Christmas Smiles

Happy Christmas morning!

Who can resist the joy of the spontaneous and infectious smiles of children as they open carefully chosen gifts? It's truly one of my favorite parts of Christmas! Here's some of our favorite smiles of the morning (and next couple days) . . .

(Outside of their new Lego train set, Hannah's favorite gifts were scotch tape and popsicle sticks. :o) She immediately put both to use in turning her table top angel craft from Sunday School into a puppet.) :o)

A very special thank you to each of you whose gifts blessed us with such smiles!

Celebrating Jesus' Birthday

Christmas Eve morning, Hannah came to me with a conspiratoral whisper and asked if we could make Christmas Tree Cookies. Well, I had already been planning to make a special dessert with her for celebrating Jesus' birthday, so I punted on the original recipe, and we made sugar cookies. :o) I must say, multiple things made these delicious cookies MUCH easier than last year:

1. Peter was out shopping with Daddy.
2. Hannah and I used a sugar cookie mix I had picked up for almost nothing earlier in the month. Not only did it not have to be refrigerated, but it also made only 30 cookies. Much easier than 130!
3. I had a proper cookie spatula.
4. Hannah wanted Christmas Trees, i.e. we didn't need bells and candycanes and stars and every other shape under the sun.
5. Christmas Trees are green. And only green. This means we had ONE color of icing.

All that said, we had quite a fun morning making cookies while Daddy and Peter found last minute deals.

We turned the cookies into a "birthday cake" for Jesus. :o) (And I still have the ingredients for my other dessert which we'll make at a later time.) :o)

Christmas Eve dinner was a culinary delight of hot dogs and homemade macaroni and cheese. :o)

We also enjoyed opening our "table gifts"--growing up, these were special gifts you got to open up at Christmas dinner as your very last gift of the day. With just a minor adjustment, we've continued the tradition . . .

After dinner we read the Christmas Story in Luke 2 and sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. What a joy to keep Christ at the center of our Christmas celebrations!

We also made our annual trek to enjoy Christmas lights. Usually we just tour housing developments, but this year we enjoyed a special light show in the area.

I love this picture! They were fascinated by the glowing ribbon on the "gifts" in the sleigh.

And here's my two little snowpeople!

And after the kids were safely tucked in bed and sound asleep, Chris and I continued our annual tradition of bringing out the gifts and then taking a picture of us. :o)

And here's our littlest one at 23 weeks . . . :o)

Merry Christmas!

We pray that you also enjoyed a blessed day celebrating the birth of our Savior!

Highlights of 2009

Merry Christmas!

We welcome you to "Highlights of 2009"--a pictorial review of our family's year. For those of you who are visiting for the first time, we give you a very special welcome! We would love to have you leave us a comment letting us know you've come!

January
Little did we know when the year began where we would be at year's end . . . January ended up being the last "normal" month of the year, filled with smiles . . .
the exodus of high chairs . . .
and fun at the park.
February
In answer to many months of prayer, the Lord allowed us to find a "new" home with beautiful property and lots of potential. We put our home on the market,

and we praise Him for the wonderful way He worked to sell it within just a few weeks!


March

We had fun with the snowy welcome to March, the month which launched about three solid months of crazyness!Grandma and Grandpa M. came to visit,

Hannah and Mommy enjoyed a girls' night out to see fireworks,

And we closed on our new home!

April

We were so incredibly blessed by our family who rallied around to help us with renovations!

This is just a very small glimpse of the extent of the demolition which took place inside our new home. With everyone's help, we turned the shoebox layout of the 50's into an open layout of the 21st Century. :o) (Lots more pictures under "House Renovations.")

The debris completely filled a 30-yard dumpster!

In the midst of it all, we celebrated our Lord's resurrection and the beautful flowers of spring in two homes . . .

Azaleas at our old home . . .

and Dogwoods at our new.

We also celebrated Peter's 2nd birthday,

and our 6th anniversary.

May

May was moving month, blessed by more family who came to help us finish up details (and help with babysitting!)

"Details" like refinishing the floors,

Painting, . . .

Installing cabinets, . . .

and more painting!

We also enjoyed Hannah's first "big girl" performance and celebrating her 4th birthday.

(Along with Mother's Day, our anniversary, and Chris and Jenny's birthdays!)

Moving day finally arrived! What a wonderful crew of friends who came to help!

And so began life in our new home. :o)

June

After we moved, life started to resume a somewhat slower pace. Peter practiced using his new tools, we found creative ways to stay cool, we built shelving for the basement storeroom,

and we hosted our first annual Missions for Kids "Funistry."

July

We enjoyed celebrating Indpendence Day with friends from church

and a visit from Aunt Heather!"Daddy's helper" is always excited to bring out the airplane!

"Moooo!" Hannah had a blast at her first "official" year of Vacation Bible School!

And Peter loved getting his own pair of scissors!

August

We definitely enjoyed playing in our very own creek this summer!

Hannah started K4!

Peter continued his study in electrical engineering. :o)

We enjoyed a special dinner with our pastor and his wife. And we learned that our third baby is due in April 2010. :o)

September

September brought with it cooling temperatures yet still long evenings which facilitated plenty of fun time outside.

When Daddy got a new drill, Peter was quite ready to lay claim to his old one!

And the Lord blessed us with a "new" table, big enough to fit 10-12 people!!

We also launched into our bathroom "remodel" at the end of September. October

What a blessing to fellowship with four generations as Jenny's parents and grandparents came down for a visit in October! Great Grandpa's experience with plumbing also helped in our bathroom project. :o)

We continued enjoying plenty of time outside,

Including a special trip to "the mountains" to see the changing colors of fall.

November

Along with the beautiful colors of fall,

we enjoyed another visit from Chris' parents, as well as the launch of "The (Drainage) Project."

The Lord allowed a business trip to bring Grandma and Grandpa M. back down as well, so we were privileged by an evening of fellowship with all of the grandparents!

Lots of trees yield lots of leaves, which the kids didn't mind one bit. :o)

We've also delighted to watch Hannah's art skills continue to blossom.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at home, including quiet family times

and good fellowship with friends.

Hannah and Daddy also enjoyed their first "Christmas shopping" adventure. :o)December

Thanksgiving was quickly followed by the news that Jenny's carrying a little boy,

as well as the unique experience of being temporarily flooded in!

And now we prepare to celebrate our Savior's birth.

From our hearts to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas! We pray that you will know the peace and joy of "Emmanuel," the God who is with us.

:::

Behold, a virgin shall be with child,

and shall bring forth a son,

and they shall call his name Emmanuel,

which being interpreted is,

God with us.

Matthew 1:23