He heard us.

Last week something amazing happened and I wanted to share it.

Things have been pretty tight for us financially for the past while, as many people can relate to. Its not an easy time of life but its a common one for most people to go through at some point. We tightened the budget, made some changes, and just kept trucking along. We've been hanging in there.

The kiddos and I were sitting down for lunch when a car pulled up to the house. A lady I've never seen got out and was holding a present. She walked up to our door and motioned to me through the window. I opened the door to see that she had left the present on our door mat and was already heading back to her car. She turned and said "Merry Christmas!" I answered, "Oh thank you! Merry Christmas to you too!" I turned back inside with the gift and closed the door, thinking the woman must be a neighbor we've never met. I brought the present over to the counter and Lucy and I started to open it. The tag read "To: The Cliff Family." We opened it up and sitting in a box filled with paper was a red envelope. The envelope had a kind note written to our family. I opened it up. Inside was an amazing and generous gift of money. I could not believe it. I looked at the note again. No name. No address. Nothing. Of course the lady was already gone. I started to cry and immediately just whispered "He heard us." You see, Jordan and I have been praying for our finances. Praying that something would happen and something would change. And something did. I believe wholeheartedly that God works through His people. And this is exactly what happened here. God spoke, someone listened, and we were blessed. Not only financially but spiritually. Knowing that we serve a God who hears, cares, and responds and uses His people to do it. We are so blessed to be part of a community who cares.

So, to whoever gave us this incredible gift. Thank you. God used you to speak to us and we heard Him.

Peacock Lane Fail

I love Peacock Lane. I love Christmas lights in general but Peacock Lane is one of my favorites. Its this great street in Southeast Portland where every house on the block does these fantastic light displays. Love it. So last week I rounded up some friends and decided we would do dinner and Peacock Lane one evening with our families. So our friends (who are also neighbors which is awesome) came over for spaghetti and then we bundled up and headed out. I hadn't bothered looking up info on hours or whatever and just assumed we would be good to go. Not so much. We pulled up and the street was dark. I looked at the clock, it was only 730. Weird right? We drove over and noticed a sign. Opens on the 15th. We were 5 days too early. Cue our nervous, embarrassed laughter. I hate being in charge of planning things out of fear that something like this might happen. I hate being responsible! Our friends got out of their car and we rolled down our windows. We looked at each other and just all laughed. I felt terrible. Lucy was not amused. Quick Plan B, hot chocolate.

We found a Starbucks and hurried in. Hot chocolate makes everything ok. The barista said, "Before you get too comfortable, we close in 15 minutes." Of course you do. But it didn't matter. We made those 15 minutes count. You know the kind of friends that are just fun no matter what? Even when you're in the middle of a major fail, they are happy as clams? That is exactly these friends.  Our girls were giggling and our babies were hugging and it was awesome. On our way home we drove Lucy through some neighborhood lights and she was thrilled. It was no Peacock Lane, but I think it turned out pretty great.

Sunny Day Tree Farm

Last weekend we went on our Christmas tree hunt. We don't have a special tree farm we hit every year but we want one. We had heard that Sherwood was a good spot so a friend pointed us in the direction of their favorite farm. Too bad it closed before we made it out. So we did a google search and found a spot. Sunny Day Tree Farm. $25 any tree, you cut. Perfect. We piled in the truck and headed out. It was a little country drive out to the farm and by little I mean like half an hour. I thought for sure the iPhone lady was directing us to nowhere but then there it was. Sunny Day Tree Farm. Where everyday is a sunny day.

It was freezing out, probably below freezing, so we grabbed a saw and got right to work. After a few minutes of searching we found a winner. Last year Lucy was traumatized by all the poky branches involved in tree hunting so she was a little timid but the planting pattern at this place left for lots of room in between so it was a success for all. (Sidenote: as I write this, Lucy is in the bathroom singing Go Tell It On the Mountain with a country twang. Awesome.)

We took our tree pics and headed to pay for our tree. We got into the little lodge area and there was a fireplace and free hot chocolate and cider. Score. Plus the people were super friendly. I give it two thumbs up for sure.

We got our tree home and had some dinner. Then it was time to decorate. Every year growing up my parents would give me an ornament based on something significant that happened in my life that year and we have decided to carry on that tradition with our kids. Its fun to pull out the ornaments and remember all the special things in life. This year Lu got a little mouse ballerina for her first ballet class and Jacksen got a sweet little J for his first ornament. I love Christmas.

Elf on the Shelf Day 1 (with some Thanksgiving on the side!)

So last year we introduced Lucy to Elf on the Shelf. She didn't buy into the whole idea of the Elf jumping to new places and informed us that the elf was "just a toy." Even though she didn't go for the whole magical elf thing we still decided to just do it as a fun Christmas activity.

This year we started unpacking the Christmas decor and she spotted the Elf and was so excited. A friend of mine (Becca over at lifeat1521) came up with an idea for a really cool Advent calendar combined with activities. Each day her kiddos open an envelope and find a new Christmas/winter activity for each day like zoolights, cocoa party, fun crafts, all sorts of things! So I decided to combine our Elf on the Shelf with a daily activity this year.

 Here's our little Elf. Notice the scroll in his arms. That is our little activity of the day.

She found it!

Here is her activity for the idea! Notice my stellar artistic abilities. I think the chain kind of looks like blood cells or something. But its the thought right?

So we made our Christmas Paper Chain and our countdown for the big day is on. So excited! Jacksen's first Christmas. 

Speaking of firsts, Jacksen just had his first Thanksgiving! We had a great weekend at my parent's house with my grandparents too. Jack has been loving finger foods so he tried some of our Thanksgiving feast. Lucy has never been a huge fan of the Turkey Day menu so she mostly stuck to rolls and fruit, but she gave most of it a try.

Definitely a fun first Thanksgiving for Jacksen and excited for his first Christmas!