Oh, Christmas Tree...

I know, I know.  Everyone else out in blogland posted their Christmas tree pics back in November, right after Thanksgiving.  In my defense, I did TAKE these pictures that weekend.  Just haven't had time to get them off the camera, so now you get them...2 days before the decorations come down!

The quiet life

It has been a quiet week here so far.  We are enjoying no school, lazy mornings, and even went to a movie earlier today.  We saw The chronicles of Narnia: the voyage of the Dawn Treader.  It was very, very good.  Of course, I cried at the end.  We've been laying low, relaxing.  We've gotten a few projects done; the toy closet was cleaned out today, the laundry is getting caught up, the Christmas dishes are done, and the dog had a bath.  But mostly we've been laying low, not doing a whole lot, and enjoying it a LOT!  I'm hopeful to get some more "to-do's" done before I go back to work on Monday, but if it doesn't happen, I'm not going to freak out!  Hopefully will get a few Christmas pics posted soon as well!

Happy New Year!

Mrs. Meek

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas was great!  We started the celebration on Thursday, when we joined Jon's side of the family for dinner and presents.  Traditional ham, mashed potatoes and gravy...it was wonderful!  Our Christmas Eve service was a lot of fun; Jon and I opened the evening by performing the Christmas love song he wrote for me a couple of years ago.  Afterward, we went to "The Christmas House" to look at lights, a family tradition for us.  Christmas morning dawned beautifully bright and we opened presents and then got the house ready for company.  My mom made prime rib for Christmas dinner and we were joined by my sister and her family as well.  My dad and his girlfriend came over Christmas evening to celebrate with us.  It was a wonderful time to enjoy some great food and time with family.  Most importantly, we celebrated the birth of our wonderful Savior! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

More pictures

Pictures taken by the beautiful and talented Kim Cook.

Family photos

Taken by my fabulous friend Kim...

Christmas Cookies

Of course, one of our best holiday traditions is the baking that happens.  My very favorite cookies to make at Christmas are Spritz cookies.  My grandma always made them, and I think they are the best!  Here is my recipe:

Swedish Spritz
1 lb butter
1 egg, well beaten
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 C flour

Cream butter, egg, sugar and vanilla.  Add flour, do not overmix.  Using a cookie press, press cookies onto cool baking sheets (if your pans are warm, the cookies will not stick when you are pressing them....).  Decorate with sprinkles.  Bake at 400* for 5-7 minutes or until they are no longer shiny.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!
Mrs. Meek

2010 Christmas Card

Here is our Christmas card for this year.  My good friend Renee over at Pink Owl Paperie put it together for us! I just adore her work!

Merry Christmas, from our home to yours!!
(more family pics to come soon!)

ideas...

and time...
I currently have 3 or 4 ideas that might be stories or short sketches rolling in my head, but I feel like I don't have time to capture them.  I also have a bazillion crafty ideas that I want to try out, but again, the problem of time.  What's a girl to do?

busy, busy bees

We've been super busy around here for the past few weeks.  We had a great Thanksgiving, including an early break because of our SNOW DAY!!!  My classes are wrapping up, so there's been a bunch of homework to do, the girls had their Irish Dance performance, which was wonderful!  And yesterday was Michaela's Christmas program at school, Bethany is performing with some other violinists on Sunday after church, and our great friend Lee has been here from Mexico.  Wow!  No wonder I have piles of laundry and Michaela has been wearing the same pair of pants for 4 days!  Well, unfortunately, Gabe caught a cold, so we two are staying home today and I'm hoping to make some headway on that laundry and finish up some assignments.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I still have Christmas shopping to do!  EEEEEK!

So, after my brief post, I'm off to be productive...  I'll be back in a week or so when downshift from "the amazingly busy, crazy, and insane life of Jon, Becca and their kids" to just "the amazingly busy life of Jon, Becca and their kids."  Ha ha!

PS- I did find something that's making my life a little easier.  I normally spend a lot of time planning our meals for the week, but now I've discovered e-mealz.  It's awesome!  For $1.25/week, they give you 7 meals (already planned) and the grocery list to go with it!  You can pick the store, too.  So far, we are loving it.

{ snow day!!! }

Wow!  I don't remember the last time I got a snow day from school.  It was probably third grade or something like that, and I'm not saying how many years ago that was.  Well, due to a Winter storm warning, a Blizzard warning, sub zero temperatures, and blowing snow, we got a SNOW DAY here in Missoula on Tuesday.  The kiddos' school opted to have a regular day, but I overruled and gave them a snow day anyway!  We stayed home and stayed warm, watching movies, doing crafts, hanging out (basically anything we could to avoid going outside!!).  Michaela did go outside for awhile, she was working on a snow fort.  Here are a few pics:

 Look at those pink cheeks!!

 Lots of snow!

 This is how much we got overnight.

 Just cuz she's cute and stood still for a picture.

My snow monster!

It was a fun day, even if it wasn't very productive, and we got to start our Thanksgiving vacation a day early.  Just one of many blessings to be thankful for this year!

Have a blessed holiday!

Mrs. Meek

Sometimes you're the bug.

This line from an old country song was stuck in my head yesterday:

"Sometimes you're the windshield,
sometimes you're the bug."

I think it was because sometimes there are just days when things don't go your way, and you feel like the bug. 

To begin with, we found out on Saturday night that a good friend of ours passed away from pancreatic cancer.  He was an awesome man of God, someone who was a mentor to me in many ways, a guy who was "Papa" to my kiddos, who rejoiced and cried with us during some great and difficult times.  Papa O, you are greatly missed.  His passing was somewhat of a shock, as we didn't realize that things had gotten so serious, and it didn't really hit me until Sunday morning, when Beth spent all of Sunday morning worship on my lap in tears.

Then, after church, Jon and I had a disagreement.  Nothing major, but still not fun.  It took me most of the rest of the day to straighten out my own attitude.

Fast forward to this morning, and Gabe wakes up in a funk, ready to take on Michaela in order to get half of a packet of fruit snacks.  I think we got it straightened out, but like I said, there are days when sometimes it feels like life is the windshield, and I am the bug.

Thankfully, on the days it feels like I'm getting squished by the cares of life, I know a place I can go...
Matthew 11:29-30 reminds me that Jesus will willingly take on my cares and that I don't have to carry them.  He tells me, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Words of comfort.  When I remember to fix my eyes where they belong, my burdens don't seem quite so difficult, and what seemed like a huge deal in my own eyes becomes less, while the grace of God becomes more.  So, so thankful for that!

Hopefully the rest of the day is better, but if not, I hope I can keep my focus where it belongs...not looking for windshields to smack into.

Have a blessed day!

{ hint, hint }

I've been thinking about my Christmas list lately, due to some early requests (thanks, Dad!).  It's gotten me thinking that while I like the normal things like gift cards and clothes, there are some things that are a little more unique.  So, I'm posting this in the hopes that my darling hubby *might* take a peek at it (or maybe one of my dearest friends will send this to him, ha ha).  Just a few ideas that would be tops on my list:

A necklace or bracelet from here.

A crafty/scrapbooking getaway with friends

This book.  (The Christmas one, dear)!

That's it.  Somethings that are a little fun, a little unique, and a lot something I'd like. Hint, hint.
What are some things that you would LOVE to get from your special someone this year?

Mrs. Meek

{ blogging }

I really, really enjoy reading other people's blogs. I enjoy writing my own, but I really enjoy reading others. Some people read their morning paper; I check my RSS feed and my blogroll. When my friends don't post as often as I would like, I find myself getting irritated, even though I am not the most frequent blogger. Blogs give me a way to keep up with what's happening with people, get new ideas for crafting, and get new recipes for my ever growing collection. Plus, I love reading, and the blogosphere is like one giant book, only it is real people's lives. How cool!
So, I'm looking for a few good blogs to read. If you comment, let me know your top 3 favorite blogs to read, besides mine, of course!

Mrs. Meek

{ pictures }

As promised, here are some fun pics from our weekend with friends!

Jon and Donald

Jen and I

Gabe and Jonathan

And then, we had to take girl pics...

Hannah and Bethany

Elizabeth and Michaela

Michaela and Hannah

This combination is fondly known as "Beth-Beth."

All the silly girls! Such beautiful smiles!

There you have it! Another fun filled weekend with the Meeksterbrooks families!!

Thankful for friends...

This weekend, our friends (you guessed it...the EASTERBROOKS!) came to visit us, just to hang out and be together. I can't tell you how awesome it is to have these people in our lives. We just love them! And it is so much fun to have friends who live 2 1/2 hours away who will drive over snowy passes just to see you! This was probably the last trip either way for a while, though, unless we get some really, really great weather in December and January.
We took them to some of our favorite Missoula spots this weekend, including the Double Front Cafe and the Antique Mall. We also went to see an illusionist who was in town last night. Mostly we just enjoyed hanging out.
Pictures to come...
Mrs. Meek

{Halloween}

Bethany (the flapper), Gabe (the pumpkin master), Michaela (the kitty cat) and Dolly (the pumpkin)

Gabe actually dressed up for the Harvest Party. He went as Friar Tuck!

Michaela the kitty cat!

Wow, I am almost caught up! These are pictures from Halloween and our Awana Harvest Party! Gabe didn't dress up for Halloween this year, which was fine with Jon and I. He did take Bethany around the neighborhood when we got home, and he even got some candy, but I think his trick or treating days are over! I also think this is my official "caught up" post. I have some more pictures to post from our little basement room remodel, but since it is almost done, I think I will wait until it is finished and then I can post them all in order. So, I hope you enjoyed my week of posts. It probably won't happen like this again for a long time to come! I am going to try to be more faithful to this little blog, but a post every day for almost a week is a lot for me! Bless your day!

Easterbrooks!!

Bethany

Hannah and Michaela

Yes, we love our fabulous friends! Here are a couple of pictures from October, when we made a quick trip to Post Falls over a long weekend. Gabe went to Vision Conference, a youth conference here in Montana, while the rest of us headed to Idaho. We played games, we drove to Spokane for some really greasy food, we ate donuts from Wal-Mart, and of course Jen and I had to do something crafty, so we had a girls' night out where we made a family message center out of a cookie sheet. In short, we had a blast!

Dolly is growing up

My puppy is growing up, but she's still supremely cute!

Advertisement

For everyone in the Missoula area, I just want to start getting the word out that Bethany and Michaela will have a performance coming up for Irish Dance.

When: December 4, 2010 3:00pm

Where: Clark Fork City Church Auditorium

2811 Latimer St.

What: Missoula Irish Dancers Winter Performance and Fundraiser

(Silent Auction at intermission, admission is free but donations are always appreciated)

What for: The Missoula Irish Dancers are trying to raise money to buy new dance school dresses, as well as add to the general operating fund for the school.

There will be live Irish fiddle and harp, and dancing, of course! Refreshments will be served.

Even if you just come to see my cute little girls perform, come!

Some randomness.. and the First day of school!

Bethany being silly

Gabe...doing something...

First day of school!

Ok, so I know these are old, but I'm getting caught up! Be glad that I'm actually posting!

Celebration Northwest

Jen and I

All of us!

(Jon, me, Jen, Donald,

Bethany, Gabe, Jonathan, Hannah, Elizabeth and Michaela)

In August, we traveled to Oregon. Our family of churches, NewFrontiers, holds regional family camps, and this year Celebration Northwest was held in Silverton, Oregon. We traveled with our friends, the Easterbrooks! This family is awesome, and although we have only known them for a little more than a year, it seems like we've been close friends forever. You'll be seeing them frequently in my posts as I get caught up and probably a lot after that, too! Here is a group shot of our families, as well as one of Jen and me!

More summer pics!

Elizabeth

Jonathan

Michaela

Bethany

All enjoying some fun in the sun at Black Bay.

Here are more pictures from this summer, now that the uploader is working for me again!

Vacation pics!!!

It appears that my issues with blogger are resolved, at least for the moment! Hopefully these are still here tomorrow! These are some pictures from July, when we went on vacation to Silverwood Theme Park with our wonderful friends, the Easterbrooks family! We love these guys! More pics to come, I hope. I have a lot to catch up on!!!

{The Sweet Life}

Even though I'm currently having some serious difficulities posting pictures to this blog, in order to share evidence of my sweet life with all of you, it's still a sweet life.

Fall is in the air here in Montana, and the kids and I have been busy making all kinds of apple related yumminess, apple sauce, apple pie, dried apples... Yum! Most days the house smells sweet. Halloween is just around the corner and soon we'll be counting our blessings and getting ready for Thanksgiving.

Fall is one of our favorite times in the Meek household, and this year it has been one of the busiest! Gabe is still in Scouts, Bethany and Gabe are in Robotics Club, Michaela and Bethany are in Irish dance and loving it, I am taking 2 classes on line this semster, and Jon is busy worship team and church life! Whew! It makes me tired looking at that, but we sure do have a lot of fun!

I'm hoping to resolve the picture issue soon, so that I can share photos of this sweet life with you, but for now, you'll just have to take my word for it!

For the record...

I *did* try to post more pictures last night, but the internet was being very slow. Will try again tomorrow!!

Blog, blog, bloggity blog

One of the things I am planning to do this weekend. :)

{Summer}

I so can't believe summer is almost over. It has been a whirlwind! It's also been a TON of fun. And while I'm looking forward to getting back into a bit of routine, I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to summer just yet. That's why tomorrow will be a computer free day, and we will play in the sun (if we have any) and enjoy our last day of summer as a family.

Last day? Yes, Jon is heading out of town for a few days, and I am going back to work this week, and then we have church on Sunday, and I have PIR days starting Monday and then the kids go back Wednesday. So, even though we technically have a week and a half before school starts, tomorrow is our real "last day" of summer all together as a family. I think the summer of 2010 will go down in our family history book as one of the busiest on record, but we enjoyed ourselves a lot, we spent time with wonderful friends, we enjoyed each other and we didn't go crazy. All in all, I'd say that's a good summer's work.

'Til next time,

Mrs. Meek

{Ups and downs}

The last few days have sort of felt like a jumble of mixed emotions. Bear with me as I sort some of them out here.

We had a great time with friends at Celebration Northwest, which made me happy, but then we had to leave and have a 9 hour drive, an overnight stay and another 2 1/2 hours the next day, which made me sad, but we got to have dinner at Panda Express with some great friends who we also hung out with later that night, which made me very happy.

Someone rudely informed me that bread makes you fat (not skinny), which made me sad, but then I made a marvelous bruschetta (eaten on BREAD!!!), which made me very happy, but then my mouth reacted to the tomatoes and vinegar which made (and is still making) me sad.

I took the kids back to school shopping and got two free lunchboxes and had a coupon for $15.00 off, which made me happy, plus it was shopping, which made me happy, but we still have shoes and supplies to buy, which makes me sad.

We still have shoes and supplies to buy, which makes me happy. :-)

(Are you following me so far?)

Summer is almost over, which makes me sad, but we've been having a great time milking every drop of summer that is left, which makes me happy.

It is Fair Week in Missoula, which makes me happy.

We ran into my gramma's sister at the mall today, which made me happy and sad.

In short, it's been ups and downs around here, which makes me so thankful that when I feel like I am on a seesaw, God is faithful to me all the time!

'Til next time,

Mrs. Meek

3 weeks...

That's it. That is all there is left of summer for my kids. Three weeks from today, they go back to school. I am down to 2 and a half. Bummer. We will be squeezing every summery sunshiny drop from those 2 1/2 weeks that we can.

Back again...

Jon and Gabe are back. They had a great time at camp, and the girls and I had a good time at home. We did some fun girlie things, like going with Bethany to have her hair cut, and having a slumber party in my bed one night (even if we were all grumpy the next morning)! I worked on some sewing projects, and had Bethany helping me with some parts of a quilt I'm working on. Next step, the sewing machine! (Yikes!)

On Wednesday, I head out with Gabe to go on a float trip. I'm excited and a little nervous. It will be fun, but I've never been on a float trip that's this long before. I'm sure I'll have lots to post about when I get back.

The weekend after our float trip, we are headed to Celebration Northwest, which promises to be a raging good time. We'll be with some great friends, hear some great preaching and have some fun. I'm excited! September first is trying to rear it's ugly head, but it's going to have to wait! There's still lots of summer left!!

Just us girls

On Sunday, Jon and Gabe leave for Scout camp for a week. So next week will be just us girls. It should be fun. I have a couple of projects in the works. Stay tuned.

{Not one...}

So, if you've read my blog for the last year or so, or if you happen to know me in person, then you know that my very favorite holiday is the 4th of July. We have had some great traditions over the years, which have always included attending the fireworks at Southgate Mall. One of our more infamous traditions has been to get a kissing picture. Silly, I know, but that's the tradition. THIS year, however, I didn't take a single picture on the 4th of July. I have a couple of pictures from earlier in the week when we set off our fireworks, but NOT ONE of my kids, my husband, my Boy Scout assisting with the flag ceremony at the fireworks show, my girls enjoying time with their grandparents, and certainly not one of my husband and I kissing. Jon and I were manning the Boy Scout popcorn and hot dog stand, while the girls were sitting with their grandparents and Gabe was, well, doing Boy Scout things. It was a sad realization for me on July 5th. But life is about change, it's just that sometimes it's hard to embrace it.

Dolly

Here are some pictures of our most recent addition to the family. Her name is Dolly and we all just adore her!