December 2013

It is hard to believe that December has COME and GONE! 

Here is a little bit of a recap of the month.  It was a whirlwind, it seemed! 

It is a tradition in our church to have a Youth Nativity play. 

Cael had a little bit of a speaking part in it and it was so cute! We practiced and he was ready for the night of the performance. Here is a picture of him and a few kids in his Sunday School class. 

We went caroling with our church and youth group kids.  I thought this was such a great evening. The weather wasn't too cold and it was such a heart warming experience to walk around our church's town and sing to people.  Oh and there also was a gorgeous FULL moon this night!

Christmas Eve

My family has a long standing tradition of being together on Christmas Eve. I have very vivid memories of my family being together and the kids running wild while the adults sat around and chit chatted. That is exactly what it was like for us this year as well.

 At one moment, this Christmas Eve, I remember standing back and just observing our son enjoying time with his cousins and his family. My heart was filled with so much joy knowing he will have these memories for the rest of his life!

Here is a picture of the Cousins and their jammies on Christmas Eve right before we shipped them off to bed. 

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was pretty low key for us. We loved every minute of that though. It was so fun to have Cael wake up and notice that his cookies, veggies and milk were gone. Then to watch his face light up when he put two and two together that Santa had come. He was super excited to see what was left for him under the tree. 

Year of: TOY STORY! 

Books!

and Monster Trucks! 

 All crazy gift giving, food eating, story telling, busy-ness aside...

We made sure that this was the 

REASON FOR THE SEASON! 

Family

We loved having playmates around for a few days while the cousins were here visiting.  We spent a lot of time together and I don't think Cael minded one bit! 

Grave Digger is his favorite Monster Truck!

A HUGE Crane!

 One day while daddy was home on break, they bundled up and went for a "hike".  They walked to the pond and built a snowman. This adventure was a HIT!  He couldn't stop talking about his snowman and how much fun he had with his daddy.  

Over Christmas Break we also celebrated a very special daddy's birthday! 

Have I mentioned just how much I love this guy and seeing him be the best daddy in the world makes that love grow even deeper. 

Christmas sometimes overshadows this guy's special day. Each year, I try to make it as special as I can. We got daddy a few small gifts and we visited our favorite family restaurant! According to him his birthday was "perfect".  

Happy New Year! 

We also ushered in a brand NEW YEAR! 

A year that is full of all sorts of happenings. 

There are some days I get quite overwhelmed with what is ahead in this new year. 

I also have moments of grief over the year behind us. 

God knows what is ahead. He has provided for our every need in more ways than we can count already, we know that the days ahead will be no different. 

Our prayer for  

2014

is for 

Clarity

Direction

Prosperity 

God is holding every moment in his hands to be given to us at a very specific day and time. He knows how the puzzle fits together. He is working out a greater plan that we can't even comprehend right now. 

We will choose Joy. 

We will choose to TRUST Him no matter what. 

We will choose to accept his perfect, pleasing will for our lives. 

In the mean time, we cherish every single minute with the miracle we have been given. 

Here's to making more wonderful memories in 2014!

CHEERS!