thankful for you

Our 2022 Thanksgiving Crew!

Dean . Lynn . Chris . Ryan

Helen . Levi . Kelly . Selah . Lisa . Linda . Melanie . Joe

Jael . Reagan . Olivia . Emma . Emma L

Davis' are missing from photo

We are thankful for these peeps

We hosted the great day of gluttony and football, which I enjoy. It gives me motivation to really clean and usually do a couple little projects around the house that have made it from the "to-do" list to the "procrastination" list. Chris has said before multiple events, "you aren't repainting a room!" So I may have done that in the past. I try to keep the projects on the smaller side now. This year it may seem like I redid my fire place for thanksgiving. In actuality, I planned that project about 2 years ago and we finally got it started this November. There are a few things that need tweeked but for the most part I love it! You can kind of see it in one of the pictures. 

I am thankful for the clean house and revamped fireplace.

We had 4 people unable to come at the last minute which brought our numbers down to 19 people and 2 dogs. Poor Bella and Luna were shipped to Nana and Papa's house for a couple days. They cats don't like dogs and I'm not sure how well the dogs tolerate cats. We didn't want to perform a Black Friday burial. We are thankful for good health and well behaved pets

The other thing I really enjoy doing is cute little chalk board drawings or quotes. I started with just a plain piece of black board. Before Emma's wedding I had Chris build an easel. I love it! Now I use it all the time- birthdays, celebrations, holidays, work, husker games. 

I am thankful for Chris' ability to make things and my love of doodling.

Thanksgiving Chalk Sign 2019 above .  2022 below

We have so much to be thankful for even in the midst of really hard situations. I'm trying to focus on the blessings I do have. The world is full of negativity and sin but Jesus came as the solution. We all need a little more Jesus. That's my daily goal. More Jesus!

 

Number Two is 20!

This fall was a little busy but we always make time for dinner, even if it’s a little late.    

Happy 20th Birthday Reagan! 

And just for fun we had Emma and Joe practice cutting cake. They did just fine, I think they can get married. 

The tradition (balloons on the floor) continues!!

Coach Walker and his Husker soccer team were on the east coast over the weekend of Regs’ 20th birthday so I made a quick little trip to Lincoln to decorate her house. 

Fresh Clean Start

When a person wants to do a makeover it’s always wise to take before and after photos. I didn’t think of that. Dang!!

Old Eating Area

Old Living Room

Color difference

John painting

Finished 

If I would have taken pictures with purpose the lighting would have been the same and color comparison would have been great. Basically we went from a Benjamin Moore Alexandria Beige to a warm gray color that would lighten up the house and still allow for my brown furniture. I love it. 

I would love to update some of my decor and furnishings but I was told I have a budget of ZERO. As you can see my hubby is better at saving money than I am. I am slowly repurposing items. 

Check this out...

 

 This 15 year old sign became that repurposed sign

Please don’t notice the dust on top of my refrigerator

All Things Christmas!

 Merry Christmas from the Raabes

2020 Letter found here

I can’t help but stare at this picture of my family and wonder how my babies changed from adorable little girls with big bows and fluffy dresses into delightfully interesting young ladies with hearts as golden as their hair and minds as strong as steel? 

Christmas with family fills my heart! This year was no exception. The start of the season was a little slow. It took a while for Chris to recover from the Rona and I really have struggled with the death of my dad which delayed decorating the house, Christmas letter writing, baking and all other holiday fun. But here we are hanging out with the cats in our post Christmas sugar coma reminiscing about the season of Jesus’ birth. God is good, all the time! 

Tree #1 front room

Tree #2 family room

Tree #3 basement

Liv’s virtual concert 

While Chris appreciated the comfort of this school Christmas I was very sad to not be able to attend this event in person. 

Annual Peppernuts

I remember making peppernuts as far back as I remember standing in the kitchen. My brothers and I use to work together to stir in the dreaded 14 cups of flour just so we could eat these little golden snacks. Now my children love them too. This year our neighbors received trays of cookies, mints, Oreo balls, peanut butter balls, peppernuts, chocolate covered everything and decorated Oreos.

My favorite part of the Christmas Eve service is when all the lights go out and the first candle is lit. Slowly as God’s people pass the light with small hand held candles we see that truly one person sharing the good news of Jesus can turn darkness into light. (I just got the goosebumps thinking about it!) This year we watched Christ Community’s Christmas service online on the 23rd. I know they worked hard and I appreciate the effort but for me, it fell flat. Darn Covid! So we found a church in town with in-person services and attended a Christmas Eve. Still no candle magic while singing Silent Night but we were surrounded by people worshipping Jesus. It was glorious! No pictures were taken to protect individuals who may or may not have been wearing masks. 

Here’s the good news, Pastor Todd spoke about peace. Oh we need the Peace that passes all understanding! There’s only one place that peace comes from...Jesus!

CHRISTMAS MORNING
With Molly

Christmas jammies and opening gifts is still fun no matter how old the girls get. This year they made me cry with their heartfelt letters and photo album. Great job girls! Best gift ever!

The Raabe clan

So pleased to have Chris’ family all together for the day. Thanks Ang and John for AGAIN driving to town. Thanks Joe for taking the picture. 

Gingerbread House tradition continues 

The creative mess 

Many years ago we began a tradition of making gingerbread houses when we went to my parent’s house for Christmas. Once dad moved into the nursing home we quit going to SC as mom went to Texas but the decorating didn’t end.

Two masterpieces 

Decorating . Lights

Cards  .  Baking

Music . Gifts

They are all fun and worth while but none of them mean anything without Jesus’ birth over 2000 years ago to a young virgin girl. That day the Savior of the world left heaven to come serve the lost so that we could be saved. I am forever changed because I said yes to believing in Jesus. If you have questions I would love to share a cup of coffee with you and talk about the love of Jesus. He is the ultimate Christmas gift and He offers love, grace, forgiveness and peace. 

Merry Christmas

Thanksgiving 2019

Oh fall how I love thee but as Thanksgiving arrives I am ready to turn the page from fall decor to the lights, ribbons, bulbs, greenery and outdated ornaments. Outdated ornaments...that's another subject all together. My girls love to bring up my ugly rubber chicken ornaments. 

THEY AREN'T CHICKENS...THEY ARE STARS. 

Nothing makes my heart swell like having my family all together. Tree decorating didn't take place until Emma (and Joe) came home the Wednesday before thanksgiving. I keep forgetting, year after year to buy a new start for the top of the tree. Again this year I have a santa hat up there. Disappointing, I know. :)

Thanksgiving day Reagan flew out to California with her club soccer team for a pointless tournament. They did well but we missed having our girl with us. The rest of the family spent the day at Helen and Lynn's again this year. Due to a snow storm Angie and John missed the big meal. We didn't get to see Stephen and Holly either, as he has been battling cancer. It's been rough, chemo is a butt kicker! We look forward to seeing everyone at Christmas.

This time of year I start seeing "What are you thankful for" posts on social media. A couple years ago I started a gratitude journal which has been great. I don't want to be thankful one month a year. Even in the hard times, there is something to be thankful for. Writing these things out turns my frown upside down. I am thankful for dinner and decorating with all my kids!

Grad Party Decorations

May 2016 was filled with end of the year craziness and graduation parties. It was at that point Emma began thinking about her party this year. I kid you not, parties range from a cake and lemonade to a full "wedding" spread with alcohol and a band. We knew our party would land somewhere in the conservative middle and would require lots of creative thinking to keep costs down. Right away we planned a breakfast themed day and then we jumped on to pinterest which can make a person overly ambitious. My two favorite creations: 1. chalkboard photo booth 2. Giant "E" covered in photos. Both were a labor of love and many people have asked me to make one or both for them. Here's the thing, they can't or don't want to make it themselves but also want to pay me pennies to make them. The photo booth would be $70 to build which doesn't include the artwork and my time. The "E" doesn't cost that much in product but took FOREVER to make.

Below I have attached several pictures of our day, thank you Susan for taking pictures because not only did I forget to take any, I also didn't assign the task to anyone.

my people

Our menu was pancakes (lots and lots of pancakes), 68 lbs of bacon, strawberries, grapes, pineapple, 500 donut holes, cereal bars, cookies, apple juice, coffee and water. I'm so glad we nixed the yogurt bar and egg cups. Keep it Simple!

breakfast goodness

sweets

the Grad

Somewhere there are pictures of Emma and Sierra. I will have to dig them up. The trash can really adds something nice to this photo. HA

emma's table

The pallet with pictures strung across was a last minute alteration. We were going to do a cute thing on the wall but I was afraid of losing our deposit so plan B came into play. Here is an example of why Chris should be happy that I kept these pallets in the garage for the last year. Already the pallets have been borrowed and we may never see them again.

my amazing friends who made
pancakes for 3 hours

I can not thank my friends enough for helping us make Emma's grad party a huge success. Tami and Steve drove from Grand Island, which that in itself is huge but they worked from 9am until 3pm, setting up, cooking and cleaning. I love you guys!! Susan and Jill came through like no other. I knew I could say to them, "take this job and if there are problems just do whatever makes sense to you." As far as I know, there were no problems. Truly a stress free day, what a great celebration for Emma and Sierra.

cello cookies

This may sound strange but these were my pride and joy...edible cellos. My cookie artist, Angie lives in Branson, MO. She shipped 5 dozen (plus an extra 2 doz just in case) cookies and only ONE was cracked. Angie Foley, a sister of a dear friend does this for fun. I paid her but no where the amount she could have charged. Thank you Angie for your attention to detail and amazing gift.

hmm, hanging out at the donuts

we had a great turn out

Our party was from 11am-2pm and between the two families we had a constant stream of guests. My estimation is about 325-350 people came through. That's a testament to our sweet girls!

thank you susan

reagan and friends who helped set up

Reagan had 3 friends show up early to help blow up balloons and hang signs in the neighborhood. What great kids! Obviously Reagan had to be there but Katie, Grace and Aaliah were just good friends. Thanks girls!

On a more somber note, almost exactly six years ago my sweet Aunt Delma died. This lady loved her nieces and nephews more than anything else. She told her everyone, even strangers she met on a walk all about me, my brothers and my cousins in Seattle. Once we all had kids, she had more loved ones to brag on. Oh how I miss my aunt! She cared about whatever I cared about. She was interested in my life. She was excited to learn about my husband and girls. Aunt Delma would be so proud of Emma and all she her accomplishments and dreams. I love you and will see you again one day.

So HAPPY GRADUATION PARTY day to you Emma! You are worth all the work. We love you and are so proud of you. Just a few more senior events then off to graduation, Europe and then the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Much love!

Lights On A Tree

Christmas brings me such joy. It's not the gifts however I enjoy giving. It's not the cold December weather for sure! It's not just the decorations although Christmas lights bring out my inner child. Christmas music is pretty great but sometimes I need silence. My joy comes from something so much bigger, it's that tiny baby boy born 2000 years ago. The story is old and yet still so relevant. Commercially Christmas has become something of glitz and glamour and too often about what we can get. Hmm... In some strange way maybe, that's just what God meant it to be. His son came to earth as the light of the world, there is no light that shines brighter. And the gift He gave us, well it is all about US. He gave us the gift of life, there is no greater gift.

On December 1st, my daily reading took me to Isaiah 9:6-7. This was the day I got excited about Christmas. I instantly grabbed my phone to find Handel's Messiah on YouTube. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Start at minute 35 to hear the passage I am talking about. 1:50:39 the Hallelujah Chorus begins ) Can't you just hear the choir singing those words with the symphony playing at full strength? I'm getting goosebumps right now!

Now back to my title, "Lights on a Tree!" The decorating has begun, below you will find a sample of what's going on at the Raabe household. 

My skinny tree

The big family tree

Love this Nativity

Our New Advent Calendar

Tree on the front porch

My old wreath that really needs some TLC

Here is Emma taking down the first envelop of the new Advent Calendar. It's very different from what we have done in the past. December 1 was not what they expected, a revamped cell phone contract. And I quote Emma, "this advent calendar sucks!" Ha I promise it has gotten better. I consider cell phones to be the gift that keeps on giving. We should all recognize the blessing and gift that they are. :)

Let me challenge you to seek the joy in December rather than allowing stress to weigh you down. you don't have to buy expensive gifts and you don't have to travel to every family member's celebration this Christmas. Keep it simple and remember Jesus is the one and true reason we celebrate Christmas. He knows your struggles and He loves just the same. Praise God for His love of all mankind!

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the gov't will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6-7