2008 in Review

So I've never done this before, and ideally this should have gone out with the Christmas cards, but the year wasn't over in November when I sent out the cards. Anyway, I thought this might be fun.

So at the beginning of last January we were arriving home from a wonderful Christmas in Park City Utah with the Lloyds. It really was so much fun. We hope to meet them in another place for a future Christmas. In January we also began to make small upgrades to our home.

February brought Dabney's 4th Birthday. She's such a big girl and a great help to her Mama. Joshua began to crawl.

In March, our congregation voted and elected Tim as a deacon. He takes his role very seriously and he does a great job.

Tim and I celebrated 5 years of marriage in April. It's hard to believe it's been 5 years since our wedding, but then I look around at the kids and think, "Hmm. Where did all these little hooligans come from? Only 5 years? Are we counting right?"

May was sort of slow, but isn't that nice once in a while? One highlight of the month was that we had 2 large families over (at the same time) for a picnic at our house. It was by far our largest hospitality gathering of the year. Dabney and I also had a special Mama/daughter date night at the movies.

In June, Tim and I were volunteers for Christian Home Educators of Colorado for their annual family conference. We learned so much and hope to attend (as attendees) next year. We also visited for a long weekend with Tim's parents and 2 of his brothers and their families.

My parents, brother and sister came to visit us in July and we also celebrated Joshua's first birthday.

One of the highlights of the year came in August, when the 5 of us flew to visit my grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins in North Carolina. So much had happened since I had visited last and I even had some children to introduce to my relatives. I learned so much about my family's history. I took over 600 pictures (!) although I haven't printed all of them out yet... Also, Joshua became very accomplished at running, not walking.

In September I joined Facebook, and I know it sounds corny, but I ve had such a great time connecting with so many people~ many of whom I thought I would never see or hear from again. There are so many people that God had used in my life to mold and shape me.

October held more weddings in our church and Caitlin came out to visit again, but mainly to attend the weddings. While she was here, we discovered a wonderful surprise~ we're pregnant with baby #4 who has a July due date!

We celebrated Thanksgiving in November with Tim's family in Bismarck and had a great time.

Which brings us to our current month of December. Dabney had her ears pierced during one of the Christmas shopping trips, David turned 3 on Christmas Eve and Josh had a blast eating all the stocking candy on Christmas morning.




Happy New Year everyone! I hope the Lord will bless you richly in 2009!

Christmas Highlights

We had a wonderful quiet Christmas at home~ we hope you did too! Here are a few highlights~ after a while, my camera couldn't keep up with all the presents!

David's Birthday

The very smart people at the alley gave us the party lanes~ with the two kids bowling by themselves, our games took a while.

Dabney did really well.

"Next time, big boy..."

David did a great job, all by himself.

Look at Dabney's face!

David was most excited for his family to sing Happy Birthday to him. He asked all day, "Will you sing to me?" beginning before Tim went to work that morning. And we sang everytime he asked.

Happy 3rd Birthday David!

My Precious David,

I can't believe you turn 3 years old today. It seems like not that long ago when I woke up at 3am with labor pains, thinking "I can't have a baby today~ it's Christmas Eve!" Nevertheless, our first son emerged into this world as always, full of surprises. Although it was my most traumatic labor to date, you, my sweet little man at 7 lbs, 13oz, were healthy and happy.

You've grown so much in such a short time~ always trying to be more and more a grown up, helping me with the laundry, loving to cook, washing the car and mowing the lawn with Daddy. We were stunned last December just before you turned 2 when you told us you wanted to go potty, and now here you are fully potty trained, even sleeping in your underwear! But, that's just like you. You set your mind on what you want to do and eventually you do it. Like when you purposed to find a way out of your crib. Or that nightmarish phase when you were trying to sneak out of the house when no one was looking~ I still today praise God you are safe.

God has done so many wonderful things in your life and in your heart, Son. He has given you a brother and sister who love you very, very much and I know you love them too~ they are your best friends and your constant companions. Daddy and I are blessed also, we are thrilled (and challenged) when we call you our son. You are such a happy child, even after receiving much necessary discipline. You always smile and you sing from your heart continually. Never stop singing to the Lord, David! And you make us laugh every single day. We are so excited to watch you grow through your 3rd year and can't wait to see what a dynamic young man our Lord is molding you to be. Our prayer for you in this next year is that you would increase in wisdom, and that you would grow more tenderhearted, and, as always, that you would walk closer to our Lord everyday.


Happy Birthday, Son. We cannot express to you the love that we have for you in our hearts!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Notice Anything?

She said it didn't hurt at all. The clincher was when she said, "Mama! I can wear earrings just like you now!" She's growing up so fast.

A Few Last Minute Ideas

I have an uncle that has everything. Seriously everything. And because he is on my Christmas list, it puts me in a very difficult predicament. But the upside of this is that I get to pick out something really fun and out of the ordinary. It also allows me to widen the gift horizon.

This year I hopped over to etsy.com and found a lady in CA that makes these wonderful stamps and I knew I had a winner this Christmas. She did a bang-up job on my uncle's stamp (she emails you a proof of the stamp for your approval before she makes it) and then she gave me a great deal on a second stamp so I ordered one for our family, too. Obviously, I love it so much I'm blogging about it.


One last idea for you is something we do perennially. The two of us have our favorite Christian ministries that we listen to on the radio and that are dear to our hearts. And like all ministries, they really appreciate donations. I wish we could afford to give them large checks every year, but with a single income and a growing family, there are no large checks to be given. But we do like to remember the ministries that truly have ministered to our souls by putting in a Christmas order. That way, we're using our budgeted money for excellent resources and hopefully furthering the kingdom via the chosen ministries. And ok, I would be remiss if I did not recommend one or two to you all. For the past few years, I've loved putting orders in with Ligonier Ministries~Tim and I are huge fans of R.C. Sproul~ and the resources we receive are absolutely top-notch and definitely gift worthy. In fact, most years I try to hide the Ligonier box because Tim is just too curious. Other recommendations off the top of my head would be Coral Ridge Ministries and Canon Press. Canon Press has some of the best books on the family that you will find anywhere. Really.

So there you have it. Now I really must get wrapping.

Christmas Project Reveal

So a long time ago I mentioned that was making some presents this year for some little girls in our life for Christmas and I never told you what the project was. See, a few days after I began the project, we discovered the existence of baby #4 and since then I've been slammed to the couch with exhaustion. There goes the project. Until yesterday. I had been psyching myself up for about a week for the hauling out of the sewing machine and all the other accouterments and yesterday I did it and I hope that I truly am back in the swing of things. (And Cait, it reminded me of Penelope.)



This cape (above) is for a friend's daughter (you guessed it, Rebecca, hope it will suit Corynn!) and the cape in progress (below) is for Dabney. I have a fabulous silver metallic for the collar and it will be lined in grey. These capes are way fast to make and very satisfying, I must say. Perfect for the little drama queen in your life. Oh, and Rebecca, all I have to do is add a frog closure and your Christmas package should be in the mail very soon!

The Baby Boom

Exciting things are happening in our church these days, but the most exciting to me is the recent baby boom. Three months ago, there was only 1 pregnant lady in our church, and as the weeks went on, out came the announcements. In fact, the week we announced, we heard that there were two other blessings to our congregation on the way, too! And, I am due in the same week of 2 other ladies in church! I think that is so interesting, because God made these 3 babies within the same week and we moms didn't even know! So, now I am in a line of 5 expectant Reformation ladies, so if you would, pray for us and our unborn little ones if you think of us. I can't wait to see our little sweetie and all of his/her buddies! Did I also mention that this makes for fabulous company in the nursing room?

Happy Thanksgiving, Belated

So much over the long weekend! We spent Thanksgiving thursday with Tim's folks and the kids had great fun sleeping in the basement (above) and ...

watching cartoons with Grandpa...

making blagenda with Grandma...

celebrating David's birthday early

and opening a few Christmas presents early. We also had a great time with our friends the Upgrens and their beautiful family.

Also, my best friend in the world (not related to me) Rebecca, had her baby! We've spent months and months waiting to hear what little "Bunkin" is and now we know! She is a sweet 8 lb 14 oz bundle of sweetness. Her name is Adele Genevieve and I feel like she's my new neice. Go "visit" her if you get the chance.

Joshie Got a Haircut

I think he's still just as cute as before I buzzed him...