Christmas Guests

Guess who is behind those neat police clothes and cool police gear?


Don't want to mess with this cop!!



Another guest over the holidays was Brook. She belongs to Phil's brother David and we kept her at our house while they enjoyed Mexico!! Savannah liked giving her treats.

Some Christmas videos

Merry Christmas

For the first Christmas in a long time, maybe ever, we spent the day just the 7 of us. My parents had just been here in October, and they spent Christmas in Ohio with my sister. We saw Phil's dad the day before Christmas and we had plans to see Phil's mom shortly after Christmas.

We debated inviting another family over, but in the end decided to keep it nice and quiet after our adventurous few days.

Here we all are in our Christmas jammies. I think I was the only one to change into other clothes before the day was over. NICE!

We started the day with stockings. Savannah loved her electric toothbrush.

Next we enjoyed a wonderful family breakfast of caramel rolls, hash brown egg casserole, fruit and yogurt.

No elbows on the table!

After breakfast, we finished reading Luke's account of the Christmas story from the Bible, then we opened gifts under the tree.

A big year for books. Nothing wrong with that! Phil likes to get a special book for each child each year. He always writes a special message to each one of them on the inside cover. Pretty soon we'll need a 3rd double bookcase.

We also love games. Here are a few of the fun ones we look forward to playing over break.

And of course some toys for the little ones. What?! Two pianos? Those must have come from Grandparents that aren't around to enjoy the music......

We also added some new DVD's to our collection. We decided to watch UP as a family on Christmas morning. It was a great movie with a suburb story line! Definitely worth the wait to enjoy it as a family.

Timothy and Phil took a quick snooze during the afternoon.

We had a fun time playing In a Pickle!

Phil bought Timothy The Dangerous Book for Boys. GREAT!

Allie enjoys wrapping up in her cozy blanket made for her by Aly S.

Sarah read some excerpts from a special Christmas memory book.

Savannah was excited to give her baby a bath. Thanks, Pier family!

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

A Hubert family tradition is to celebrate the significance of Christmas day by making a birthday cake for Jesus. We are teaching our children that this holiday is not about presents, Santa or parties -- but about the birthday of a KING - our King!

However, we do celebrate with parties and presents, but first and foremost the focus is on the greatest gift of all - Jesus; Born in a manger, died on a cross, risen from the grave and COMING AGAIN!!



Making the cake.


Savannah enjoys licking the spatula.


Allie was the official candle lighter. I think she finally lit a match before they were all gone.

It's been a very long day and this little party girl is ready for bed!

Listen to the kiddos sing Happy Birthday Jesus!

Christmas Eve

We arrived in town with enough time to unload the Yukon, change clothes and load back up for Christmas Eve service at church. It was a blessing to be with our church family and sing songs anticipating the arrival of King Jesus as a humble baby.

After the service we spend the evening with the Szymczak family enjoying buffalo roast, beans, chips, veggies and snacks.




Thanks to Pete's mom for snapping this family picture.

Before going to bed on Christmas Eve, we all opened one gift -- not a huge surprise -- Christmas jammies. Phil was thrilled with his Chicago Bears flannel pants, Timothy with his spider man jammies and the girls with their new jammies and slippers.

Please don't make us take another picture!

On Thursday afternoon we hung out with Wayne and Sandy for awhile and the kids opened their Christmas presents.

We tried 5 times to get a picture of Grandmas and Grandpa with the kiddos. Here are 5 pictures -- you pick your favorite!

A Little House on the Prairie Adventure

The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Our plans: Drive from Casper on Wednesday to Denver to watch the Little House on the Prairie musical. (More about that in a moment)

God's plans: Winter storm forecasted, leave Casper on Tuesday night.

Our plans: Jodi, Grandma Sandy, Allie, Sarah and Lindsay attend the musical while Phil, Timothy and Savannah stay in Laramie with Wayne.

God's plans: Sandy prefers that Phil drive on icy roads and she stay in Laramie with wee ones.

Our new plans: Drive to Denver Tuesday night, stay in hotel, get up on Wednesday, go to musical, drive back to Laramie same night.

God's plans: Really bad weather and roads so we stopped in Wellington and canceled hotel reservation in Denver.


Wednesday morning: A family pose at the hotel in Wellington, CO before leaving for Denver.



Standing near Buell Theatre. Yes, it was a tad bit chilly!!


The first restaurant we spotted was the one we picked. It was a fun diner with excellent food! Even better, we were in and out in less than an hour.



Allie with her Dad.


***One of our family's all time favorite thing to do is watch Little House on the Prairie. I grew up watching almost every episode on Monday nights on prime time. (Yes, prime time has changed a bit in the last 25 years!) Our children have all 9 seasons on DVD and they are well-loved, well-used and well-lent out to friends.

When we heard that a Little House musical was coming to Denver with none other than Melissa Gilbert (the actress who played Laura in the television series) starring in the role of Ma, I really wanted to go. We decided to give the tickets to the girls for a early Christmas present and made plans to attend the musical at the December 23 matinee.

Sitting at the restaurant, I shared with the girls that I had met Melissa Gilbert when I was about their age while ice skating in Sun Valley, Idaho. They never realized what a cool mom they had :)!

The musical was amazing. Another very special treat was realizing that Melissa Gilbert's son in real life was playing the part of Willie. We laughed, we cried (at least I did), and we had a very special trip together as a family. *****

A picture with mom at the musical -- Little House on the Prairie.

I so wish I could have taken pictures or video of the production, but that was strictly prohibited. Here is a picture of the program instead.....

...and a picture with dad.


Our plans: Drive back to Laramie, hang out with Wayne and Sandy and see little ones.

God's plans: The snow had fallen steadily all day and by the time we got north of Denver, the winds had started to pick up. When we heard that the road to Laramie was closed, we resigned ourselves to another hotel stop along the way. This time we found a room in Loveland near outlet stores and many restaurants. Since Wayne told us that Timothy and Savannah were doing fine and they didn't even miss us, we decided to relax and make the most of the situation.

We enjoyed a great meal at Johnny Carino's, more swimming and finished off the evening watching part of The Nativity Story in the hotel room.



Phil and I actually enjoying a hot dinner without the toddlers present :).

As I reflect back on the trip I realized we spent a little more time and a little more money than originally anticipated, but in the process we took a few more pictures and made a few more memories. For that I am thankful.

The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Little House on the Prairie link.

Here is a link to the site. If the musical is near your city -- buy some tickets now!

http://littlehousethemusical.com/

Thanks goodness for washable markers....

Seriously.

I leave the room for 4 minutes and I return to this masterpiece.

Too late to stop it, so better blog about it!





"But it matches my shirt, Mom."



"And look. Here is some on the floor."

Priceless.

Art, Music, and Jalapenos!

Some great friends of ours, the Szymczak's, began a new adventure in homeschooling this year similar to ours with Allie. Their grandma teaches them art once per week, and we were thrilled to be invited to a combination piano recital and art show.


Aly (friend of my Allie) stands proudly in front of some of her artwork.



Relatives and friends enjoyed the piano recital given by Carolyn Rodgers featuring Blake, Aly and Jessi.



Jessi and Lindsay are all smiles!

Savannah and her most favorite Mommy!!!

The party and fellowship after the "serious" stuff.

Ah, yes. The jalapeno portion of this post.....

Brenda decided to try out a new recipe for Ham and Corn Chowder. Good thing we decided to put only one small can of jalapenos in it. The expression on her face was priceless when I asked her if she had tasted the soup yet. As she did, her eyes got huge and her cheeks turned a bit pink!!! But nothing a little extra milk and sour cream couldn't fix. In fact, it was down-right delicious!! (Can I get that recipe???)

This entrance by Jessi is so cute, especially toward the end when Savannah repeats her name.

Jillybean

From her web site:

Jillybean has performed music and gospel illusions for over two decades. Now God has broadened her ministry! As a missionary to bikers and prisoners, Jillybean takes the love of Jesus across America AND still ministers to church groups worldwide. Energetic, encouraging and inspiring, she communicates God's truths with fun and laughter.


After first meeting Jill at an AWANA leadership conference, our commander asked her to come to Casper for a special Christmas presentation. She agreed and the kids roared with laughter at her songs and skits.



Timothy had an ear-to-ear grin most of the evening.


Especially when she lit a fire in the sanctuary!

Some videos of her songs and illusions: