christmas 2015 - part 1

Christmas has now come and gone, and we are about to celebrate the new year, but that doesn't mean I can't look back on all the fun we had.

We started celebrating early this year.  With my family, it worked out better to celebrate the Monday before Christmas.  After church on Sunday, we loaded up and headed back to my home.  We were greeted with a full house and good food.  Everyone was able to be home for Christmas.  Even Uncle Joe!

The kids played so well together.  Now that we don't get to see them all the time, the kids like to make up for lost time and don't waste much time fighting.  The adults played too.  We filled the afternoon with lots of games and snacks.  Our family favorite "Fishbowl" game even made an appearance.

Everybody was up bright an early the next morning.  Even those who didn't want to be! Ha!  Uncle Joe commented how hanging out with family always stressed the importance of abstinence!  I'm glad we could help.

Christmas pajamas!  I love it! They're close enough to the same size that I was able to order a two pack for Target for these guys.

This guy joined the party a little bit later after a nap.  He's pretty cool stuff in his new hat and glasses.

And we had some little Divas running around too.

 Thank you Grammy for the kazoos!  What beautiful music they make with them.

 I'm sure you can imagine what this picture sounded like.

After stockings, we slowly made our way through opening all the presents.  We like to take turns and see what everyone gets.  This year, girls bought for girls and boys for boys.  The catch was that we put a $5 limit on the gift.  Everyone got pretty creative.

A real bad guy!  He definitely thought Darth Vadar was pretty cool.

 And a Hulk Costume has been on his wish list for quite some time!  Hulk SMASH!

The rest of the day was filled with lots of playing and eating.  Grammy surprised us girls with massages already scheduled for that day.  So after putting everyone down for a nap, we headed to Parsons for a massage!  It was wonderful!  I think I need to do that a little more regularly!

We headed home that evening and discovered the next morning that we were passing around a stomach bug that weekend.  Some of us had a rough 24 hours, but it was a short-lived sickness and didn't interfere with much of the Christmas break!

What a blessing it is to have family with which to celebrate and enjoy Christmas!

merry christmas 2015

“Uneventful” is an adjective we used to describe 2015, as we reflected upon the year together. After last year, we were ready for an uneventful year. Late February and early March brought about a big change for us with the closing of our church. Our church had played such an important role as we started our lives and our family together. We’re still thankful for the life and growth we experienced while we were a part of Mystery Church. March brought about another big change as well. After a lot of thought and prayer, and a trip to the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, we decided to let go of our dream of full-time coffee business, and we set out to sell our coffee roasting company. With little effort, we were able to sell it. Just a couple of days ago I thought, “I’m so glad we did it…and I’m so glad to be done.” I figure that’s a good place to be. In April, Abigail and I celebrated 6 years of marriage with a romantic 15.5 mile trail run through the woods of north-central Oklahoma. We ended the anniversary weekend watching the sun rise together…on US Highway 412, as we drove east to meet Ivan and Abigail’s parents at the Freeman Emergency Room. Thankfully, he only had the croup.

​We were thankful to have what seemed to be the first laid back, restful summer that we can remember. We spent some time with friends in St. Louis and enjoyed the zoo and the industrial playground of the city museum. We were also able to enjoy some vacation time with both of our families in Branson and Kansas City. Amos turned 4 in July. His attention to detail and conscientious nature really remind us of someone (Hint: not me). He is incredibly curious and full of wonder. It is cool to see him begin to soak in the story of God’s love for us in Jesus and ask us questions, and come up with songs of his own, and say things that we would never imagine.

​By the middle of the summer, we had begun to settle into a new church: Christ’s Church of Joplin. We are incredibly thankful for this place, and are amazed to see God provide this community of people, that we would have moved a long way to be a part of, right here in Joplin. August began another change, as I started a new job at the high school. We had begun asking God to provide some kind of change in my job last December, and we are very thankful for the change. It has definitely been my most enjoyable year of teaching. Abigail also started officially teaching Amos during his pre-school year in August. She is such a gifted teacher, and it is exciting to see her reallyget to put her gift to use in more tangible ways again. She is looking at the possibility of starting classical Christian education with Amos in the fall. I said the only downside I see to this is that my whole family will soon be smarter than me.

​We have continued to make some very slow progress on projects with our house. In September, however, we had to very quickly put on a new roof in one weekend, with some much-appreciated help from family and friends. Also, Abigail can’t stand odd numbers, so we decided to bring the number of children to a nice round number of four. We are expecting this new addition in May. Silas turned three in the month of October. Silas is good-natured, laid back, and has a distinct turtle-like slowness, which, again, reminds us of someone (Hint: not Abigail). And Ivan turned one in November. Ivan seems to require a bit more attention than either of his brothers. He also may be a bit of a daredevil. He already lost his first tooth diving off of the couch at 10 months.

​As I look back at the year, all we’ve done, and all God has done, I just think, “Wow. I’m glad to be here. Sometimes life is really difficult, sometimes it’s enjoyable; sometimes I feel great about things, sometimes I feel stuck in despair. But God is so good and so faithful in the midst of this changing life and world. We might be awkward extras in the play of God’s great redemptive story, but we’re here. And we get to be a part of it. Let us receive whatever You’ve given us with astounded gratefulness, and faithfully play the part You’ve called us to.”

Lastly, last week we found out that we have a healthy baby...

...coming in May!!

 

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my three little wisemen...

- Silver Dollar City -

We wanted to make it to Silver Dollar City once while they had all the lights up and decorated for Christmas.  We had planned on a Sunday, but when the weather was predicted to make a drastic change, we quickly decided upon last Saturday instead.

I was worried that the place would be packed and unbearable.  Luckily, everybody didn't show up until around 5 when we were just about to head home.

The swings seem to always be our first stop.  Dad got to go around twice with his favorite riders.

And we stood on the sidelines cheering them on.  Ivan was all ready to be a part of it.  Luckily, he was pretty entertained by trying to climb up the hill to get to the fence.

We always pack sack lunches,to save money, but also our boys prefer a PBJ over anything that SDC offers anyway.  The day was perfect to enjoy our meal outside.

We don't always ride the train,but today they were running two, so the wait was pretty short.  We decided to give it a whirl, and everyone was a fan!

 And we were sure to catch Frosty.  We didn't know that the kids would get to go up on stage, so it was treat when they got to watch Frosty come alive from up close.

 We thought that Amos was big enough to ride this one by himself, so I sent all three to ride it.  We must have misunderstood, because he wasn't.  Luckily it worked out that there was an extra adult willing to ride with him.  Here they all come on the "fast" rollercoaster.

And this one did AWESOME all day.  Even with only a short cat nap on the way down!  He loved taking it all in.

-Christmas cookies and Lights-

Friday night we headed to Carthage to catch The Way of Salvation light show.  The boys LOVED it.  We let them get out of the their seats and take a better view with us.  David and Goliath was definitely a favorite.

 And because it was 70 degrees out, we finished with icecream!

On Sunday we made Christmas cookies.  They weren't at all excited about it.

 Yep, Ivan helped too.  We shared them with our mailman and story group!  I think we did pretty good.

-Three Wisemen-

This is our last week of school before break time!  It was all about the three kings bringing their gifts to THE KING.  We made crowns, dressed up and had a blast.  But we also talked about Needs vs. Wants this week (very fitting), and bought gifts for each other at the Dollar Tree.

Our plan is to gift our kiddos with three gifts too.  As I was explaining the plan to Amos, he was very adamant that he didn't want any frankincense!

-Santa-

This picture cracks me up. Silas and Ivan are not sure about that guy.  And Amos is cheesing it up for the toy in his bag.

This one maybe better displays their true sentiments!

-Wrestling-

Jason took both boys on a Daddy date last night and left this one home with me.  The older two ate out with Dad and then went to a highschool wrestling meet.  When they got home, they were ready to take on Dad.  They were definitely feeling pretty tough.

We enjoyed our quieter evening at home and some time together.  

my three little shepherds...

- Family Pictures - 

I like to wait until the littlest is one before we pay anyone to take pictures of our family.  I feel like it gives a better picture of who they will always be.  Plus, they are a little more cooperative.  A little.  

The day turned out great and Aaron Wilcox was just the man we needed for the job.  He was quick with the camera, and we got everything we needed before everyone melted down.  The boys did great.  It may have helped that I bribed them to wear exactly what I picked out and to smile with the promise of ice cream afterwards!  It worked!

Here are some of our favorites:

This guy couldn't get much cuter.

 We tried to stand together and then...

...we fell, and then...

... we got real life.  Silas LOVES his brother.

Si was sure to show off his cool tatoo!

And when did Amos get so old?  Is this his senior picture??

- Shepherds -

On Tuesday we loaded everything up early to head to Ft. Scott and visit the Eden farm.  Everyone and everything was in the car, except for the keys.  Aah!  I ended up breaking into our house, grabbed the keys and then hit the road.

The Corcoran's joined in the fun too! We couldn't be more excited to spend a day with friends.  They have all kinds of cool things that we don't - like cows and big swings and secret trees to hide with your friend behind.  Scout and Amos normally have to warm-up to each other a little bit, but not this time, they were in full swing from the second we arrived to the hug that knocked each other over once we left.  

After Rachel treated us to the works for lunch, we put on our Shepherd attire and went to hunt for some sheep.  Scout needed us to know that we could go look, but there weren't any sheep at his house.  Luckily, they did know a family down the road that just had a baby lamp and let us come and "find" him.  

We found other animals while there too!  Ivan was most impressed with the pig.  He kept laughing at it.

The kittens were a favorite too!  Luckily, the family has kids, so all the animals seemed pretty use to lots of loving attention.

 And just because...

- Giving -

As Amos is making connections and figuring out the whole Christmas thing, we wanted giving to be a BIG part of what we do at Christmas time.  We brainstormed some ideas on how to do that and this year we are keeping it simple by choosing an angel off the Salvation Army Angel tree.  I'll spare you the conversation details that followed Amos learning we were taking our gifts to the Salvation Army (do they use guns?) but he was pretty excited about the whole thing.  They chose the little boy and we all went shopping together. 

I was cringing inside the entire time he was cutting, but he made it all the way across!!!

And, of course, a bow on every present!

  

This guy was a BIG help, at my feet, pulling on my pants the whole time.

 Bows are serious.

- School Activities - 

Visiting the farm was definitely the highlight of our school week, but we've had a lot of fun making candy cane shepherds staffs, drawing our own shepherds and making a shepherd's flute to play in the evenings.

- Playing Outside - 

Can you believe the weather we've been having?  Neither can we?  We've been outside for large chunks of the day all week long.  We've been soaking it up as we know the real cold will eventually get here.  Definitely a nice change at the beginning of winter!  Now, bring on the snow - we're ready to build snowmen.