Recent reads.

The Woman They Wanted: Shattering the Illusion of the Good Christian Wife by Shannon Harris- Wow, what to say about this book? This was a wild read. Once I heard about it, I knew I had to read it. It was written by Shannon Harris, ex wife of Joshua Harris, who used to be a pastor/in leadership with Sovereign Grace Ministries. Joshua was the author of the "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" book that was very popular in purity culture in the 90s- he has since recanted his beliefs in this book and it's no longer being published. They are no longer married and both claim to no longer believe in Jesus. This book was about her perspectives being married- in the church environment she was in and the views on women. It was an interesting read- very sad in parts and I don't agree with many things she said, but interesting to read because Kley and I attended a Sovereign Grace church in the Twin Cities during our first year of marriage. We had a great experience there- unfortunately there have been some very sad stories within the Sovereign Grace churches, but thankful to hear some are still doing well today. Very sad that both Joshua and Shannon no longer claim to believe in Jesus, but very interesting to hear about her experiences.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett- This story is about twin sisters- some about their growing up, but a lot about how they separated as adults and the different lives they both led and how they intertwined. It involved their daughters, race, how the past affects you, and the events that follow different choices you make. It was pretty good but not amazing.

The Worry Free Parent: Living In Confidence So Your Kids Can Too by Sissy Goff- This book was so good- I would highly recommend to anyone who even slightly struggles with worry. I cried several times reading this, it a good way of it spoke right to me. Sissy writes in such an honest, informative, encouraging way and I felt so seen. She is a Christian therapist in Nashville that has worked with many young girls. She talks about how worry can affect us and in turn affect our children, and about different ways we can work through our worry and trust in Him. 

Happy New Year 2026!

Happy New Year! We had a fun night away as a family. We stayed in a hotel in our closest bigger town- always fun to see how excited kids get about a hotel! We went to a tubing hill and all loved it!

We had brunch at IHOP.

Hotel pool and hot tub time.

The hotel had a bowling alley- so fun!

Olive Garden for supper. We have gone to OG before for New Years several times and we joke that the best way to ring in the new year is with breadsticks!

Happy New Year! On NYE, we had our annual party with friends and Kley made his 2025 trivia and we prayed/toasted with an early ball drop. Thank you, God, for your many blessings in 2025!

After Christmas in Des Moines.

The girls and I headed to Des Moines for a few days after Christmas! Kley stayed home to work and paint our basement storeroom. We had already done our big Christmas celebration with my family over Thanksgiving, so we just hung out and did some fun things because the girls were off of school. We had a great time!

I got to hold our new nephew Stuart again! So so sweet.

We went to a few stores (Dollar Tree for cards, Target for many things, and Scheel's for sports things for the girls), and went out for ice cream!

We looked at some fun Christmas lights!

We got to celebrate Brooks' 3rd birthday!

What a cutie!

The best cousin shot I could get.

We got to hang out with Aunt Kayla on Sunday before she worked on Monday (she's a PICU nurse). We also played the old Disney Scene It game and watched the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for the first time for the girls! We got to meet my childhood friend, Lauren, and her family for lunch one day. It was a fun and relaxed few days!

Christmas 2025- De Jong side.

What a special Christmas! So thankful for our Savior and His many blessings to us. We were home for Christmas this year and celebrated with Kley's family. It's a gift that both his parents, grandma, and sister and her family live really close to us! I didn't grow up being physically close to any family (not that that was bad- we visited them and had great local friends), so that's special that our girls get to experience that.

Love this sweet family of mine!

Present/family time.

It's so fun to celebrate at home, just the five of us, too. What a gift to be able to create these memories for our girls!

I love this picture!

We celebrated with Kley's grandma Shirley on Christmas eve.

Everyone around the table- truly my favorite! Merry Christmas!

Christmas fun- cookies, lights, singing, dance 2025.

We have been enjoying all the December festivities! We went to Culver's and to look at some fun lights in the Heritage Village for my birthday and it was so fun!

We made some Christmas goodie plates for our neighbors.

Norah did a rotation during school one afternoon to a few different places in the community with 5th grade choir to sing some Christmas songs. She did great!

We had preview night for dance where we got to see a few minutes of what Norah and Ellory have been learning- go girls!

Christmas piano recital and program 2025.

We had our church Christmas recital/program and it went great! The girls have never played in the recital portion at the program before because they played in a different Christmas recital right before this, but they have a different piano teacher this year and she didn't have a recital, so they played in this one this year. They all did wonderful! Norah played Angels We Have Heard On High.

Lucy played Silent Night.

Ellory also played Angels We Have Heard On High (different version than Norah).

Kley played guitar/sang for it and I helped lead it. It's a big job but glad we could help with it and thankful it went smoothly.

All the girls sang very well!

Norah read a Scripture verse during it. This was Norah's last program, as she'll be in middle school next year!

Grandpa and Grandma got to come to it too! Papa and Amma were there also, but they were helping serve food so we didn't get a picture with them. Thankful for wonderful grandparents for our girls!

My favorite four. :) Merry Christmas! The theme of the program was hope- so very grateful for the hope we have in Him!

 

Christmas light tour and holiday fun 2025.

Yay for December fun! We have gotten so much snow already this winter (way more than all of last year and it's not even Christmas yet!), which has been so fun for the girls. They love playing in it and it definitely keeps them occupied outside longer in the cold. We went to the big sledding hill in a neighboring town one afternoon and they loved it!

We loved the games and crafts at the library Christmas party, and Lucy and Ellory loved that one of their favorite school volunteers was dressed as Santa!

Our annual Christmas light tour at our favorite place was a highlight! We stopped for supper first and then hit the lights. Our favorite place is all on one property and they have tons that you can walk through and it's so neat! It was below zero, but really wasn't too bad and we still had fun!

Some of their favorites that they wanted to take pictures by.

Lucy and Ellory are doing a big unit on penguins at school and reading Mr. Popper's Penguins, so they thought the penguins were cool!

Norah is looking older these days!

The girls and I have taken a picture in this spot for many years, so fun to look back on.

One of my favorite nights of the year!

Ellory found her favorite animal!

Thankful for fun Christmas traditions and special family time. :)