new family photos

At the beginning of December, we had some top secret family photos done! We were giving them as gifts to all of our family... But now we can share them! Here are a few of my favorites! Some of them were included in our Christmas letter and picture card.

I've never been pregnant in a family picture before, that was so fun! We were long overdue for a family shot, it had been since Drew was 3! He's now 7! Gavin was just a baby in our last one, and Morgan was a twinkle in God's eye!

I had no idea!

Yesterday, the boys and I were playing Upwords. Which is like scrabble, but you can change words into new words by stacking letters on top of each other... Well, I taught the boys to play and helped them form words from their letters when it was their turn. We had gone around a few times and it came to Gavin's turn. I leaned over and said, "Alright, let's see what letters you have!" He said, "Mom, I got it. I want to do it all by myself!" I said, "Okay, go for it!"

Drew and I watched in anticipation. He changed GOD into BODAH. I asked him what a BODAH was and without missing a beat, he replied, "Oh, it's a type of camel!"

Drew and I about busted our sides open laughing! And I about gave birth right there. What a little nutty guy. Good answer, Gavin.

more Christmas fun

Drewy and his new cap gun

the Christmas ballerina

Nice cookie rolling!

Hmm.. so many cookie cutter choices...

Here are some more pictures of our time in Willow... the kids opening presents on Christmas Eve morning and decorating sugar cookies with Grandma.


Our camera mysteriously disappeared after that on our way home, or so we thought! So we have no pictures of Christmas Day on our camera... those will come soon... Heather took loads of pics for us on her sweet camera. Jeremy and I each searched in the overnight bag we brought out to Willow twice and it wasn't there! But after Christmas was all over last night, and we got home from my Dad and Marla Kay's house for our last Christmas celebration, Jeremy checked that bag one more time and there it was!

I ended up with 4 new CD's this Christmas... all of which I was dreaming of owning!

Pride & Prejudice soundtrack (new version)

Sound of Music soundtrack

Louis Armstrong

Ella Fitzgerald

We've listened to a lot of new music today around our house! You know that I've watched Pride & Prejudice too many times, when my 3 yr old daughter says after hearing the soundtrack for the first time... "Is this the part where she is running in the rain?" hee hee

Gingerbread House!

Our family spent Sunday the 23rd in Willow with Grandma and Grandpa! We attempted this gingerbread house, but it came out hilariously funny. The icing was running and melting off the roof and the candy was sliding off. It was a sight to behold. But we sure had fun doing it!

We spent the night there and spent a fun evening and Christmas Eve morning there before we headed home to our house with Auntie Heather for some quick down time before going to a Christmas Eve Service in Big Lake.

Our most memorable moments from the service...

When they were passing communion, Gavin leaned over to Morgan and said, "Morgan, they have crackers here!" Morgan then leaned over to me and said, "Mom, they're doing the Nutcracker here tonight!!"

Then... during the candlelight portion... Gavin was warily holding his own candle and decided to hand it to Auntie Heather and let go of it before she had a handle on it! The candle, of course, flipped upside down and landed flame down on her leg! Thankfully no damage was done, except a little wax on her jeans. But Gavin sure let out a gasp for all to hear!

Family Fun Fest

I finally downloaded these pictures from our church's annual Family Fun Fest and pie social in November! The kids had a blast collecting tickets from the booths and turning them in for some fun prizes!

The boys especially fell in love with the Nerf dart guns... which they talked about non-stop. They both opened one for Christmas from Jeremy and I yesterday and are carrying them around this very moment. The only rule? No shooting at people. Has that rule been broken? Of course.

cutie

Last night, my good friend Anita came by for a visit. She's home from seminary for a couple weeks! She and Morgan were sitting on the floor together discussing a mark on Morgan's toe that was put there by a marker. Morgan then lifted her shirt to show her birthmark on her tummy, and said, "I got this one from God!"

Jeremy and I were shocked, we'd never heard her say that before! She's said in the past that we need to wipe it off because she thought it was dirt, and I said it was put there by God! But that was a LONG time ago!

guess what?

I had posted a week ago asking for prayer that the baby would turn head down soon! And that prayer was answered in just one day! I woke up last Monday with the worst pain from our sweet little girl kicking the "exit door" if you know what I mean. It had me doubled over in pain! I had an appointment that afternoon anyways, and my midwife turned her! She lifted Annika's little rear end up while I held her head and she just wiggled and nudged her a bit, and there she went! She said the baby did it mostly by herself. And she has been that way ever since! So now I have little feet kicking me just under my ribs... what a glorious feeling! It was SO cool! She said now that she's head down, it will be trickier for her to move back up to that breach position since her head is the heaviest part of her body! Hooray for an amazing midwife that is so good at what she does!

And thank you, God, for caring for that seeminly minute detail of my life!

Summer revisited

Our good friend David Pavish was over last week for a brief overnight visit, and with him he brought some great pictures he took of the kiddos last June! Ahhh... green grass and sprinklers! But I'm also pretty crazy about snow and candy canes.

rats!

This evening at dinner, Gavin informed me with a sour face that his squash (that was covered in butter and brown sugar) tasted like RATS! too funny! We rented Ratatouille over the weekend, and I think he had rats on the brain.

30 weeks along!

A quick pregnancy update! I'm 30 weeks pregnant today and feeling great! I'm much achier than I was with the first three... I feel like I'm 80 years old getting off the couch! My ligaments complain often! Ouchie!

But I really am doing very well. I go every two weeks now for my prenatal appointments, which makes the weeks fly by! With Christmas just around the corner, I'm sure it will continue to fly by at record speed. Not that I'm in any sort of hurry with my little 3 lb. baby inside!

Please pray that little Miss Annika will turn in the next couple weeks, she's breach, which is no big deal two months out... But it would be nice if she just squirmed and rolled herself downward while she has the room and lots of water to do it in!

We are all getting very excited! And are starting all over in the baby equipment realm! We got rid of every last bit of baby gear after Morgan (except for girl clothes!), because it had already been through three of them, plus we didn't know when we'd have another baby. But I think I've tracked down an almost brand new swing and stroller off of Craigslist! Love it!

I've been in the sewing mode lately as well... I bought some cute flannel today to make several burp cloths and some really fun material to make her two Baby Bonkie look-a-likes! What in the tarnation is a Baby Bonkie??? I saw one in a little store in Kansas City a few weeks ago, but it was $55! So I'm gonna try to copy it and make a couple. It's a swaddling blanket that velcros to keep our newborn snuggly.

Update on Kris & Jen

A lot has happened in the last couple weeks in the life of my sister Jen and her family! So I thought I'd fill you in...

As you know, they moved out of state a few weeks ago. They went to stay with Kris' Mom, Betty in Missouri so they could continue their search for a Youth Pastor job. The day they arrived in Missouri, they received a call from a church in Tennessee that wanted them to come that next weekend for an interview visit! Jen and Kris went and fell in love with the people and the church, and they were hired within a week! SO, they have now moved into a brand new house and now live in Tennessee! Here's a brand new picture of Jen and the boys on their new front porch!

They closed on their beautiful new home last week, and moved in that very day. It has been a hard road for them these past few months, and look how God has incredibly blessed them after their trust and faith in Him. We miss them like crazy, but are SO overjoyed for their new adventure!

Here's a pic of all of the cousins together in August at Grandpa Louie's birthday party!