Christmas comes and goes . . .

Well, there it is.  One day you say to yourself, "Wow!  Christmas Eve is just a couple of days away!" and then a moment later you're remarking, "Wow! Christmas is over!"  I do have to say that it seemed like Christmas-time much of the month of December for us.  We went to John and Stephanie's the first weekend in December for a "post-Thanksgiving holiday" then just a week later Lindsey came for a "pre-Christmas cheer" week.  We had a week of serious preparation, and Christmas came and went just that fast.  Corey and I have relished the weekends with all of our children; I hope we don't go into some kind of children-less withdrawal as January finds everyone back on their regular life schedules!  (I guess regular trips/visits might save the day . . .)

It seems I still believe the TV commercialized-perfect family-Christmas myth.  I always want everything to run perfectly:  caroling, candles, candy; gifts, glamor, guests (all smiling and dressed-up!); food, family, friendships . . . you all know the picture.  I always want to create the perfect holiday, but the reality falls far short of the expectations.  Over the years I've realized the non-reality of the myth; but Martha Stewart's Christmas issue still looms overhead, beckoning me to unrealizable heights. However this year wasn't much different from others--chaos stills gained the upper hand.  The caroling didn't happen; we hurriedly went from place to place, kids tried valiantly to accommodate all families' obligations, and we were all ready for the holiday to be at an end.  But as the dust settled (a metaphor because we're up to our axles in mud this year) and everyone drove out of sight, the feeling of a joyous time well-spent overcame the disappointment of reality and left a sense of satisfaction.  Everyone smiled, ate, laughed, remembered, and above all, loved.  We were all together at one time this month.  We were all trying to stay close and together at this, the most hectic time of the year.  And hey!  There's always next year for that perfect Christmas . . .

A little glitch in the week . . .

You know how "the-week-before-Christmas" is . . .lots of planning, last minute shopping, baking, wrapping?  Well all of those activities came to halt for me on Wednesday when we awoke to water bubbling up from the ground.  There was a small lake in the drive and a nice little spring outside our pump house.  After an emergency service call by a pump guy, we found out what we thought it was, it wasn't.  (Isn't that just how plumbing things go?)  Our house is the original homestead house, and the house next door was my home as a teen-ager.  When we built that home, we didn't dig a well; we just hooked into grandma and grandpa's.  Later, when my dad and his wife thought they might like to sell the house, they needed a well of their own, but they decided to keep the line between the houses in case either of the houses had pump failure.  It was ingenious.  A valve at our end controls the flow back and forth.  It was a great blessing when our pump failed; we would have been without water for the 3 weeks it took to repair it if we hadn't been able to take water from the neighbors.  Unfortunately, even though the valve has been shut off for many years, the water pressure from the house next door remained, and when the piece of pipe sprung a leak . . . well, these pictures say it all.

Thankfully, the neighbors were cooperative about the whole mess (their water was off for about 3 hours while we dug up the leak and capped it . . .) And thankfully, the leak was where we dug the first hole (that doesn't always happen . . .) And thankfully, I had someone else's muscle to dig the hole (although he wasn't all that thrilled to work in the mud with rain/snow adding cheer to the project . . .)  Everything is still pretty gushy out there, but we made it through the event and could finish getting ready for Christmas.  Whew!

Introducing "Life at the Casa"

Ah, here it is, my very own blog . . . a clean, blank window of opportunity just waiting for me to dress it up with witty repartee and photos depicting our lives here at "the casa."  No, our family is not Hispanic (as you'll note from the photos), but we've called home "the casa" since forever.  I guess it started when our oldest daughter was 3-ish, and I worked with the Spanish Branch of our church.  I was trying to infuse a few Spanish words into our daughter's vocabulary, so whenever we arrived home I'd say, "Here we are at our casa!"  (One day she asked me, "How do you say "casa" in Spanish?"; I realized then she was assimilating words with some confusion as to origin, but that might be a topic for another post . . .)  "The casa" has always been synonymous with "home" to our family:  the kids call and ask what's going on at "the casa"; we invite people out to "the casa" for the 4th of July, we share stories of the crazy weather at "the casa," etc.  It seemed only fitting to title a blog about our lives "Life at the Casa." Since life here pretty much revolves around the seasons of the year, I've decided to include some pictures from the past year as a background-building first entry.  I hope the photos illustrate how much I love my "Life at the Casa."

The 4th of July is always a day I love the most.  The entire fam shows up to spend time together playing games and eating bar-b-q.  Everyone brings something--there's always way too much food, but hey, we have to keep up our strength for all the activities!  This year we played "Just Dance" on the wii, soccer, and kick ball.  We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores in the fire pit.  My family's the best!  The day was perfect

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I love the 4th of July!  Everyone's there and the fun goes on all afternoon and into the evening.  The next best thing to the 4th of July was the "1st Annual Family Shoot-out."  Fall is such a beautiful time at the casa, and this year I wanted to take advantage of the Indian Summer we usually have and get everyone together for a shooting competition.  Unfortunately, it was a slushy, rainy day all day until we began about 3:00 PM.  It was so great to have the sun come out so we could compete with shotgun clays, paintballs, and bows.  

Everyone kept warm with hot cidar, coffee, and the fire pit.  At the end of the competition we gave out awards--Darren won the "whole shooting match" and received the new shotgun!!

Fall colors make this time of year my very favorite!  Then comes Halloween, and the craziness of my family!

The first winter snow created a real wonderland at the casa.

Then came the annual Greg and Steven put up the Christmas lights  time the day after Thanksgiving.  Way cold, but way fun too!

So, although this has been an extremely long-winded introduction to my brand-new blog, I hope it will show how much I enjoy my "life at the casa."  It will be a joy for me to write about all the great things that happen here!