Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Jesus!! Hope everyone has a great day with their family and friends! Remember the reason for the season! I thank God everyday for sending His Son! Have a great day everyone!

Much love this day,

The Janzens

Another tradition...

 Every year we pick a song that we all agree on. It is usually our Christmas song of the year. We each submit a few ideas and then listen to them. We sometimes get the same song, just sung by two different people. Last years winner was Faith Hill's "A Baby Changes Everything." This year we had a few good submitions but we all agreed on Andrea Bocelli's "I Believe." I think the line in this song that got us was "Find the power of your

Faith." That really hit home for all of us. Faith is believing, Faith is what Christmas is all about. If we didn't have our Faith, we wouldn't have anything. I cannot say I am a perfect person. I have flaws and I embrace them. I think we all strive to be better people. Having my Faith, has made me understand so much more then I think I could have without it.

For me growing up, we always went to Church. Sundays and Wednesdays. I loved it. You were always excited to see your friends and hang out. Yeah you had class and church but you just loved being around all your friends. In middle school/high school, you start to get more questions. Why do I believe? Why doesn't everyone believe what I do? Is this the life I really want? I was fortunate to have some amazing teachers and some fantastic people I could turn too. My parents and my family. When I say my family I mean my church family also. I was always surrounded by people that loved me and I loved back and were always there to answer my questions. I had quite a few great people that helped my through situations and even misunderstandings. Through my 20's I think I have really figured out so much. I am not done learning. I will never be done. But here are a few things that I know, for me, that I need.

1) God. Daily prayer and reading His word, has done wonders for me. Especially recently. Yesterday for instence. I read about 2 hours just about trials and tribulations and how to overcome and get through them. It's amazing to have one Book to help solve or show you so many things. I am thankful that I can do this freely and that even though I do have friends that don't believe, I can still let my light shine through. Yes, I do have friends that aren't the greatest of Christians. At times, I may not be either. But that is the beauty of it. I know I can always ask for forgiveness, work on whatever it is that has been effecting me and move on. I do not believe I can keep doing the same things over and over and ask for forgiveness. I obviously wouldn't be listening. I am just thankful for a forgiving yet jealous God. He has a right to be jealous. Myself included, I know we may all get caught up in worldy pocessions. I just have to check my self every once in a while. I have my faith and my family. That is all I need

2) Family. The definition of family is: a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head. I look at it as God is the head and we are all living under his roof. My family just isn't my hubby, son, parents, sister and so on. My friends and people I don't even know are my family. I will say I am very blessed with my immediate family. I have a fantastic hubby that is not just my hubby but one of my best friends. We can talk for hours and lose track of time. He is my rock and is still pretty spontaneous! Almost 4 years of marriage we still have dates at least twice a month. I love that man and we are always growing together. Jake. I can't even express the love I have for this child. He makes days to bright! I am so thankful for that child in my life. We have been so blessed with him. I couldn't have asked for a better son!! My parents of course. We have had our ups and downs. I was a teenager at one point! Ha! I can honestly say that are best friends of mine. I can talk to them about anything and feel like...I can't even explain it. It's amazing how far you come from being a teenager till now. I wasn't the worst teenager alive but I still was a little sassy pants! I apologize for that one! I could go on and on, but I won't.

3) Friends. They really should be in the family category but that would make a long point #2. We, as in Michael and myself, have changed a lot over the past 2 years. We are thankful for the friends that have changed with us and saddened by the ones that haven't or that we have lost contact with. We are slowly but surely getting those relationships back that are wanted by the other side. I have also been very fortunate to have a few friends from the past revive and be even stronger then ever. We have also met a crew of new friends that make life so joyful and a blast! We have the same interests and beliefs. We are just very thankful for everything God has blessed us with in this category!

4) Jobs. We have been very thankful that both of us have been able to keep our jobs this past year. We have been through friends and even family getting laid off. It's a difficult situation but faith really has kept these people going! Just recently one of our forever great friends just got a job! Bonus is that it's in Des Moines. I know my job just plain stinks sometimes but I just need to have a better attitude about it! Lol! We need to be thankful that we are okay and that we have security in knowing that right now, our jobs are safe!

5) All other! This is a wide category. Mainly because I have written so much already! The spirit of Christmas is running through everyone right now. I think I am most excited that it's the Christ part that is running through our family. Jake is so excited over the birth of baby Jesus. He can't wait to read the Christmas story and he wants to give all his gifts to Jesus! I think it's absolutely precious! He points down the the presents under the tree and says, those are for Jesus. Melts my heart every time. Michael and I never exchange gifts. Our gift is always one another. That gift is never ending and it's one of the most amazing gifts we could ever get. Each year we in a way, we renew the vows we did before every one almost 4 years ago. That is all I need. Gifts are just gifts. I can live without them. My lova and my son...now I can never live without them. I am just very thankful and very blessed!

Well back to the point of this whole blogfest. The song. I will attach the song once I am done typing!

Just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and remember the Christ is the reason for the Season. Gifts are just things, but your Faith and Family are what matters most. I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and if you cannot be with your family, know they love you! Safe travels to anyone that is out on the roads. I know here, it's getting pretty messy!!

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

I Believe

By Andrea Bocelli

One day I'll hear
The laugh of children
In a world where war has been banned.

One day I'll see

Men of all colours
Sharing words of love and devotion.

Stand up and feel
The Holy Spirit
Find the power of your faith.

Open your heart
To those who need you
In the name of love and devotion.

Yes, I believe.

I believe in the people
Of all nations
To join and to care
For love.

I believe in a world
Where light will guide us
And giving our love
We'll make heaven on earth.

I believe in the people
Of all nations
To join and to care
For love.

I believe in a world
Where light will guide us
And giving our love
We'll make heaven on earth.

Yes, I believe.

I believe in the people
Of all nations
To join and to care
For love.

I believe in a world
And giving our love
We'll make heaven on earth.

I believe.

A boy and finally a Girl!!!

In May 2010, we will be gaining two new members of the family! Both sisters are due within a week of each other so it will be an exciting month! My sister found out on Monday that she is having another boy!! Yay! And today Laurel called and in a shocking turn of events...she is having a GIRL!! Finally! The streak has ended! Maybe this will open the door for everyone else to have girls now! lol. I can't wait to spoil her though!! Pink here we come!

Which leads to...when shall we start?! Ha! That is the question.....

Te Amo

Since the Donhowes are here for a month, Chuck wants to learn a new spanish word everyday. Today was Te Amo. I am 99% sure everyone other than Chuck knew what that meant. All in good fun.

Today started my 5 day vacation! WOOO HOOO!! I slept in till 8 and that felt great! Although, I am tired yet again. Never ends. Jake and I played upstairs for a while and then came down to make David breakfast! It was yummy!! Omelets, hash browns, sausages and biscuits! I love days off!!

I finished "The Christmas Sweater" today at nap time! My goodness. If they ever make a movie out of this book, I need to remember to have a box of tissues next to me. Wow. I know people look at it as just another "Christmas Carol" like book. It's deeper than that for me. This actually gets into Family, God and the real reason behind Christmas. It talks about bracing and facing the storms that come your way. Not running away from them or trying to ignore them. It shows that no one is perfect. One thing I really got out of it was, You are your own keeper of your own happiness. You wake up and make the choice of your mood. You do things either with a joyful or hateful heart. You treat people in the way you suppose to or not. You make the decisions that mold your life. No one else. I could go on. It was just a good book for the season! It might have to be a new yearly tradition in the Janzen house!

Only 2 more days till Christmas!! I am so excited!! I don't care about the gifts or any of that jazz. I am so just grateful to have an amazing family, fantastic friends in my life, a wonderful extended family and a sovereign God!

Safe travels to all who is traveling!! God Bless!

Blessed (Happy!)

Today is a great day!! This date, 28 years ago, my amazing hubby was born!! David and him were early but they stuck it out and made it through! I am so very lucky to have both these men in my life!! David brings the sarcasm and the facts out. He is always willing to spend hours talking and is an amazing listener! I am so thankful to have him around!! Of course there is Michael! I love that man more than words can say. I am not one to talk about my lover (lol) 24/7! I appreciate all he does and I am extremely lucky! He may be a kid and a baby at times, but all men are at some point! He is a fantastic father and the most amazing husband a woman could ask for!! I am so very lucky! Happy Birthday Babe! I love you babe! You are amazing babe and you complete me babe! (Sorry, Office inside joke!)

Also today was a happy day!! Jeff got a job!!! Woot Woot! lol. He got an offer and he took it! AND IT'S IN DES MOINES!!! I am so excited!!!! I love their family so much plus Jana is my sister from another mister! I am so excited they are stuck with us for a little longer! We also have some friends returning this week! The Axtells have been gone for a month and that is way too long!! Plus Beth and her babe went traveling down to the big TX for a few days.

Recently we have been feeling extremely blessed with our family and friends. Yes, we have had our fair share of hardships this year, but we are making it through. We do not know what will happen in the future, only God does, but we are smiling and laughing through. I feel so at ease that there are so many people we can go to for concerns and prayer right now! We have so many people in our lives that we can honestly say we love to be with! God has given us some amazing people this year and I am so grateful and thank Him everyday for them!

To our family and friends:

This past year you have all been so amazing to us. I cannot say how much we appreciate the people that have been through this year with us. Each one of you has touched us in a very special way. All the walks, talks, night events, this could go on forever but you get my point! We are just so blessed and extremely thankful!! We look forward to 2010 and what that has for us!! I am sure it will be exciting and loads of fun!

Adventures in holiday travel

Well today started off great! Woke up, got ready, got everything packed, light snow falling...what could go wrong?! We had everything loaded in the car, ready for our trip to SC. Michael gets int he car turns the key and....nothing. Tries again, nothing. Not even a click. Everytime he turns the key though, certain things come to life. The radio would come one, the dome lights would brighten up, and then some gauges would flip to where they were suppose to be. After a half hour of jumping the SUV, it started. We got on the road. We hit 86th street and all the lights and gauges turned off. Talk about scary. By this time the weather wasn't the greatest. It happened 3 more times and each time something wouldn't come back. We got off on Merle Hay and headed to Firestone. I called my parents immediately and they came and picked us up. Our heroes! Now the trip up to SC, not the greatest. I had to drive my parents car. A car, I haven't driven a car....well in a while. Plus my mom, well, she tends to freak out and boss you while you drive. Oh well. We made it, alive.

The rest of the afternoon was spent over indulging and 4th helpings! It was a lot of fun being with the whole family. This is the first time in a while that all grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great grandkids were all able to be together. It was a full house. We did attempt a family photo...that should be interesting to see how those turned out. We just aren't sure what is ahead in the new year for our family. I hope at this time next year, we will be the same. You just never know.

Jake was very good. For not having a nap and with all those people, he was extremely well behaved. That kid always pulls through! He made bank with kisses and gifts! We are so blessed with our family!

On our way home we were able to pick up our car. All fixed! Turns out our battery was dead! All better now!

Only 1 or 2 days of work this week. We will see I guess!

Hi my name is Sarah....

and I am a blog neglector! It has been 10 days since my last blog. I have entered a program and I am now in recovery.

What have we been up to? Well what haven't we been up to would be the best question.

1) All Christmas gifts are bought, wrapped and organized according to the days/places they have to be. Pat on my back for not having to go out this weekend to shop. I had to run to Super Target just for one thing and I was over the moon excited that I didn't have to wait in those crazy lines!

2) I have all of Michael's birthday presents bought and wrapped also! It is extremely hard to get things bought and wrapped when someone is around you almost 24/7. I had to make up errands to run or there were a few times I deliberately forgot an ingredient so he would have to go back. Mean? I think it's ingenious! They are in the back of the tree so he has no idea they are there! Another smart move by myself! Double pat on the back!!

3) Cooking. Baking and cooking. Wowza! I swear we could open a bakery! We invented this new treat and made way too much of it! We took pretzels and dipped them in Andies Mints....talk about being sinful! They are amazingly delicious and you just can't eat one, or five or ten. Today alone I made Nicoles amazing oatmeal caramel bars, a dumpster size batch of puppy chow, caramel bugels, chocolate bars topped with peanut butter, popcorn balls, and a few more. Most of this will be gone in a week! That is what is so sad! We have a few Christmas and parties to dump these off at! Currently I have my pasta salad noodles cooking. Oh the joy of the holidays!

4) Videos. My parents got us a video camera for our early birthday gift! We have spent hours, just hours, or taking useless footage. We did get a few good ones of Jake saying the alphabet and counting to 20 and back from 10! We did get the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" out of him today. I just happen to love that child more than anything! He is so adorable, most of the time!

5) White knuckles. I had a 5 day span of gripping the steering wheel with all my strength to and from work. The interstates weren't too bad but those side streets and Meredith, wow. I really love snow, but I do not like driving in it. I would rather just call in sick. Which leads me to....

6) Work. Bah humbug work! We have been so busy, we just can't catch a break. It's been really getting on my nerves also. It's just upsetting leaving, working your butt off all day, just to have the same amount or even more the next day! Plus they also locked the vacation calendar. I have 2 days left. I emailed my boss 3 times to find out what days, half days, extra hours I could take off. He never said a word back. Then people all around me are switching days so they can take half days, or are getting half days approved, or just calling in sick. It drives me nuts! I put blood, sweat and sometimes tears in that place! So aggravating! I know I am not suppose to care but I do. I just can't follow through with stuff. It's just part of who I am. Sometimes I wish I could care less.

7) Energy. Now that it's starting to get cold, I have 3 rugrats in my house that need to let their energy out. Jake for starters. I usually can get him to dance for about 45 minutes straight and then we play chase around the island in the kitchen for another half hour. He then likes to try to run up and down the stairs with different objects to see how difficult it is to do it. He is odd, I know. We have been doing a lot of crafts. Takes up time and energy! Hawkeye and Zoey. Hawkeye is just frisky. It's the weather. He is a lazy dog but he does get cabin fever. Now, the little one. The trouble maker. The one that is the root of every catastrophe that happens....Zoey. That rat A) really needs a hair cut. B) cannot sit still for more then 2 minutes. She is in the tree or watching the lights twinkle on the tree and then try to attack them. She is unwrapping gifts by digging at them. She is standing right underneath you at every move you make while cooking. Just waiting for you to drop something. I usually drop it on her. Then Hawkeye licks it off. She is just everywhere in everything. Not only does she have the cat on her payroll, I swear she has hired Jake and Hawkeye. The 4 of them....man, watch out if they have a plot against you!

8) Reading. I have been all over the place. I am in three books right now. Two of them I have read before. I am in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince again. I think it's because we just bought the movie and it irritates me a little. I still can't get over the death of -------------. (For people who don't know, I won't ruin it for you.) I just feel like maybe a few more minutes could have been added for it. I am also reading Eclipse again. Yes, yes, yes...I need to go to therapy. It's fine. It's my favorite book. I think seeing New Moon didn't help either! The third I have to take breaks from. It's emotionally exhausting! The Christmas Sweater. It's a very good book and it is great for this holiday/winter season. It really makes you think and figure out what is important in life. Man though, I have to bring tissues every time I read it!

Well that is all the things we have been up to! We have already attended two Christmas parties and have a few more to go. We also will have everyone back soon from TX and OK so we can have our "holiday" party. Beth says no ugly sweaters...I say yes!