Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Well, it's here! The most wonderful time of the year. And we are enjoying it in our new house! We didn't do much decorating for Christmas as we are still unpacking boxes, but we did get the tree up, and the stockings are hung by the chimney with care! (we are so excited to have a fireplace!)

We're in awe that we are so far into Dec. already, and Christmas is a blink away. Emma reminds us everyday that Christmas is her FAVORITE time of year (and believe me, it is - she's been asking me every other day since June when Christmas will be here). So far we've enjoyed making Christmas cookies, reading tons of Christmas books, looking at lights, and watching the kids perform in their preschool Christmas play. There will be many more exciting things to do before Christmas quickly comes and goes.

A really cool thing has occurred in our home. The kids are excited about Christmas - I mean Christmas just oozes with excitement - everywhere you look you see lights, and here cheerful songs, not to mention all of the parties, and extra fun activities there are to do. But the very cool thing is that they KNOW WHY we celebrate Christmas! They're not getting confused about Santa and reindeer and wanting a huge list of presents. If you ask them, they can tell you exactly why we celebrate - "Jesus was born!!!" they exclaim. And when looking at lights, they get most excited when they see a nativity, or "Baby Jesus set up!" Of which there are tons of in our neighborhood - yay neighbors! :)

We wish every one of our friends and family a very very Merry Christmas!!! (You'll hear no hint of a "happy holidays" from me - puh-lease! * just kiddig* - that's my major Christmas pet peeve) And a Happy New Year!
*(lovely family photo taken by our very good friend Dawn Lindley of D. Lindley design)*

Saying Goodbye

It was a bitter-sweet day last month, about a week before Thanksgiving, when we said goodbye....to our favorite tree. This is "Emma the Tree", so named by Emma herself. It was her tree, planted in our yard by a friend when Emma was a newborn, and we said goodbye to it because we also said goodbye to our house. This is actually a very good thing - a blessing, and something we'd been praying about for a while. It was, however, sad to see the kids playing in the backyard for the last time, and to see Emma's tears over leaving her tree - the tree that she's been known to water and and wrap her very own blanket around at times. We're in our new house now, and we love it, of course, and I'm sure I'll be posting more about that sometime soon. For now though, here are some of the "firsts" that we experienced in our old house........
Our first house; our first baby; her first smile, laugh, word, and many other firsts; our second baby; his first smile, laugh, word, and other firsts; a new business; birthday parties; Christmases; Easter Egg Hunts; and too many tea parties to count. We'll always remember God's many blessings, and answered prayers that we experienced while we called this our home. Not to sound too sad though, we've already begun tallying up some new firsts in our new home! Alex jumped off the furniture for the first time - (this is HUGE for him - I was so proud!) and Emma has written her first Thank you note - sounded out, and penned entirely by herself - (quite long, great use of adjectives!) These may not be major "firsts" but hey, it's a start. And there will be many more to come. :)


Matthew 7:11
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

So now that Fall is officially here, the holiday activities have begun! We visited the pumpkin patch with some friends, and got a few good shots. Then came Halloween. We had a lovely bride, and a cute little mini-Ash Ketchum (that's Pokemon - for all of you non-amime people). Alex wanted to be Ash, because of course he has to do everything just like his big cousin Seth. They wore these to the Fall Festival at Oakwood. On Halloween evening though, Emma just dug out a Sleeping Beauty gown, and crown, and did her trick-or-treating in that. We hung out on the front porch, and gave out candy bags with tracks, and had pizza.

First day of preschool

The kids had their first day of preschool on Sept. 2. They both absolutely LOVED it! They go 2 days a week, and we still have 3 days off, to just be, or do what we want. There was not a tear in sight with these two - they really didn't even notice that I left. As for Mommy - I was a little emotional - I'm not sure if I was tearing up because I'd just left my "baby" at school for the first time, or if it was because of my excitement over having some time to myself - IN the house! (That's NEVER happened before that I can recall.) Their teachers are great, and we're so excited about this year. Emma has a little group of girls there that she runs around with - hiding from "the boys! - ew!" Alex talks everyday about a little friend that he's made. His teachers told me that he helped them tell the story of Adam and Eve during Bible time - apparently he was really into it. They were impressed that he knew the story so well. :)

Here we go!

OK, so as most of you probably know, I am not incredibly technologically savvy...and yet here I am, blogging! I'm finally giving in. I'm doing this mostly as a tribute to the grandparents, who claim they don't get enough pictures of their grandkids! And to keep all of our friends and family up to speed on the latest answered prayers, and other happenings. Enjoy. :)