Wow

I didn't realize it has been such a long time since I posted! I still don't have time to write anything-I need to go to sleep! Just a couple of Christmas pictures being posted.

the guy in the red suit - take 2

It's that time of year again. Where the stores, our tvs, children's thoughts are taken over by the guy in the red suit, yep, santa. I feel the need to post about this again because he is everywhere and it is truly a shame.

I don't think our families were very excited when we told them santa would not be welcome in our house anymore. I mean, we grew up with santa and it was fun for a few years, so I understand how it is hard for people to understand.

I seem to be hearing of more people getting rid of santa and focusing on Jesus. This makes me very happy, and I 100% believe that this makes our Lord and Savior very happy too.

But while I'm hearing about more people giving santa the boot, I still also hear people saying (when they find out we or someone else is not "doing" santa)"well, as long as your kids don't ruin it for mine" or "well, as long as your kids don't tell mine" - tell them what? The TRUTH? It's a horrible delimma for those of us who want our children to grow up with complete focus on Jesus-no sharing.

But guess what? We, the ones who don't invite santa into our homes, typically raise our children to be respectful of what others do in their homes about the not-real santa. But we can't guarantee they won't speak the truth, because after all, they are raised to tell the truth.

However, last night at Church in RA's (the boys group) some kids started talking about how santa isn't real and the teachers were getting on to them to not ruin it for the kids who believe. WHAT? Cade told me he did not get involved in it even though santa is NOT real. So you see, people who are worried about OUR kids telling your kids the truth and ruining Christmas, you need to be more worried about the kids who believed then found out the truth, because they are the ones who will be telling your kids the truth more often than not.

I don't judge anyone for using santa (we did with Cade, but our hearts changed) and most of my close friends use santa but those of us who don't are getting tired of hearing, "your kids better not ruin it for my kids, etc".

For us, as we try to completely focus on Jesus and to enjoy giving more than receiving, it's hard to explain why we need "Angel Trees" if there is supposedly a santa and it's hard to explain why we need to send boxes of presents to children in other countries. Why does santa not give to the orphans? Really? Are we going to lie about that?

Do I believe that you can do santa and your children still learn what Christmas is really about? You bet! One of my best friends' daughter put on her Christmas wish list - water, food, and money to give to the Sweet Sleep mission fund at our Church (to build beds for kids in orphanages). That kid GETS IT! and they do santa.

We don't do santa, you do-the world hasn't fallen apart. Let's be a little more tolerant of each other during this Christmas season, showing God's love, being a light to others and focusing on the reason for this beautiful season.

Christmas 2010

Some pictures from Christmas. We had Christmas without Santa this year and it was a huge success! The kids were still enchanted by the presents and excited about the day. Jenna never mentioned Santa, not once. She did a couple of weeks before Christmas. We had already decided we would neither confirm nor argue about the truth. There was already a small "belief" there and we would simply change the conversation after saying something like "you think so?". Our lives never missed a beat and they missed out on nothing. Even with Santa everywhere, I thought it was amazing how little it was brought up in our house. Every commercial had Santa in it because he is the marketing tool of the Christmas season and the only thing Jenna would say was, "that's Santa". We still watched "Santa" movies and "rudolph"-they are just movies with fake characters as are all other movies. It was never an issue. If you don't make it an issue, then it doesn't become one.

We didn't make a "happy birthday Jesus" cake-maybe one year we'll start doing that. My mom's birthday is Christmas Eve and I just don't want all of that cake in my house! We made a sugar-free cake for my mom (tasted pretty good) and Jenna decorated the whole thing, except for writing the name, but she did tell me what she wanted on there. She was so proud of herself! You'll see a picture below.

Blessings,
Lauree

3 years ago today......

Jenna officially became a Solberg. We spent Christmas in Chongching, China with 2 other wonderful families-the Woods and Apgers. It's so very hard for me to believe we have had Jenna for 3 years now.

What started as a 6-9 month journey dragged on to a 2-year journey to our sweet little girl. We were tested time and time again. We were in the midst of an "unpredictable adoption" in the international adoption world. It was difficult and depressing and stressful to say the least. There is no way to accurately express my feelings during that time-now. I did blog about those feelings in my first blog Journey 4 Jenna. Countless times my heart was broken and so many tears shed. Never before had I experienced such an emotional roller coaster.

But in the midst of this roller coaster, of this unpredictable journey-the one thing I truly, truly learned is that our God is steadfast in His love for us. God will not take away our roller coasters, he will not take away the stress, the unpredictability but what He will do is carry us through. I learned about Trust in my Savior during that remarkable 2-year journey. I learned to lean on Him and I learned to give it all to Him. I could not handle my emotions by myself during that time and thankfully I didn't have to.

As tomorrow approaches, the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, I am in awe at the blessings He has bestowed on my family and especially me-a wonderful, loving husband and 3 of the most amazing children. That He would trust me to raise them and love them is humbling.

Do you know my Jesus? It's not hard. He wants you to choose Him, He loves you, He died on the Cross for you. Have you asked Him into your heart? Do you believe He sent His one and only Son to die on the Cross for your sins (for my sins) and that if you believe in Him and that He did this you would have eternal life? Your life will change. You can not reach your full potential without Him. I am always amazed when I think back on my life before I asked Him into my heart and the way my life is now. I thank God for His Son and tomorrow we will celebrate His day of birth.

As for today, we celebrate the unity of our family.

Merry Christmas and May God Bless you!

Love to all!
Lauree

Christmas and other activities

A few pictures from Christmas and other days. I'm not sure how to write something below the picture or label it. There are some that I absolutely adore. Jenna on "Cade's" beanbag that she claimed for her self. Jenna and Cade together. Cade with his new guitar and Jeff. Jenna with her glasses, purse and cell phone-this was not a posed picture-it was a gift from Cade and she puts them on constantly. Yesterday morning our phone was ringing and she found her cell phone and answered it saying "lo"-too cute. She also said "I love you" to me on New Year's night when she went to bed. I almost started crying. Of course it was more like "I wuh uuu"-but I just said it to her and she said it back.