Abundantly Blessed: Albuquerque Celebrations

At the end of December, our family took another road trip (our 3rd in four months!) to Albuquerque for Christmas. While there, we had a variety of reasons to celebrate.

Our first celebration was simply in the fact that we survived another 15-hour journey in the car with 2 little toddlers, through ice & blowing snowstorms. Yowza! :) We certainly thank God for His protection along the way. Cody and Jaden actually traveled quite well. At each gas station stop, Mommy would allow the boys to climb around in the car while Daddy was pumping gas.

Jaden was all smiles to be out of his carseat.

Cody loved pretending to be the driver.

We arrived in Albuquerque a few days after Kim's birthday, so the family threw a belated party for her to celebrate the wonderful gift that she is to us.

Since Kim celebrated her 35th birthday, Mom and Dad decided upon a "Halfway to Heaven" themed party, based on Psalm 90:10, "The length of our days is seventy years..."

Of course, we all pray that Kim is nowhere near her halfway point of life yet-- the theme was simply a fun, unique way to celebrate 35. Mom creatively baked half of a German chocolate cake,

while artsy, talented Sarah was in charge of all the decorations. Doesn't it look beautiful?

Following a yummy stir-fry dinner, Ian helped his Momma blow out her birthday candles.

Then, the adults moved on to some halfway-themed games. First, teams of couples took turns completing a few word games (Take Two, Boggle, and completing a crossword puzzle) half at a time. Next, the couples filled in words for a Mad Libs story on the supposed second half of Kim's life.

Jason had written a very creative Mad Libs story, and it was hilarious to read the stories aloud with the couples' bizarre words added in.

Finally, we ended the night with a Wheel of Fortune-type word game. The couples each took turns filling in letters for words that described Kim.

Once the words were correctly guessed, we shared how Kim has made an impact upon our life through the words that we chose.

What a blessing to be able to celebrate this special occasion for our special sister. You are a wonderful, creative, thoughtful & caring woman of God, Kimbo. Happy Birthday! We love you!!

A few days later, Amy's good friend Tyler joined us for lunch and some games. She was also celebrating a December birthday, so we sang to her and enjoyed some more cake!

You are such a ray of sunshine in our lives, Tyler. Happy birthday to a wonderful friend!

Another reason to celebrate our time in Albuquerque was simply having all 13 of us together under one roof. The last time the Walquist side had all been together was Thanksgiving of 2012, so we were excited for some quality family-time. Mom and Dad worked out the sleeping & eating arrangements so that our stay could be smooth and comfortable. We barely still fit around one table -- talk about some active meals! :)

As always, though, the most important reason to celebrate the Christmas season is the birth of our Savior Jesus. We loved worshiping Him together as a family at Immanuel. All the little ones dressed up in their Christmas-best for the Christmas Eve service. Grammy gave each one of her grandchildren their very own (battery-powered) candles for the special candle-light service. It was a perfect way to keep them attentive. All 5 kiddos made it through the whole evening service!