Christmas Railcar

Last weekend we rode the railcar by Lake Harriet - it was ALL LIT UP for Christmas. We had to wait for 45 minutes to get on this 15 minute ride, but this was fine for a number of reasons: we had just done an advent reading about all the waiting for Jesus to come to earth and all the waiting for him to come back again; the Boyscouts were selling cookies and hot cocoa and we partook; there was a lovely high school choir singing carols; Theo happily slept in his carseat for most of the wait; and anticipation multiplies final enjoyment. 

Waiting. See the purple lights in the background? That's the train coming back!

On the train!!!

Even this small person in his carseat knew something very special worth waiting for was being fulfilled:

This Santa was a funny one. We celebrate Jesus at Christmas but we are not offended by Santa. So when he chortled on up declaring, "Santa's going to photo-bomb that one!" we laughed quietly and Lukas looked away. See the top of Theo's head? He was there too. It was quite cold so he stayed in the carseat the whole time.

All those lights on the left are the train-car. All the lights on the right are the waiting station. There were tealights in white bags lit up all along the tracks, and green red and purple trees all along the way also. This year I'm not doing a Christmas tree, but I am putting lights on everything I possibly can, so I was into the light theme. 

Our Work is Play.

Sporting the softest onesie in the world, from Auntie Ann:

A recent favorite game is "shopping". Lukas got a cash register for his birthday. He isn't 3 yet, but we had the party and this was one of the presents he's spent hours with this week. Here he is calling Bob to ask whether there are any alligators available in back. 

Jesse came with us to meet Daniel on his way home from work. We walked up 11th towards the river since Daniel bikes home via the river. We killed a little time at the park.

A Picnic at the Zoo in Late November!!

Last week it was very nice outside, so we were out as much as possible. Outside is good recovery-therapy for traumatized mothers.

We Are Glad That Lukas Likes to Read.

One of our favorite together activities is reading a good book. We are glad that Lukas also likes to read, and we hope Theo will too. So far he just likes to eat the books. 

Many times I've seen Elias reading to Maia. It is a beautiful sight. Sometimes Lukas wants to read to Theo. This is also a beautiful sight. 

We Are Glad That Theo is Ok.

Last Saturday Theo was complaining of lots of pain. He is very tough so we listen when he complains. In the ER we found out he had Intestinal Intussuseption - his intestines slid up inside themselves. Two of our nurse friends have since declared, "That's a BIG deal." God did lots of kind things during this scary thing:

- He helped us know to take Theo in.

- He helped the doctor to know what was wrong, it was her first guess after examining him!

- He helped the nurses get the IV in. This was the scariest part for Theo's parents. We cried. It took 7 times and 4 nurses and lots of fears about the unknowns if it did go in and the unknowns if it didn't go in.

- He helped the Radiologist to do his job well and fix the problem without having to go into surgery. Theo's mama hugged him.

- He healed Theo's body and it hasn't come back as it sometimes likes to do.

Here is the happy baby after the successful procedure and nursing after 7 hours of crying and sleeping and not wanting to eat:

Here is that baby still happy the next day: