Nate's "Vacation" & My "Staycation"

A couple months ago Southwest Airlines was having a killer sale on airfare. Being that we hadn't gotten to go home to visit either of our families this past year with PC & the move back home, we decided that we would each individually go home to AZ & CA. I would bring Cal with me since he has never been to CA & still hasn't met any of my siblings (not to mention he is the only one of the kids that can still fly for free - this trip will happen in Feb) & Nate would go home to AZ on his own in Jan. Well, his sister Charity talked him into surprising his Mom & Dad and bringing Cal along, and I am so glad he did! Glad because it was such a blessing to his family to have Caly-boy with them (his last trip to AZ he was only 2 mos old!) and also glad because I actually had somewhat of a "staycation" here at home with only 2 kids.

I didn't realize how nice it would be with only 2. It was fun to be able to just sit with them and watch a movie & eat popcorn without needing to tend to Cal who would never allow that to happen :). And I even got time to bring Chason to toddler story time at the library while Sophie had a playdate at our neighbor's house, also something I have never been able to do with Cal in tow. I also enjoyed 4 nights of 5+ consecutive hours of uninterrupted sleep - GLORIOUS! But, with that said, there was something missing in our house not hearing that constant growling sound coming from Calvin or seeing that big slobbery smiley face & those blue eyes. And we sure did miss daddy too, especially Chason who would run to the garage door looking for him every time I happened to open it and would cry "daddy change my biaper!" every time I had to change him :). Here are some pics from Nate & Cal's trip to AZ ...

A Bowling We Will Go ...

Fun family day bowling with the kido's for the 1st time! And they lasted till the 7th frame, which was more than we expected :). And Cal sat by, eating his fish crackers & giving us celebrational high-five's - Sophie said next time we should hold him & let him kick the ball down the lane with his feet, haha!

Sledding with Soph

This is a video I took my 1st time this winter

playing outside in the snow - me & Soph sledding

down the hill in our backyard while the boys were napping :).

Great Grandma Sena's Visit

Those who know us know that the Treguboff's can never just have 1 visitor, they always come in 2's & usually 2 weeks apart or so from one another :). This is not a planned thing, it's seriously just how it happens. My mom was here 3 weeks ago and my Grandma (mom's mom) flew in from Los Angeles 2 wks and 1 day later for a visit.

We hadn't seen Grandma since we were in CA a year and a half ago for the kids' 1st & 3rd birthday's and this was the first time she got to meet her newest great-grandchild, Cal! We had an unusually "warm" day (it was in the 40's, really, it was warm!), so we got out and played in the snow (me for the 1st time this year) and took pictures. Did something TOTALLY insane and went to the Mall of America the week after Christmas - NEVER again!! But Sophie did have fun riding with her great grandma on the carousel & the swings. She whipped up ck enchiladas and Spanish rice - sooo good! And her & Sophie made tapioca pudding. She even watched the kids for us so we could get together with some friends kid-free for New Years Eve. SO thankful for the time we had and LOVE that Chason is at the age where he will now remember who she is when we talk to her on the phone :).

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening

I know that many of you are aware of this resource, but I thought even if there was 1 person who could benefit from this it would be worth posting.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a British preacher in the 19th Century. I like how CJ Mahaney calls him the "prince of preachers", truly he is. His resources have been a means of tremendous grace to me, especially his "Morning & Evening" daily devotionals. There is a different one twice a day - morning & evening - and you can access them at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/morneve.today.html .

Here is an excerpt from one I have recently found myself going back to and referring others to. He just has a beautiful gift for bringing God's truth's to light.

November 12th Morning "The trial of your faith"

"Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God's strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too..."

Christmas Morning

We pray that you all had a very Merry Christmas celebrating the birth of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!

This year we stayed ay home in MN, and though we missed being with family, we really had a sweet time. Christmas eve we had 15 friends over, who like us don't have any family here in MN. 20 people in our little house was cozy, but fun! Everyone brought appetizers & desserts, it was quite the spread. As we surveyed the room we were reminded afresh of God's kindness and how even though we don't have "family" here, the Lord has provided family for us in each other.

Christmas morning Cal was the 1st to wake up - no surprise - at 6am. The other 2 kids were so pooped from playing with their friends the night before I actually had to wake them up so that we could open presents & Cal could take his AM nap! We stayed in our PJ's all day, played with toys, watched movies & Nate dug the grill out of the snow & grilled steaks in about 15 degree's (in a t-shirt)! He's a devout griller :). Here are some pics from the day.

Blizzard Bunnies

This is a video of my mom & Sophie playing in the blizzard

we had when she was here visiting from CA - CRAZY!!

Mom's Visit

(Today is actually my Mom's birthday - Happy Birthday Mom! - so how fitting that I am finally putting up this post ... )

It had been over a year since we had seen my mom - the last time we saw her was when she came out to MD when we had Cal in Oct 09. This was my first visit with mom when I wasn't recovering from having a baby, so it was wonderful to be able to actually do things with her & not be exhausted & emotional - though the wknd she was here we had a blizzard which was reported to be the largest snowfall in 20 years here in MN (ranking #5 or #6 in history I think)! We did get out 1 day to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (mom is an artist & i've always wanted to go take her there. Though next time maybe without a 4, 2 & 1 year old in tow, lol!). But we hunkered down, blared Christmas music all wknd and made Christmas cookies, she brought supplies for the kids to make cards, got out 1 day in feet of snow for a "girl's lunch" at Leeann Chin (that was about as far as we could drive on practically unplowed roads). But the highlight was seeing her and my crazy girl literally playing IN the blizzard! Precious & fun memories made. SO thankful that we had that time with "Nani" - the kids are still talking about it :).