13 Years Together

Today we celebrate the birthdate of "our" family, the day we officially began this adventure together. I found this old photo which I believe was around our first Christmas together. Our dogs were our "kids" back then - my how life has changed!!

Back on our wedding day, I never would have imagined what the next 13 years would hold. Of course, I've also learned to appreciate that fact. There is no sneak peek into the future. No promise of good times or bad. There is only God carrying us, together, to weather the storms and rejoice over God's blessings. Even though our marriage has been filled with more of the blessings than the storms, I wouldn't have wanted to know about them ahead of time as I would not have truly experienced the present, always looking to the future.

So I say to my man, I'm so thankful for you and for the life we share. I don't know what the next year or the next 13 years hold but I wouldn't trade you as my partner for the journey. You're precious and priceless to me Babe!

Photos of the Christmas fun

Somehow these photos all loaded in the wrong order but you can look at Christmas in reverse. Thanks to all the family who sent gifts - everything was a hit!


Goose has wanted a guitar all year. What a happy face. As for my man, his surprise was the best of all. His best buddy from his college days sent out the tree stand my man has been saving up for. When all gifts were opened we "found" one more for Daddy. The clue sent him upstairs where we had hidden it for the surprise. The house was filled with glee!!!

Here I am with my "Pretty, Pretty Princesses". Boo LOVES her new game though it is neither challenging or deep. :)

Spiderman has been obsessed with ninja's this fall and was thrilled to have a new costume (though it's probably not his highlight, just cute).

The boys love their Legos and their RC toys the most. Can you tell from this grin?

Christmas Eve Aunt Susie always sends them new PJ's to open. Can you see the anticipation of Christmas morning on their faces?

We also have a birthday party for baby Jesus every Christmas Eve. This year we had some extra guests.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Well with only 3 days to go, we want to extend our prayers for you to have a special Christmas. We know the year has been filled with uncertainty for many but we know that God is in control and will work all things together in our world for His perfect and eternal plan. May we all remember that the tiny little babe in the manger came as our gift, knowing full well the high price it would take to redeem us and adopt us into His family. We are so thankful.


Our last little glimpses of the season include our trip to see Santa. We brought Hope along so she could meet Him as well (you're never too old...)

Another day of sledding with the boys' best buddy, Josiah. Currently this snow in our yard is covered with a half inch of ice. Unfortunately the roads out here in the country are covered as well and the kids and I had an interesting walk the other day while we tried to find someone to tow us out of a predicament. Enough about that!

Our two little superstars. I had hoped to put a video clip of their Christmas Program but after realizing it would take a week to upload it on our dial-up, you'll just have to settle for this shot. Just know that they both sang great in the choir and Spiderman survived his role of "Joseph", complete with speaking parts. (Though he was TERRIFIED with his lines, he did great and now thinks he can do it again next year).

God bless!

Fa La La La La......

Does this look like holiday fun to you? Christmas time, planning gifts, baking treats, making memories. Well, I'll let you in on my little secret....


I'm NOT a crafty mom. If I have a choice, I will avoid the mess, the hassle, the arguments, the tears, the cleanup and as a result - the fun. Aunt Susie sent us this candy making kit, so I "had" to suck it up and get down to the business of having fun. The kids were thrilled to hear the word "project" and before I even had the box open, there were arguments and bickering over who got what first. I threatened, "Are we going to have fun or are we going to fight because I'm not doing both." (Now this is the stressed out, fed up voice - not the patient, sweet warning you may presume). Of course to kids who don't get crafts that often, they weren't going to miss out. :) Then my perfectionist (I'll refrain from identifying the one) was in tears about 60 seconds into the project. It was immediately becoming clear that theirs was not going to look exactly like the one on the box. When attempts at reasoning were exhausted, I threw the empty box into the kitchen and declared, "it's never going to look like the box, it isn't supposed to look like the box, you are supposed to use your IMAGINATION! Now stop crying and just do your best or we're done having fun!" There you have it, my secret is out but it feels so good to admit my own flaws.

OK, so today was not one of my better days but it does sadden me to think of what I miss out on when I'm focused on myself. Instead of enjoying the moments with my kids, sometimes I just endure them while my mind is on my own "to do" list. As I pick up countless scraps of paper, I miss the joy on my kids faces at wrapping presents for their friends and imaginary friends and teddy bears. I mentally bemoan that they have covered the table (that I just cleared off) with all their art supplies so they can make Christmas Cards for their friends. They ask if we can go carrolling and I think to myself, "it's cold and that's just one more thing to fit into our schedule before Christmas." As we sit down on the couch to watch "The Grinch that Stole Christmas", I'm annoyed with my chatterbox who asks non-stop questions (ie. what is a grinch? why does he look like that? Is he a monster or a person? Dr. Suess?) when I just want to sit and and enjoy 30 minutes of quiet (hmmm, that does sound pretty Grinch-ish of me now ....). Is there any hope for me?

So now that I'm out of the shadows as the one home schooling mom who hates crafts, I'm committing to myself that I will force myself to look beyond my own wants ( peace and quiet, nothing sticky on my floor, etc.). I do want to share the wonder with my children at this magical time of year. They love Jesus and are excited to count down the days til we celebrate his birthday party. They can't wait til next week when they get to go to the Dollar Tree and buy Christmas gifts for each other with the money they earned themselves. They pray nightly for the boy we sponsor at Esperanza Viva to have a merry Christmas and not be lonely. Their hearts are in the right place, I'm working on getting mine there. I'm understanding in a new way today about "the kingdom of heaven" being made up of children like these. I'm trying to learn from their example.