A Welcomed Distraction

As you can imagine and you might have even experienced, when something traumatic is going on in your life, sometimes it is best to stay busy, so as not to dwell on the what-ifs. All of last week, our days were inundated with medical screenings and scans. However, several weeks ago, we made plans with Brian's family for them to come to our home for Christmas Eve fun. After we got "the news", I didn't really stop. In fact, even the day before my PET scan, when I was supposed to be taking it easy, I didn't stop. I painted and stained in our bedroom and bathroom. I think that's the opposite of taking it easy. I just couldn't let my mind have the luxury of wandering.

Anyway, that's a long explanation for why having Brian's family over was a wonderful distraction. The night before and the day of our little party, I literally did not sit down. I'm a worker bee by nature, anyway, but this was exceptional. I wrapped gifts, baked cookies, planned games, cleaned the house, made the dinner. It was an undertaking, but it was wonderful to have a project to keep my mind occupied.

And, without further ado.... Here are some photos from the evening.

This is Brian's sister, Erin, and her husband Joe. They are a wonderful couple and a delight to be around. I love to listen to their dreams and aspirations. They have an authentic heart for the Lord and they are striving to do His will. It's refreshing!

We played a Christmas carol game. These are Brian's parents and his cousin, Alex. We're on the hunt for a wonderful, cute, smart, funny, likeable godly wife for him. Any ideas? :)

The man of my dreams. Truly, I have so much love for this guy. I haven't really been apart from him, at all, since we found out about my recurrence of cancer. God has so graciously given me a man who can make me laugh and calm my fears. His way with me is incredible.

Cookie decorating supplies. Instead of making a dessert, we provided cookies and the supplies to decorate them. When we went to the store, I forgot to get a gingerbread man cookie cutter. So, Brian created a stencil for me and then I cut out each cookie with a knife. Now, that was labor intensive!

Dale is playing Scrabble on his iPhone. It's actually a really fun app.

While we were decorating cookies, it started snowing. Just a little flurry, but it sure was fun to see a little snow on Christmas Eve!

Brian presented his mom with a special Christmas gift, an Obama bobble head.

Brian's mom and sisters. Beautiful women.

A little strategizing during a rousing game of Four on the Couch.

Wally was worn smack out by the end of the evening.

This is our brother-in-law, Josh. We love to give him a hard time about his analytical brain for engineering. In his mind, there is NO gray area.