Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Cards Past

I thought it would be fun to post all of our past Christmas card photos this year.  I do not know how I managed to get a decent card with the old hit-the-timer-and-run camera.  We only got a choice of 24 or 36, and had to get them developed even!  There would always be one clown making faces throughout the whole roll!  Even now, with digital, I took about 100 photos and not one is "perfect"!  But they make great memories. We skipped some years due to having babies or moving.

Our first Christmas with our first baby: (We didn't do cards that year, but here is Christmas Day 1995)

1998:

2000:

2001:

2002:

2003:

2005:

2007:

2008:

2009:

I tried different things. 

In front of the holly next door, with the dog:

In front of the palm tree (California Christmas Tree):

 

 

 

 

 

The final cut:

 

Operation Christmas Child

A couple of weekends ago, my two oldest and I went down south to work in an Operation Christmas Child processing center.  For several years now, we have filled shoeboxes to send to needy kids around the world.  This year, friends of ours are volunteers in the organization and invited us to be a part of this great ministry.  We worked for a few hours going through the shoeboxes taking out anything perishable or breakable and made sure they were full enough.  If not, there were extra things to add to the box.  Some of the boxes were so full of great stuff, while others had very little in them.  The kids will also get a gospel booklet in their language.  Here are a few pics:

This man, named Jim, helped us with our many questions. 

Assembly lines:

Time Capsule: Sneak Peak

In one month from today we get to open our time capsule.  I can't believe it has already been 10 years!  When I packed it up, I had 4 kids under 5.  The kids can't wait.  I didn't let them see what I put in it, and they are convinced that they will find some of their long lost toys in there.  It is only a big shoebox, so there is not much in there.  I know of a few things, and honestly, it isn't all that exciting, but I am sure I can't remember everything I put in there!  We have carried the box around with us through 4 different moves.  If I had know I would be blogging about it, I would have made it look prettier.  If you have not done a time capsule, now is a good time!  If your kids will be out of the house in 10 years, it will be a good time to bring them all home for the event.  We will be making another one this January, to be opened in 2020! My youngest will almost be 18!  So stay tuned, on January 1, 2010 we will open the time capsule! Here is the ugly thing unopened and dusty.  I covered our last name with the bookmark.

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday was our 17th wedding anniversary!  We had a wonderful time of Christmas shopping and going out to dinner. That's what you do when you get married on Thanksgiving weekend. :)  Here we are at our wedding reception back in November, 1992 in Oregon:

One of the stores we went to yesterday was Costco, "just to see what toys they have".  It was almost closing time, so we didn't have much time, but we found this cute thing:

It is an advent calendar.  Each of the houses have numbered little doors that open.  Even the top of the chimney and the little trees have doors.  I am supposed to fill them with surprises.  Some of the kids' ideas are candy, money, or Lego people.  I better hurry!

Here is the front door open, number 13.  We usually just buy the $1 one with the awful chocolate.  This will be much more fun.  It is just made of styrofoam poster board stuff, but if we are careful, it will last for years. It was only $15!  We placed it on our piano.  I'll probably change it a bit.  The red glass doesn't go.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

I got the idea from my friend Daisy , though I should have thought of it myself.   Thanks, Daisy :)

I'm thankful for....

~ Jesus & being forgiven

~ my husband

~ my family

~ children still at home

~ homeschooling

~ cool weather

~ the holidays

~ friends

~ hot tea

~ our home

~ plenty of food

~ dark chocolate

~ popcorn

~ our church

~ email

~ my camera

~ my bed

~ good health

~ our books

~ our computer

~ laughing children

~ camping

~ the beach

~ the mountains

~ the giant trees

~ Thanksgiving at my house

~ and that I don't have to kill then pluck the feathers off the turkey like the woman in the picture is about to go do.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

10 years old!

We had another birthday today!  B is 10 years old!  Here are a few pictures of my cutie pie.

Brand new.  How 'bout that hair!:

8 months:

3 years old, camping in Yosemite:

Age 3 years:

6 years old:

7 years old:

Ten years old!  Getting a Build a Bear puppy whom he named Dusty: 

Baptized!

Our youngest got baptized today!  She is 7 years old, and she decided to follow Jesus in August.  Almost right away she asked about being baptized all on her own.  So when our church announced the first baptism day since then, we signed her up.  She went to a class to make sure she understood that it wasn't being baptized that saves you, only Jesus can do that.  But it is an outward symbol of becoming a Christian, and obedience to God.  So here are a couple of pictures.

Going down....

 Coming up, a new beginning!

Seven Years

I have been a Mom for over 14 years now.  A young mom recently asked me if it gets easier.  It  made me realize just how much my family has changed.  In the first 7 years, I had 5 babies. By the time our youngest was born, the children were 7, 5, 3, & 2.  I changed diapers constantly for almost 10 years.  I was either nursing or pregnant for 10 years!  We started our homeschool. 

2002:

Look at that mischievous face! Still the same after all these years!

In the next 7 years, we moved to another area.  We bought our first house.  We have 5 kids in school.  We have a highschooler!  The kids are now 14, 13 (there have been a few birthdays), 11, 9 & 7.  Wow. They are a huge help around the house. They are becoming more independent and are learning a lot.  And they love the Lord. We all still have a lot to learn, but we are learning together.

 In 7 more years, they will be 14 - 21!  So I am going to enjoy them more than ever.  When they are young, it feels like we will be a mom of littles forever.  Even now, I can't imagine life without them in my home.  But the time will come when they move on and get their own homes and families.  I can hardly bear the thought.  But with God's help, I will continue to train and prepare them for that time, so that they are strong in the Lord and ready for what God has for them.

Here they are last summer, 2009:

Horse Therapy

My 9yo son has low muscle tone.  For the past few years, he has received hippotherapy, that is, therapy on horseback.  This year he has graduated to "vaulting".  Vaulting is when they do various moves while the horse is moving.  It is really neat to watch a trained vaulter!  Here are some pictures of my son.  He is just beginning, and a bit scared, but he is getting more used to it every time.

Turning around:

Tadaa!:

Sunset at the Beach

We went to the beach in August.  It was cold and foggy, but oh so nice to get out of this heat (it was 101 on the first day of fall).  We stayed three nights and each night my 9yos wanted to go to the beach to see the sunset. But we knew that with the fog  we would not get much of a show.  On the last night, he asked again.  And it happened to be 5 minutes before sunset according to our handy dandy tide book.  Everyone thought it would be too foggy, so just my two youngest and I went.  And this is what we saw.

Well, I couldn't pick just one!  Isn't God awesome to give us this for our delight? To Him the glory!!