Over the River and Through the Woods

I haven't been able to spend Christmas at my parents' house since before we were married. Being the family of the Pastor doesn't lend to too much flexibility at times such as Christmas. But this year, since my husband isn't currently the pastor of a church, he arranged for us to be able to spend Christmas at my parents'. I loved it. It was so nice to be there and to go to my home church again. Again, I loved it.

On Saturday and Sunday, my sister, Mandie, and her three kids

were also able to be there, so my parents' house was FULL with

7 kids ranging from 11 months to 7 years old. That creates lots of chaos,

spills, and crumbs, and love.

Fun with Frosting

The kids had such a blast cutting out the cookies and then decorating them!

Extremely Cute!

"Mr. Claus" is Julia's friend Zachariah. She calls him Nataniah. Zack's grandmother made these matching Santa and Mrs. Clause outfits for them...

They are so cute!!!

SLEDDING!!!

Today was a PERFECT day for sledding...the ground is well covered with a crusty snow topped with a soft powdery snow and the temperature is over freezing...PERFECT! Here are a few pictures of our fun!

Julia getting a hand from Daddy for her trip down the hill.

(I always sent her down with someone else, but I think it's the Daddy's

job to push things a little further than what Mommy would dare!) :)

The boys being very boy...They would slide down and crash into each other on purpose,

or slide down with their sleds attached to each other,

or they would go down as fast as they could and then bail off of the sled on purpose rolling through the snow at the bottom of the hill,

and once I even saw Jay jump (while the sleds were flying down the hill) from his own

sled onto Daniel's sled landing half on the sled and half on Daniel.

...hopefully, they'll sleep well tonight. I know I will!

A Parent's Answered Prayer

As a parent you spend plenty of time praying for your children. One of the biggest prayers being that he/she accept Jesus as their Savior and choose to live for Him all of their days.

God answered part of that prayer in Daniel's life today. He has been asking a lot of spiritual questions lately, and while watching The Christmas Carol, Daniel said to me, "Mommy, I don't want to die." That prompted yet another conversation of the spiritual nature. So, late this evening, we talked and prayed with and for Daniel.

Thank you, God for this answered prayer. Please continue to work and lead in his life and help him to make good decisions as he grows.

Welcoming a New Friend

Last Thursday a new friend was born, Noah Michael Sienkiewicz. Today we had the privilege of meeting him for the first time...

Noah and his Mommy, Amy. Julia couldn't get enough of Noah. She wanted to hold him or touch him the entire time we were there.

One of many kisses...

Daniel's turn (notice Julia is right there again).

Jay was also really eager to hold Noah. He was that way when both Daniel and

Julia were born as well.

(Hannah was a school when we visited.)

We are so thankful for this new little one and are very happy for our friends James and Amy.

I Think She Likes It

Happy 2nd Birthday, Julia!

The Birthday Girl with Mommy and with Daddy.
She's wearing a really cute outfit that her Aunt Tami sent her from Texas...complete with Brown and Pink Cowboy Boots which she wore all day (minus her nap time).
In the picture with Daddy she is holding her new baby Sarah which once opened she refused to put down-even to open other presents. It was cute and yet annoyingly two-like at the same time.

















Here is another baby doll that she got. This one is Cassie. Julia is actually crying in this picture. I wanted to take her picture holding Cassie, but she didn't want to put Sarah down.
















Here's the crew...Julia's Grampa, Gram, Big
Grampa and Nana. Missing from this picture
is her Grandma, Aunt Steph and Uncle Adam.

Cupcake Time...I made four different bears: Polar, Panda, Brown, and Koala (yes, I know that they aren't technically bears).

A Long Time Coming

So, I guess it's been time for this for quite awhile, but I finally got up the nerve to do something drastically different with my hair. I'm still figuring it out, but I really like it.

"Applesaucing"

John and I have been making a real effort to lose weight and become more healthy. John has been committed to it since mid-summer. I started after the summer. He has lost nearly 40 pounds. I have lost about 20. We both have about 15-20 more that we want to lose. We have been dieting, more accurately, changing the way we eat. No fad diets or strange way of eating, just healthier food in healthier portions. The results may be slower with this method, but they will be more permanent.

We have also been exercising (which I'm not terribly found of). Julia has seen me exercise plenty of times. Last night as we were all relaxing in the living room, she caught her reflection in the glass doors of the fireplace and starting waving her arms around, declaring that she was "applesaucing."