Preserving the Faith

"a generation can be faithful to serve
and yet fail to preserve the faith"

Stephen had the wonderful privilege of preaching at AMRBC the final Sunday of 2009. He reminded us what is at stake if we fail to pass on to our children all that God has done in our lives.

"The Israelites served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the leaders who outlived him- those who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel...
After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel."
(Judges 2: 7, 10)

Let's Begin 2010 by Passing on What God Did in 2009!

Christmas Dinner at Grannys

My precious grandmother had only one request for Christmas this year - that we do a big family Christmas dinner at her house, the way we used to. I'm sure she was absolutely exhausted after we left but she had a ball planning and preparing for all of us to come in town. What 92 year old that you know can plan housing/beds for 8 people and 3 dogs, and prepare a meal that consists of 3 meats, 7 vegetables, 2 breads, 2 fruit dishes, and 5 desserts?
I've told you before - she's superwoman!

Traveling

What are these two crazy kids smiling about on a long late night car trip?

Snapshots from Christmas Morning

If you'd like to see more, you can look at the whole album on Facebook

Monkey Joes

Today we went to Monkey Joes with Amy and Olivia Grayce.
It was a blast! I loved it.
I'm kinda sore tonight, but totally worth it.
Mary Beth and I did everything together and she just cracked me up -
how much fun she was having.







We did a lot of the slides, over and over and over again =)
Here is a video from the big slide.
(side note: it is nearly impossible to climb a rock wall straight up
while trying to catapult your two year old to the top,
for that reason alone - we only did it once)




didn't make one shot, but check out that form!

We didn't see the big Monkey Joe but a quick pic with his pic worked just fine

Toddler Tuesday: Big Helper

Gingerbread House

We have really enjoyed our family time the last couple weeks. Last year we attempted ornaments and cookies with Mary Beth, this year we are expanding to include a gingerbread house. I've always seen the cute kits at the store, but never had the extra cash to spend on it. This year my aunt sent one to the children. What a fun gift! I have been looking forward to it for weeks since we got it.





Jackson oversaw the construction of the house,
then left the decorating to the girls
[just like a typical man]





Also, I need to introduce Olivia Grayce, our new friend who will be staying with us in the afternoons. Her and Mary Beth have the same quiet personality. They are going to be best friends in no time!

The wreath was my one creative contribution to the project =)



Mary Beth loves the house we made. LOVES it.
When she disappears, you can find her sitting at the
kitchen table admiring EATING it!

Toddler Tuesday: First Haircut

Jackson got his first haircut tonight!
Not sure that you can really tell from pictures lately but Jackson's hair was getting kinda mullet-ish. Long on top, which looks kinda cute with a fauxhawk but when the back started growing out... well I just decided to fix it a little.







How did he sit so still?

By letting him hold the monitor and talk into it =)

After much debate we have decided that Mary Beth will get her first haircut after the holidays. Some days her hair is quite wild, but I've been holding it off as long as I can because I know that when she gets a little girl cut, she will start looking more like a little girl and less like my baby.
Stay tuned

Proverbs 31 Woman

This woman exemplifies all that is described in Proverbs 31

My Granny turns 92 years old today!
In her life she has been blessed with an amazing husband,
two daughters, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
She is more precious than rubies.
She is energetic and strong, a hard worker.
She is clothed with strength and dignity.
When she speaks, her words are wise
Let her children stand and bless her...
Happy Birthday Granny!


"Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;
but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
Reward her for all she has done.
Let her deeds publicly declare her praise."
Proverbs 31:30-31

Birthdays and Holidays

This month has flown by...
so prepare yourself for a long catch up post =)

The last week of Oct and first two weeks of November we had a new friend staying with us. Sawyer is a newborn I kept while he was waiting for his spot in daycare to open up. He was a blessing to have, and another reminder of how the Lord provides for us financially.



During the same time we tried round 2 of Potty Training. (We attempted it late in the spring and quickly realized that Mary Beth simply did not have the verbal skills to tell us when she needed to go, so we postponed until this fall. Stephen schedule is a lot lighter in November/December so it was the best time for us to focus on it.) I am happy to report that we have had much more success. It took 4 long weeks of being very consistent before she really started getting the hang of it. With her personality our biggest struggle is still her not telling us, but as long as we remind her and take her regularly she does really well. The last two weeks we've gone from 1 accident a day to now only having 2 or 3 accidents a week. Yay Mary Beth!





Besides potty training, Mary Beth (28 months) is really working on her numbers and colors. She is counting to 10 well and is about 50% on naming the right color. So far her favorites seem to be yellow and things that are brown and pink. She still loves coloring and doing puzzles.





Jackson is 13 months old now. He has really improved with his crawling and we think that walking is not too far off. He has gotten 2 new teeth (12 total) and had a cold this month but through it all he has still been my sweetie.



In the middle of the month we had the awesome privilege of participating with our church family in Opperation Christmas Child. Mary Beth was the most precious thing ever. We went to dollar tree to pick out some toys for her and Jackson to each have a box. I cried twice, just watching her excitement and joy to pick things out for a precious little girl that we'll never have the ability to meet. I pray that in the years to come we have many many more precious moments like this as we find ways to involve our children in ministry.



On the 19th, I celebrated my 28th birthday. Stephen and I had a wonderful afternoon out with lunch and a movie [THE BLIND SIDE Amazing. Wonderful. Must go see it.] My mom celebrated her birthday on the 20th, so we met my family in Commerce for lunch.





On Thanksgiving we celebrated with amazing friends! (Forgot my camera so no pictures.) We had 10 adults and a bazillion kids running around - it was awesome. Thanks Laurel for hosting - you rock! After naps we started decorating for Christmas. We got the tree up and a few decorations out around the house while the kids watched the new veggie tales Christmas movie. We finished up Friday morning and let Mary Beth help decorate a little tree for her and Jackson. They LOVE their Christmas tree!











Saturday after thanksgiving, Stephen's parents, brother and sister in-law came up for a quick visit. Mary Beth really enjoyed showing off all her new tricks and attached herself to Papa (we're sure it had nothing to do with the extra snacks he was giving her=)









Please forgive my lack of posting, as you can see I have no excuse - just been sitting around doing nothing this past month ... lol
I love life when its busy. I love being on the go. I love having family in town. I love hosting people in our home. I love it all and feel so blessed with all the Lord is doing in our family.