Christmas 2008

Christmas Eve, writing to Santa.

Can't forget the carrots for the reindeer and cookies and milk for Santa!

Christmas morning, Santa really came through, a stuffed bunny, that looks just like the real thing, just what she asked for!

I wish I could remember what we thought was sooo funny.

Coco butter for the tummy the perfect stocking stuffer for me.

Waffles for breakfast, with strawberries and whipped cream, and sparkling white grape juice. A breakfast celebration of Jesus' birth.

Santa didn't forget "the Bump"

Lil'Bit taking a picture with her new digital camera. And compacting the wrapping paper bucket at the same time.

One of my favorite gifts. This summer Lil'Bit and I did a fair for my dad one day. While we were there I cut some stock and gave Lil'Bit one of the pieces I had cut to do her own pencil art work on. It's hard to make out in this photo but this is the piece she decorated. I expected that my father would have sanded it down and sold it, but he finished it and made it into a coat rack for us. It is a tangible memory of a wonderful summer day with my girl. Thank you Dad!

It's been a month since Christmas but the memories are still fresh. I hope you enjoyed a delayed account of our holiday.

Lizzy's Birthday

(picture out of sequence, should be last) A separate birthday dinner with Grandma and Grandpa with a concert from Lit'Bit before dessert. They weren't able to make the party because Great Grandma was in the hospital. We missed them, but did enjoy this chance to have them all to ourselves for a special dinner. (Please pray for Great Grandma's swift recovery from her setback this month.)

Here's our girl on her Birthday. We can't believe she's already 4! Does she look a little bit anxious in this picture???


This was why. A little story about a sneaky/giving/loving "Auntie Twinkles" - Since Lil'Bits birth Gr'Auntie Twinkles (my Aunt) has been wondering (pestering) about when she would get her ears pierced. Did I mention that Gr'Auntie Twinkles is a jeweler? We have always said that when Lil'Bit asked (and means it) she could have them done. So here's the Sneaky part. Gr'Auntie Twinkles gave Lil'Bit a pair of diamond ("twinkles" as we call them) for Christmas / her birthday. Funny how a pair of twinkles makes a girl wish she had some holes in her head to wear them in!

"Lil'Bit did it hurt?" - "It pinched a little, but it was worth it!"

She didn't cry or fuss, just smiled and enjoyed the veiw in the mirror.

The Birthday Party!

Pizza for dinner. Eaten on her new picnic table from Aunt A, Uncle T and the cuz's.

Ripping into the reason why our basement was cleaned recently. When you give a girl a bike for her birthday, in January, providing a clear route to ride it around the basement is a necessary part of the gift.

Her cake- She was very specific about the kind of cake we should make for her. A lemon cake with strawberry filling, strawberry frosting, and strawberry and blueberry decoration. And since we had a little snowman theme going I make it into a snowman too.

Almost got them all out with one breath!

The gift from Memer and Grampa, her very own American Girl doll, along with a lovely wardrobe.

All the Cuz's! We made snowman crafts. My little project the week before the party was the snowman hats for all the kids.

We had a wonderful time with the family celebrating Lil'Bits birthday and her precious life. Happy Birthday to our Baby Girl, whether 4 of 44 she'll always be our baby!

Ultrasound Jan 19th

It's been a LONG time since I've posted. I have wanted to and there has been so much that has happened since Thanksgiving! I just couldn't seem to find the time. Well today I'm at my parents house and with their high speed connection I was able to quickly upload some photos. So here's one of the fun things we've been up too.

We had an ultrasound yesterday. We're almost 5 months along now. Only four more months until we get to meet Lil'Bits brother or sister! Here is he or she, we are not going to find out the baby's gender.

We like surprises!
Lil'Bit got the camera and took some great pictures.

She liked to play with the goo on my belly.

It was great to see our littlest one, who's been bumping me and any hand on my belly. May 22 isn't very long from now. Time is flying by!

Busy and Blessed

Our long Thanksgiving weekend has been WONDERFUL! We have had so much fun, loved being together with family, enjoyed sooo much food, and have been reminded of many blessings we have to be thankful for.

Here Izzy is giving a violin concert to the family, her Great Grandma is getting an up close and personal performance.
One of the greatest blessings in the family, Great Grandma S. A few months ago her health was failing fast. But, since then she has made great progress. -Answered prayers.- This woman has such resilience, strength, and perseverance, I'm proud to be her GrandDaughterInLaw.

The concert continues for the family.

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For some reason I didn't get any pictures of us eating... Seems unlikely since we did so much eating, but I guess I was just to busy stuffing myself to pick up the camera!

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We also spent Friday night visiting with some wonderful friends who we have missed dearly. I didn't take any pictures. I wish I did! They have two "big" girls (8 and 15??) who Izzy thinks the world of. And a 6 month old baby girl. She's soooooo sweet, it made me impatient for our little one to be ready to join the world. I can't wait! If you see this post Thank you for having us over. We had so much fun catching up and hanging out with you!~
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Now Saturday back at Grama and Grampa's house...

Daddy and Grampa had some things to do around the house outside, including getting the snowmobiles ready, as you can see, the snow must have teased them into action. But that's not the fun stuff...

Time for a tarp ride....
"Whooohoooo, Go Daddy, Faster!"
"That was Awesome! Lets do it again!"
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Leaving Grama and Grampa's house is never easy but a trip to one of our favorite outdoor stores in Freeport helped soften the sadness.

Neat new aquarium- "Here fishy, fishy, fishy"

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And today after a lovely morning at church and a few errands we went to cut down our Christmas tree. Yippy! 'Tis the season to be jolly, makes me feel so happy to celebrate Jesus' birthday with traditions, songs, and family and friends.

How to pick the perfect tree, One of our family tradition....

Pose for a family photo op,

Now stop and taste the snowflakes!,

Get out a hand saw (Chain Saws are cheating), everyone takes a turn,
Timber!
Time to haul it back to the van. Notice Momma's out of this job this year. Our little girl is growing up and so strong. Have you seen her muscles??? hehehe

Ok Time to pose for another family photo,

And here it is the last picture. What tree cutting adventure would be complete without a thermos full of hot coaco?

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And to top off our FANTASTIC weekend we went and had some great fellowship with friends at church for a Singsparational, singing favorite hymns, listening to gifted musicians, and eating yummy treats!
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I know I posted a ton of pictures. Early to bed for everyone but me tonight. So I've had all the time in the world to play here on the blog. Hope I haven't overwhelmed you with photos!

All About Hubby

We only got home from our Thanksgiving travels last night. So I haven't had the chance to post answers to these great questions. Not a dial up excuse! :-) Here it is, all about my handsome, helpful, strong, loving.... hubby!

1. Where did you meet? We worked 80 hrs a week together at an airport.
2. How long did you date? We dated about 5 years.

3. How long have you been married? 5 years!

4. What does he say that surprises you? That I'm even more attractive to him pregnant

5. What is your favorite feature of his? His calm persistence

6. What is your favorite quality of his? His integrity

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Ama
8. What is his favorite color? Green

9. What is his favorite food? My cookies, he says the're the reason why he married me!

10. What is his favorite sport? Hmmmm, skiing

11. When and where did you first kiss? Sitting on the tailgate of my truck.

12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Hiking.
13. Do you have any children? "Izzy" (almost 4) and "The Bump" (3 months in utero)

14. Does he have a hidden talent? He can juggle
15. How old is he? 32.
16. Who said, "I love you" first? He did.

17. What is his favorite type of music? Blues/ Folk
18. What do you admire most about him? He love's people (including me;-) unconditionally
19. Do you think he will read this? He's reading it right now!

Warm and Cozy!

Exciting, Warm news today. We have our new chimney and stove installed and running! Yeah! It's been a long home improvement project and there were a lot of snags for poor hubby along the way. But now we've got a warm and toasty house without the crazy expense of oil heat! Gotta love tee shirts inside when it's 30 degrees outside. Thank you soooooo much for all your hard work Hubby!


















ps, can someone tell me how to put pictures in order. I couldn't swap these around and they are backwards. The first pictures should be the building and grouting of the hearth pad.

A Happy Halloween

I'm just going to jump into posting and skip any introductions...

We had a lovely time last night trick-or-treating. Lil'bit enjoyed "flying" her space shuttle around the neighborhood and filling up the cargo hold. This was the first year Daddy didn't have to work a Halloween evening. So it was great to go all together this year.