke's for lunch. Friday evening, we had young couples hosted by Jordan and Julia at Jeff and Monti's.

The boys loved driving this thing around in their basement!

I spent Saturday getting groceries and doing some baking for church serving on Sunday. Saturday night, we went out to eat with Mom and Dad Schulz and then spent the rest of the evening at their place while Matt helped Dad out with his new computer. 

Grandma got a new llama costume that was perfect for Levi!

Sunday I served lunch at church and we were thankful to have several from my family there with us! That evening was my family's Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's. Wednesday morning Levi threw up again, so he and I spent the evening at home together while Matt took the other two to his mom and dad's for the Myron Schulz family Thanksgiving. Levi was actually acting fine by lunchtime, but I didn't want to take any chances. So Thursday we all headed back to church for the Thanksgiving service.

Since Thanksgiving morning at church felt so much like a Sunday, we came home and had "church lunch" - I still had leftovers from Sunday. The boys thought it was great! :) 

Thursday evening a small group of Lanz family gathered at U. Keith and A. Tonya's for Thanksgiving. It was kind of relaxing to have a smaller crowd than normal! By "small" I mean 33 people as opposed to the potential 175ish.

Friday we were home bound as I had to get my house cleaned for company. Saturday noon we attended the Adolph Massner family reunion. We went home and promptly headed back out to Burlington, where we saw the lighted holiday parade (first time we have made it since we've been married). The children loved it! We went to Pizza Hut afterward with some family, then got groceries. 

All of the oldest Massner generation in attendance. Back: U. Harold, A. Rosie, U. Dick, A. Bert, A. Norma. Front: A. Barb, U. Bill, U. Allen, A. Dorothy, A. Ada. We were missing A. Annette, A. Betty, U. Lloyd & A. Mary, U. Dale, and Grandma (Phyllis).

Sunday evening, we hosted the Burlington church for a Christmas singing in our basement. We had a great turnout - about 70 in attendance. It was a very blessed evening to welcome in the Christmas spirit!

I spent Monday and Tuesday on the phone arranging the Burlington Christmas caroling schedule for this coming Sunday.

Tuesday evening we hosted Vienna's baby shower. Everything went very well and we had a good turnout!

We are thankful to report that everyone has been relatively healthy for eight consecutive days now, save runny noses and coughing. With no more major events going on, it has been nice to he able to give my children more of my attention.

Playing "ice cream store"!

Now I am ready to crash! That is, enjoy the holidays without any responsibilities besides making food and showing up. :) Have a blessed Christmas season!