It didn’t take much deliberation and it seems every year it takes less and less time.  So, we picked out our tree, got popcorn and hot chocolate and sat around the fire.  Now, our biggest blessing came as Mark worked with the Christmas tree people to get the tree on the van (an engineering genius if you ask me) and we sat around the fire waiting, munching, and spilling (there’s always a hot chocolate spill).

Zoe had a tough time when we first told them we were pregnant.  She just wasn’t prepared for that.  It broke my heart to see her so upset and I prayed for peace and excitement to grow.  Now, she’s not upset and can’t wait until she can see pictures of the baby actually looking like a baby.  However, I’ve also been praying for ways to show her what a blessing they all are to us, including this little one growing.  God gave us two families that spoke to us while the tree was going on the van.  Each one talked about how blessed we were and how much fun it had to be.  Never once did either family mention how hard it must be or that I “had my hands full.”  They seemed to be thoroughly excited to see a larger-than-normal family.  And as we walked away, I quietly thanked God for giving her an opportunity to see that not all people think we’re weirdos!