Five Days of Christmas

Christmas eve Grandpa & Grandma and Pearl came over for oyster stew. 

The Klopfensteins showed up after supper. It was so much fun. 

Christmas day we went to church. We didn't have any plans so we pretty much just laid around the house. Matt and Lena came over for supper and then I went over to hang out at the Leman's. 

Kendra had to work, so Kacie, Alyssa and I drove to the ER to visit her. 

By the time I got home all of the cousins had arrived and our kitchen and dining room tables were being used for games. 

Rook

Aggravation 

Wednesday morning, bright and early Wyss Christmas began.

breakfast

singing before presents 

Ned and his violin 

Rook 

Cecily getting a ride :)

the 4 hour game of poker

cousins 

Thursday, I went out for brunch with Kendra, Larissa, and Breana. Breana was in town for her family Christmas so we were able to get together. We walked around the square and went in to a few shops afterwords. 

Love these girls.

I got home a little after noon. Scott had just gotten up, Kacie joined him a few minutes later. Ned rolled out of bed a little after 1:00. :)

Kacie and I went over to Kendra's to hang out for a while. 

We kicked everyone out at 5:00. Bob, Jenny & Cecily and Matt & Lena  came over for our small family Christmas. 

a ridiculous amount of presents :) 

Cecily :)

she was a bit scared of Matt's snow-hunting outfit 

we give the strangest gifts :) ...hehe

They all left pretty early, so I went back over to Kendra's. I got home pretty late. 

There is nothing like coming home at 1:00 in the morning to a kitchen full of guys who have just spent the past week gorging themselves on on good food. Let's just say I could smell it the second I opened the door.  

But, it was great fun watching them play Rook for a while.  

It's quiet again now. Everyone has left for home.

In Christ

~Michelle

Rejoice

A little late...

Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.

He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;

 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

In Christ
~Michelle

break- week 1

It is so nice to be on break. 

Thursday it was cold, snowy, and very windy. I spent most of the day inside though, I did venture out once or twice to play with Gus, our puppy. :)

That night while making sugar cookies, the power went out. I had to finish frosting them by flashlight. 

my favorite: the Amish couple :)

Friday morning my dad got the generator hooked up. 

Gus loves the snow :)

huge snow drift out back

Friday, the Schlipfs came over for our Christmas.  We had fun watching Cecily and singing lesser known Christmas carols. 

Saturday, I finally finished my Christmas shopping. yay!

For supper, I went to my first out-of-town potluck.  Wendi and Daniel hosted and Troy, Ellie and Cyrus were down from Belvidere. 
We spent the evening eating, laughing, fighting over Cyrus and playing dutch blitz.
Good times. :) I hope this becomes more than just an annual thing.

Daniel, Troy and Cyrus 

Ellie and Kendra

the married couples 

Other than that, I've had a very quiet relaxing first week of break. :)

In Christ
~Michelle

news,engagements, Christmas pic

News: I have an internship! 
Last Thursday the lady from the Hope Center emailed me.  So, I'll be able to graduate in May! I'm really excited. They are faith based, and have a really awesome atmosphere. What I will be doing is really flexible so hopefully I'll learn a lot.
God provides. 

Engagements: Yes, that's right. There are two engagements.
Emily H, who has been my best friend since kindergarten, got engaged last weekend. Derek went to high school with us so, I think he's still a pretty nice guy. ;) Em and I have been through a lot together. There are some hilarious memories of us girls. sigh. I wouldn't even know where to begin so, I'll leave it at that. 

Laura, my roommate, just got engaged this weekend to Joel. :) She called me on the way to church today. I don't think I really reacted at all.
Crazy. I have become nearly immune to friends getting married.

Congratulations to all of them!

Christmas Picture: The Upper Room presents-

Me, Sarah, Laura, Katie

We had great fun taking this picture. I now know what I'll look like 40 years from now, and it's kinda creepy. :)

In Christ
~Michelle

perfect atmosphere

Complete with Christmas music :)

Let the studying begin! 

...actually, yah. I should probably start studying. :)

In Christ

~Michelle

quietly going insane

 "I am quietly going insane in the confines of my room" -my roommate
I think I am too.

The symptoms are as follows:
inability to sit still
inability to concentrate
finding the dumbest things hilarious
absolute lack of motivation
distracted by the slightest thing
sudden desire to learn how to moon walk :)
sudden spurts of hyperactivity 
inability to learn anything

This is why I work hard all semester long. So when I take finals, I can flunk them and still get a good grade. 

Seriously. It's time for Christmas break. 

In Christ
~Michelle

a day which will live in infamy

Actually, nothing exciting has really happened today or for the past few weeks.
But, here's to remembering December 7, 1941.

I guess a few random things have been going on.
After Haiti, I went back to school and probably had one of the craziest two weeks of the semester. With normal yg activities, a huge group paper and group presentation, a taffy pull, church Christmas caroling, online tests and papers, two Russian tests (yes, I'm taking Russian this semester), a Russian presentation, and   yet another interview today. 
Thankfully, I only have two presentation and three finals until Christmas break. :) Things don't "wind down" in college, they just wind up. 

So, last Thursday night we had a taffy pull here at the Upper Room. I had to call Jenny twice and my Grandma once to get the taffy recipe down. You have to be really precise or else the whole batch will be ruined. The taffy was ok this time. It pulled really well for the first few pulls and then it got really hard. 
Oh, well. It always makes for a few laughs.

making taffy

the scary part where it starts to splatter your hand with boiling taffy

the finished product

attempting to pull

It didn't turn out the best 

 One night late, like at midnight, Sarah and I decided to decorate our apartment. 

I now have Christmas lights above my bunk :)

(ooo, and check out the cool Haiti painting!)

the Christmas tree!

I had my third interview today. I really hope I get it. It's a really cool Christian organization with a ton of stuff to do. Now, begins the waiting game...again. I really would appreciate prayers because, If I don't get an internship by Christmas time, I'm going to have to wait until next fall. Which would be awful.

Oh, funny story.
So, there's this guy that walks around campus without shoes on. And, it cracks me up. anytime I see him I try to sneak a picture of him on my phone. :)  It's really hard to be sneaking with a phone though. Anyway, so he was walking in front of me yesterday and he walks really fast. I had to walk pretty fast to keep up and after I had made a feeble attempt at getting a picture, he suddenly took off running. Running! barefoot across very wet, very cold pavement. I think he's on to me.

So, that's about it. 

In Christ
~Michelle