On the First Month of Christmas...

What? Christmas is over?!? But did you know what? It's now only 12 months away.  Did you hear me people? 12 months!!!

Every year I hit November and realize how much I want to get done for Christmas and don't ever have enough time to do it.

2013 is going to be different. This year I am going to think ahead, prepare, do things differently. 

So, for the next 12 months I am going to finish at least one thing for Christmas every single month.  I have more than enough unfinished, untouched crafts in my basement to fill all 12 months, but more than that, I am going to try to get presents finished, planning done, and even a little money saved so that when Christmas comes around again I will be ready!

So, on this, the first month of Christmas, I competed one lovely Christmas decoration which will so beautifully deck my halls next Christmas season:

Here's to the next 12 months of merriment and joy.  I've got plans for a beautiful season next year, and a whole lot more room in my craft room as I clear out all the half finished and broken decorations. 

Merry Christmas to all in 2013!

Merry Christmas from the Wiebes

I can hardly believe it's almost Christmas!  I really meant to send out an actual Christmas card this year, but despite having all my presents bought before December, and a pretty lax calendar, somehow I have been too busy yet again.  I did, however, convince my darling sister Chloe to take pictures of my family, so I didn't completely fail in the matter.

In any case, let me tell you about what a wonderful year it's been, and how blessed we are going into this Christmas season!

We started out the year living in a new home, pregnant with our third child, and Jared deep into his articling year.  In April we were blessed with our third boy!  Atticus Booth was born at home on April 11, 2012.  It took us almost five weeks to name him!  He has been such a joy in our family, and we are grateful for him every day. In his eight months he has mastered breastfeeding, rolling over, sitting up, and in the last month has become completely mobile, crawling all over the home, wreaking havoc as he goes. His brothers love him completely and he is never short for entertainment. 

Silas is three years old now, and has really blossomed in the few months since his birthday.  He was wearing 18-24 month clothes in the summer, and now he's wearing size 4.  He is his own little man who insists on the whole world slowing down just a little, as nothing and nobody can seem to hurry him.  He is very independent, happy to go on any adventure he can find.  He went to his first art class this fall, and loved it. He also loves his nursery class at church and playing lego with Eli.  He is honestly the sweetest boy on earth.

And my darling Eli: he continues to amaze us with how clever and charming he is.  He mastered his bicycle this spring, well before his 5th birthday, and his world opened up.  We spent hours and hours this summer following him around on his bike as he explored the neighbourhood. He has taught me that as the mother of boys I may as well get rid of everything in my home but Lego, because Lego is all there is! We are homeschooling the boys, and so Eli is, in theory, in kindergarten. We spend our days doing art projects and engaging in a lot of creative play.  He is learning his letters and how to write.  I am so lucky to spend my days with him!

As for Jared and I, we are often surprised when we sit back and look at our lives and realize that we are not young marrieds any more.  We've got three children, two mortgages, one dog and all sorts of responsibilities.  Not that I'm complaining, I'm just often surprised by the fact. 

Jared is a lawyer, not a law student, not a student-at-law, a lawyer.  After a year of articling, in October he was admitted to The Bar and is now a full fledged lawyer, the real McCoy!  After 8 years of marriage to a student, we are glad to be where we are at.  He is working as an associate at a firm in Calgary, and enjoying what he does.  He still enjoys music and is determined to spend more time pursuing it this year. He works with the young men at church in the Scouting program, and loves it. 

Life as a mom of three boys is far busier than I ever dreamed it would be.  Don't get me wrong, I love it, I'm just exhausted most of the time, no big deal. I'm homeschooling the boys, teaching a language arts class, knitting up a storm and pretending to be a horseback rider, although I don't often get out to visit my horses. I have put my Doula business on hold, as I can't leave Atticus any longer than his next meal, but I still am immersed in the natural birth world. I am dreaming of moving from our tiny condo to a home, and eventually to some land where I can have chickens and goats and horses and lots of room!   

And there you have it. The life of the Wiebe family in 2012.  We have had a fantastic year and expect the same for 2013.  We know we have been blessed immensely by our Heavenly Father and are mindful at this time of year of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. May all who read this feel his love as we have felt it, and be blessed by it in the year to come.

Merry Christmas to all!!!

 

All photos taken by Chloe Taylor Photography, 2012.

The Stockings are Hung

And the Wiebes are nestled, all snug in our bed (well, most of them...)

 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!!!

Merry Christmas from The Wiebes!

Dear Friends and Family (and the rest of the online world!):

I had every intention this year of sending out, via good ol' Canada Post, Christmas cards.  But alas, I didn't get around to it, so my neglected blog gets to be the medium of our Christmas greetings this year.

We have had a challenging, hectic, busy year, but have been so blessed through it all. We started the year still living at my parent's home, where we had been since we finished school in May, 2010.  Since May 2011 we have moved four times, finally, just three weeks ago, ending up in a condo in Cougar Ridge, in Calgary, where we intend to stay for a while.

Since graduation Jared has been working to become accredited in Canada. In May we packed up and moved to Victoria for Jared to attend Spring term at the University of Victoria. We moved back to my parents in July, and waited for the results of his course work.  Jared successfully gained accreditation and in August he started his first legal job as a Student at Law at a small firm in down town Calgary.  He is enjoying his work and really happy to be putting all his hard work to use. In October we moved our whole family into the one bedroom basement suite of a home we own. At the beginning of December we finally emptied our storage unit, with boxes unopened for 2 years, and moved permanently into our current home. 

This year I also completed my training to become a Doula (a professional birth attendant).  I have been so blessed to be a part of so many births. The miracle of birth continues to amaze me, and working as a doula is a perfect way to put my passion for empowering birth to use.

I still have horses, which I try to ride as much as possible, but not nearly as much as I would like to.  They bring me a lot of joy, not to mention good exercise!

Both boys are growing far too fast.  Eli is as busy as can be, constantly on the move, gathering all sorts of treasures for "projects."  He is such a caring, loving boy, and a wonderful big brother.  He is so smart, always impressing adults around him at ability and willingness to share his knowledge. His favourite colour is "golden,"  he loves his mommy, daddy and Silas, LEGO, and his pony, Princess.

Silas is a constant joy in our little family.  Although he is the spiting image of his father, he seems to be developing the strong will of his mother!  He does exactly what he wants, when he wants, and refuses to be rushed into anything by anyone.  His language development continues to amuse the rest of us, with Eli being his greatest interpreter.  In the last three months he has potty trained, weaned, and begun sleeping in his own room, sharing a bed with his big brother. We can't believe how big our baby is getting.

Speaking of babies... we are expecting Wiebe #3 in the new year.   Due in April, we are especially glad to finally be settled in our own home, because we are planning to have a home water birth, attended by the wonderful midwife who was with us for Eli's birth. We are not finding out what we are having, and will be thrilled no matter what. (And yes, I'm still riding horses, even though I'm pregnant!)

We hope that everyone has been blessed as much as we have been this year.  Despite the craziness of our lives, we have been able to take a few minutes this season to contemplate just how blessed we are to have a loving Father in Heaven and Saviour, Jesus Christ, as Jared and I played Mary and Joseph in the Heritage Park Nativity Pageant this past week.  Tonight, as we act out a far less professional version of the same story, with Jared's extended family, we hope our children will also be able to feel the real spirit of Christmas, the spirit of Christ.

Blessings to you all,

Jared, Jenny, Eli and Silas

Expansive doesn't quite describe us...

Huge. Prodigious. Gigantic.  Enormous. Tremendous. 

Really, pick your favourite synonym of "big" and it might come close to describing the Evans Family!  Just wait a few years...

This Christmas all but one (one who we missed so terribly it hurt!) squished and squeezed into our parents' cabin in Idaho to celebrate the season together.  Like I said before, I didn't pull out my camera, and I am just now getting pictures from my sisters, who were more than happy to take pictures, so here you have a few of my favourites, all of which I've stolen from their blogs.

First of all, the Evans Family Photo shoot.  Here we all are, sans Joan (another tear falls):

Um, yup, that's the pic I love, and the one you get.  My favourite?  Merrin. 

15 grandbabies and counting!  A few were not too pleased with the idea of a photo shoot. 

And then there's the Evans girls.  All but Joan.  We are wonderful!

And, my beautiful mom and dad.  Parents to eight and Bumpa and Bumma, Fatboy and Grandma, really, whatever you want to call them, to fifteen and counting!

On to some other favourite pictures for you to enjoy!

We all know I'm a big supporter of breastfeeding in public.  Well, does it count as public when it's as many as we have in our family???  PS Do I look super young in this picture?

I love my dad's smile, and apparently so does Silas!

On the dock with my view of heaven.

Pretty sure I'm going to make a Christmas decoration out of this picture.

And this one's getting blown up and put in Jared's future studio.  I love it!

And, one last one for all to enjoy, because I love my mom's smile too, and I love that Holly and I are wearing twinner hats, and I love that Phoebe's hat is pretty much useless.

No Camera in Hand

After years of being the only person in my family with camera in hand most of the time, this year I had three sisters, plus a brother-in-law and a father who had fancy cameras and were happy to document my holiday.  For once I might be in some of the pictures.  If I ever get any of them (hint, hint...) That being said, I have yet to get most of my Christmas pictures, but wanted to share with you some of the joys of the season, so here you get the very few I actually took. 

Christmas was wonderful, as usual. We spent the week of Christmas at my family's cabin in Idaho, then came home for New Years with the Wiebes. Eli is just at that age where the magic of Christmas was apparent, and I loved it.  We were on a very limited budget this year, but you wouldn't know it because of the amazing generosity of people we love.  We were blessed again and again, and had an absolutely wonderful Christmas!

 Discovering our stockings!

Santa was good to us!

 Oh ya, and I cut off all my hair.  There's the big reveal, with me just woken up, in my pjs. It will have to do.

 This lacrosse stick was quite honestly Silas's favourite gift.

 Santa had a helper.  Eli loved these!

 Kay, so this pic is the best I can do to showcase the silky pjs that Jared got on Christmas Eve.  That's right, black satin! 

That's all I've got folks.  Sorry.  We did take a few more once we got to the Wiebe's, but Silas was sleeping, so we're missing him in all of them.  Oh well.

 This was the greatest gift EVER!!!  A saddle for Princess.  Eli can't wait for the next warm day!

There you have it, the Wiebe family Christmas. I'm pretty sure that by the time I get all the photos from my family I won't be in the mood to blog about them, so this will have to do.  Merry Christmas to all!!!

The Super-est of Saturdays!

Anyone who grew up LDS most assuredly grew up surrounded by crafts which were crafted, once a year, on "SUPER SATURDAY."  It's an amazing phenomenon where Mormon women get together for an entire Saturday and craft, craft, craft!  Because it usually falls on a Saturday in November, most of the Super Saturday crafts are Christmas related.  This week we decorated my mom's house for Christmas, and as we opened up boxes and set out the decorations, I would easily say that more than half the decorations, dating back three or more decades, came from various Super Saturdays.  Here are a few:

But, I have to admit, my very favourite Christmas crafts are these two (I've asked to get them when mom dies!)

Actually, maybe I will just have to figure out how to make them, and offer the class at next year's Super Saturday!

This year I finally started making something I've been meaning to for years.  Before you are too impressed, let me assure you that this was not the workings of my mind. My incredible friend Chelsea went way above and beyond to create this beauty, and I have merely enjoyed her labours!  So, while it is yet to be completed, here's the finished pieces of my Advent Calendar!

 The Wisemen, their Camel, and Egypt, which isn't actually to the east, but Mary and Joseph take baby Jesus there after Herod goes crazy and wants to kill all the babies.

 The earth; Jesus made it.  And John the Baptist.

 The shepherds and their sheep (remember how I love sheep? Well, these ones add to my love, they are so very cute!) Bethlehem and some townspeople. 

 Jerusalem, EVIL king Herod, Simeon and Anna (they are at the Temple when Mary and Joseph take Jesus there to be blessed.)

Angels heard on high, the star, the Angel Gabriel, Donkey, Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus. 

There you have it: proof of another successful Super Saturday.  Hopefully in 30 years my kids will still enjoy pulling this work of art out and reminiscing over the years it was used and loved.  I've only got a few more days to get it complete, and when I do I'll be sure to post.  Until then, happy Christmas crafting to all of you!