what a weird holiday

our Christmas card photo

the Christmas card that was never printed or sent

You probably want a rundown of the last couple of months, hmmm? We went to Disneyland Thanksgiving weekend and then dropped off the face of the planet for the holidays. The end. Not really, although that is what it feels like. The story is that I got sick on Thanksgiving weekend and have been sick ever since. I won't go into all that entails, but the highlights are: 3 ER visits, multiple doctors who don't seem to know anything, being in bed for over a month, an ear infection, hypoglycemia attacks, asthma, some terrible respiratory virus, laryngitis, and lots of other fun things. We think that the doctors have diagnosed everything that needs to be maintained with rest, meds, etc, although it will be a few weeks before we can tell if it's all working. I am starting to get some energy back and was able to go shopping for a bit one day this week and was also able to go to church yesterday. It will take a while to get back to a normal energy level because I am still healing and my body is still very weak from being sick for so long. It has not been a fun couple of months, but the Lord has encouraged me through friends and family and His Word. Even though I lapse back into discouragement here and there, I know that He is being faithful and I can trust Him through it all.

So if you wondered what we did for the holidays- I layed in bed, made an appearance at our family Christmas Eve Eve, layed in bed some more, and then went to the ER Christmas morning with a hypoglycemia attack. We got home around 1, opened presents as a family, and then I layed in bed again. It was a bizarre holiday and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. David and I have agreed that when I am totally well, we are going to celebrate Christmas in our little house- whether that be in February or March. I'm looking forward to it because I love Christmas and was very bummed to not be able to decorate, look at Christmas lights, cook, wrap presents, go on Christmas dates, and all the other fun Christmasy things.

So there you have it- the holiday update. You are all updated and I'll continue to update you as I heal. We appreciate your prayers as things can be tough even in the healing process. I am ready to be 100% well, but know it will take time and I may relapse if I push myself too much. So yes, prayers are welcome. Happy January!

thanks, disneyland

Happy December! I don't know where November went, but apparently it's gone. David and I went to SoCal with his family for Thanksgiving and then we all went to Disneyland for 2 days. It was fun even though David and I were getting sick, and are now full-blown sick. You probably need to see some pictures to be convinced we had fun though, right? Okay then- check out all THIS fun.

Splash Mountain protection... prior to not getting our photo because we were told by Splash Mountain officials that it was inappropriate. We were flashing some gang signs, throwing the bird, and standing half out of the log, so what? Just kidding! We still have no idea what was inappropriate because no one was doing anything inappropriate and they wouldn't tell us what it was. It was pretty weird.

The Ower brothers are all just little kids at heart.

Photo op with our nephew, Sam. He turns 6 today!

A fraction of the Ower family waiting around trying to decide what to do, who will go where, and when we will meet again. 

Curbside at California Adventure

We're all 3-D. Can you tell? Those are our intense 3-D stances.

Check out Bert's expression and stance and then David's. Classic.

Some more Uncle David and Sam love.

David loves to take these random shots. And I love to make these random faces.

The Ower girls and an Ower-girl-to-be

Disneyland Christmas magic fireworks explosion!

See? It was FUN!

Christmas Highlighted

This year we had another family-filled Christmas. Christmas Eve Eve was spent with the Mittelstadts, Christmas Eve was spent with the Owers, and the schedule for Christmas morning was us, Owers, then Mittelstadts. Add church Christmas parties on top of family Christmas parties- and we are pooped! We have this weekend to take a deep breath before heading to San Francisco with the CCHealdsburg Highschoolers for a homeless outreach trip, returning on Friday and leaving on Saturday for Maui with the Mittelstadts, returning on Saturday and leaving on Sunday for Murrietta to attend the 2008 Calvary Chapel Youth Worker's Conference. We'll be back January 18th. January is going to fly by. But I won't dismiss Christmas so quickly. I want to share some of my highlights with you.

My Christmas Highlights
by, Heidi Ower

Surprise from David #1> When I finished wrapping presents on Christmas Eve, I went to the bedroom and found a big bow sitting on my side of the bed. David had stolen the biggest bow in my bow pile earlier and said it was a "finishing touch". When I saw it, I produced a tired laugh and said, "You put the bow on my side of the bed- funny." Then I plopped my sore bum onto the bed- sore from riding bikes earlier in the day- and hit a mattress harder than I was used to. I didn't realize it at first. I did some stream of consciousness talking... "This feels harder than usual... it feels different... is this a different mattress?... this is new!" When I reached the correct conclusion, David explained that is was a Christmas present for us. When we got married, we got a used mattress from a furniture salesman of ours and neither of our backs have loved it- but our Tempur-pedic is getting along quite nicely with our backs... and my sore bum.

Surprise from David #2> Earlier in November or December, David and I took a little tour of the Healdsburg square stores. (They have the most fabulous boutiques.) We went into an eccentric-looking jewelry store and I, of course, found a number of things I loved. My greatest love was a line of jewelry called Silver Seasons by Michael Michaud. The jewelry sets are all carbon copies of flowers and plants made with precious metals and various stones or pearls. Christmas morning David told me he had an order I had to open my presents in. I opened them one by one and ended up at the last- a big square present. I opened the box and found a shoe box inside, inside the shoe box was another box, and inside was a floral jewelry box. I had no idea what was in it because I hadn't asked for any nice jewelry for Christmas- but when I opened it, I found my own Silver Seasons wisteria necklace and pearl earrings.

David picked them out himself and did a wonderful job. They are my favorite of the collection. What a thoughtful husband I have. : )

Pigs> Every year we play a white elephant gift game on Christmas Eve with the Owers. Everyone is supposed to bring 2 or more gifts. We sit in a circle and pass around a pair of dice and if you roll a double- you get to grab a gift from the middle. Last year I was rolling doubles left and right, but this year I didn't roll a single double in the first round (the first round goes until all the presents in the middle are taken). Jamie had mercy on me and gave me one of her gifts. In the last round, if you roll a double you can steal a present from anyone else. Almost the entire last round, I was doubleless. I think in the last minute and a half, I rolled 3 doubles. Once the game was over, we opened our presents and I actually made out pretty well! I got a pair of earrings (David got them, but they weren't his color), Pass the Pigs (a game I have actually been wanting to buy), and a couple of other things that have left my memory. Anyway- I'm really excited to take Pass the Pigs to Hawaii with us! Who knew that Eric's white elephant gift would be one of my Christmas highlights. Thanks, Eric!

I have more highlights where those came from (my brain), but I'll stop at those three because this post is getting long. Maybe you'll be blessed with a Highlights Part 2 before we leave... probably not, but I'll see if I can get David to share some of his Christmas highlights with you.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!