Happy New Year

Happy New Year Family:

The Givan household had a great Christmas.  Kate was home for the first time in 4 years for the holidays.  We enjoyed doing Streets of Bethlehem together.  Uncle Tim actually made a rather scary Roman soldier.  I was a guide and Kate and Benny ushered.  We are all looking forward to doing it again next year.  Chris arrived home on December 18 and we have been doing many family things.  Granmom joined us for a week around Christmas Day. It was good to spend some time with her also.  Christmas dinner was held at Kate’s new place with Grandma and Grandpa joining us.  It was a very nice time.  Our New Year’s Eve was really rockin.  We watched Disney movies, tasted strawberry daiquiris from Dillons, ate cheese balls and bean dip and toasted the New Year in with sparkling cider.  Since the New Year we have been taking down decorations, cleaning and organizing.  Now for some Christmas items.  First off the Shooks are the winners of guess the Givan CD.  Word on the street is that it was actually “tolerable” this year.  Never fear we are already planning the 2013 CD! 

Givan CD

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year             Chris

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas          Chris

Christmas Wrapping                                              Auntie

We Need a Little Christmas                                  Auntie

My Favorite Time of the Year                               Tim

2000 Miles                                                           Chris

O Come O Come Emmanuel/I wander as I wander           Tim

Leaving Heaven                                                     Kate

The Great Awakening                                            Kate

Mary and Joseph                                                   Kate

It wasn’t his Child                                                  Tim

Rest                                                                       Kate

Easier                                                                    Auntie

Faith of our Fathers                                               Tim

Holy, Holy, Holy                                                  Auntie

Night Before Christmas                                        Tim

Wish you well                                                      Chris

Going Home                                                       Auntie

I believe in Father Christmas                               Chris

To be with You                                                  Kate

I’ll be Home for Christmas                                 Alll

Who had who for 2012 sock exchange

Vicki had Charles

Tim Shook had Kate

James had Auntie (that lucky guy!)

Hannah had David

Andrew had Tim Givan

Erik had Dan

Samuel had Grandpa

Randy had Sarah

Pamey had James

Sarah had Chris

Dan had Kurtis

Olivia had Randy

Mary had Erik

Kurtis had Samuel

Chas had Aunt Vicki

David had Andrew

Cassi had Hannah

Adelynn had Pamey

Grandma had Olivia

Grandpa had Adelynn

Tim G had Tim S

Auntie had Cassi

Kate had Mary

Chris had Grandma

In closing, here are some pictures from the sock exchange.

December with the Johnston's

We have had quite the wild time over the last month and a half. We had major car issues complete with good news, bad news, and repeat. Our new car will be here in February! We had issues with our new refrigerator, and thanks to some creativity on my Dad’s part, it now fits beautifully in our kitchen. Our Christmas cards disappeared after FedEx reported they had been delivered, only to show up for the first time a week later. After dealing with FedEx and Shutterfly more than I ever care to again, we now have double the Christmas cards! Our water filter was out just in time for the new fridge, and now it is working splendidly. We all took our turns being sick. Adelynn had bronchits, a round of fever and another few days of a cold. Dave got a stomach bug, a nasty sinus thing that finally cleared up (yay, neti pot!) and I had junk a couple of times. My fluid levels were too low with this pregnancy and I had to go back and get them re-checked. That was a long month of waiting, but thankfully, it is all on track now. Everything has worked out for the best, although Bella’s teeth grinding still remains a mystery. Whew! We are looking forward to a New Year!

Dave is enjoying playing basketball again now that the season has started. It was great to have a 4 day weekend with him and we are looking forward to another one this weekend. I am currently working on the Christmas Hangover that has invaded our house and planning to get ready to move and refinish furniture for the baby’s room. This also means that Adelynn gets her new bed, which she knows and keeps asking about… however, after all the car and Christmas festivities, I can say that for the first time in my life, I’m actually dreading shopping, but she needs a bed. We are also trying to come up with a baby girl’s name since we have a boy’s picked out. 9Suggestions welcome!)

Adelynn is lively as ever. On a regular day she will be found in her tutu, carrying her Snoopy and doctor kit, giving check ups and talking up a storm. (My ears are worn out when Dave gets home) She’s been wearing us out with all the activity jumping we have been doing while playing with all the new Christmas toys. My house is still a disaster because of all the playing. It does not bother me like it normally would since I know my time is being better spent :)

I’ve kind of failed on the blogging front lately, but there’s always a good dose of Adelynnisms to keep us laughing out loud (and sometimes stifling it)!

Here’s some pictures:

Remember last year’s visit to Santa? It wasn’t very fun.

This year’s visit was much better! (Complete with more hair!)

 

Happy New Year!

Christmas at the Johnston House

Christmas at the Johnston House

We have been enjoying the Christmas season at our house with lots of decorating, candy making, wrapping and the sending of Christmas cards.

Randy is out on his last week of consulting before Christmas and will start again January 3rd when some of the family goes skiing.

I will be finishing up at school this Friday.  I'm sure the students will be ready sooner than Friday to enjoy the Christmas vacation so it should be an interesting week.  I do not return until January 7th this year.  What a nice break!

We have enjoyed the granddaughters throughout this special time.  The Christmas events to come will be so much fun to see through their eyes! 
We are also anxiously awaiting the birth of the next grandchild.

Below are some of our Christmas activities for this season.  Have a Blessed Christmas as we celebrate Christ's birth!

Christmas Parade -Nov. 17, 2012- Hutchinson Municipal Band

Fun with Uncle Dan after Olivia's birthday celebration.

The granddaughters did a wonderful job of decorating at Great-grandma and Great-grandpa's house!

Our "Big" tree!

Precious Moments Nativity

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care!

Outside Peanuts Nativity

Outside Nativity - The Reason for the Season.

Peanuts decoration that Randy grew up with(remade several years ago).

Here comes Santa Claus......

Clara is home for the holidays and enjoying the back yard.

Our newest decoration.

 

A New Apartment and First Christmas Home

Well, things are once again changing in my life. Ben and I are moving into our new apartment here in Hutchinson. In case you are interested our address will be 720 North Main Apartment 402 Hutchinson KS 67501. I still love mail and I'm getting better at answering back so feel free to send me some mail.

I love my little apartment. It is in The Hutchinson Lofts which was formerly Grace Hospital which is where Grandpa was born. About a year ago they completely renovated the building and made it into housing. Each apartment is different and has a lot of character. My apartment is two bedrooms and has a cute little living room. The first thing in my apartment was a thrifted couch and my (fully decorated) Christmas tree. I'm excited because we will be celebrating Christmas day at my apartment.

It feels important to mention here that this will be my first holiday out of treatment in four years. I was able to come home for one day in 2009 when I was at Laureate's eating disorder program but I have very few memories from that time. In 2010 I was in Utah at The Center for Change and in 2011 I was in Washington DC at a trauma program. I'm so excited to be home and to experience all of the season. I am appreciating the traditions, the lights, the trees, seeing all of you, hanging stockings, helping out at church's Street's of Bethlehem and for the first time decorating my own home.

The main reason I have managed to stay out of treatment (as this is a hard time of year for me) is of course Benny. Ben has been amazing. Our bond has continued to grow. We now move seamlessly through crowds whereas before it took a lot more forethought.  He reads my emotions easily and comforts me without asking. His grounding presecene and the love he offers me everyday has allowed me to continue to function.

Speaking of Ben we faced our first act of discrimination. A retreat I wanted to go to would not allow me to come because I have Ben. I plan on writing them a letter and also reporting them to the department of Justice. Ben has made me quite fierce.

Let's see....nothing much else to report. I am participating in a photo challenge where I take a different themed picture of Ben (or one of the girls) every day for the month of December. If you are interested check out that album here. I'll update it everyday.

Love,
Kate and Ben

And now for a few pictures. :)

And the tree is up in the apartment! 

Ben and I in our apartment 

Ben and Adelynn have become quite good friends

Ben visits Santa (November 2012)