Sunday, January 2, 2011

joyful (and pictures)

life is sure busy with a 2 and 3 year old! apologies to my mom for not updating my blog.

the month of december was sure busy for our family. but in the busyness, there was a lot of joy.

the first 2 weeks of the month had us at many holiday gatherings- work, small group, and friends. we also enjoyed a quick weekend visit from my dad. the kids had fun playing and hanging out with grandpa dennis. we left the house once, to make an important trip to trader joes. :o)
parties were followed by a few days of quarantine- trying to not catch the puke virus of 2010. :P we didn't want to be sick for our trip!
which brings me to the 2nd week of december when, after it was missing for almost exactly a month, my diamond re-appeared! the sparkle caught my eye as i was picking up one of kate's barrettes off the floor of the car. amazing thing is- jesse had just vacuumed out the car just 4 days earlier, but in his hurried-ness he had forgotten to vacuum the front. isn't God so good!? so while we were in pittsburgh for christmas, jesse and i were able to take the ring to the jeweler he had bought it from, and they were able to create a new setting and get the diamond back in it's place. it's just like new and i am so happy to have it back on my finger! :o)

this christmas was extra special because it was the first time our kids have really understood what's going on. they actually listened to, and were able to repeat some of the story back to us, as we told them about baby Jesus, mary and joseph, and the shepherds and the angels. christmas lights were SO exciting for them any time we were driving around at night. it's so fun seeing christmas through a child's eyes!

if there's anything as joyful as having your own children, it's getting to enjoy nieces and nephews! we were able to do just that as we spent time family over the holidays. we were able to be in pittsburgh for an entire week, visiting family and relaxing.

highlights of the week include getting to see great grandma vollbracht (who we don't get to see that often, but she was getting ready to return to CO from her 3 month visit to PA),seeing the kids' big cousins who stayed in town long enough to visit with us for a few hours,

a trip to visit aunt joey at the pittsburgh aviary (where she works in the hospital),
a trip downtown pittsburgh (just jesse and me, complete with a trip to starbucks, it felt like we were dating again!),

isn't he handsome?

i took a picture of my starbucks cup because i thought it was funny the barista spelled my name correctly and then must have second guessed herself and "corrected" it. ha ha ha!

holding and squeezing baby Easton and baby Jezze,
and for the kids- opening presents of course!
christmas with the mclane's

christmas with the pié's



it's always good to be back home after being on a trip. we've kept busy this past week. jesse's been finishing up his work at the museum as one of the soldiers in the annual ChristmasTown event. we're glad to have him back with us, and also glad to have his beard shaved off too. :)
we celebrated christmas with friends and jesse's birthday and new year's eve in the span of 36 hours.

jacob and kate's daddy was "a really big soldier". kate can't stop talking about it!

i am not one for new year's resolutions, probably because i can never keep them longer than a week or two, but this year i have several things i'd like to accomplish.
1. more time in the Word (keeping Christ as my priority)
2. more time with family (the dishes, laundry, and computer can wait!)
3. eat healthier (gotta lose the 10 lbs of holiday gain)
4. exercise regularly (gotta stay healthy so i can keep up with my kids!)

that's realistic, right? any suggestions on ways to achieve my goals are more than welcome.

merry christmas and happy 2011!

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