Arrr. . .there be foul play afoot!

It has not been a full month since Jonas turned 6 so I feel that I am still allowed to post this shot from his Birthday celebration:-)

In our 'easterly' trek from TX to NH we stopped for a visit in Missouri. During our stay there Jonas had his 6th Birthday! It is a little different making a birthday celebration when you are staying in guest house facilities let alone moving across the country, but we pulled it off and he enjoyed his 'pirate' birthday! The above photo is hard to see but the pirate ship cake was the 'booty' at the end of a treasure hunt and from the look on his face it was a good treasure.

For me it was neat to have Jonas' birthday fall on our stop in MO as it was 6 years ago that he was born just 20 minutes away from the NTM training campus! We are so thankful and blessed to have this 'young man' as a part of our family. He is very creative, thoughtful, smart, and 'squirrly', we love the dynamic that he adds to every aspect of our lives.

Thank you Lord for our 6 years (and counting) with our Jonas!

Gingerbread Men

After receiving some "GREAT" comments on the last post it encouraged me to keep up with our blog as we move into the final days of preparation to celebrating CHRISTmas!

These are photos from a little blurp in an afternoon when we decorated cookies with my folks (Beth's). But again it is getting late. . . Jeremy is catching up on some Pats (the Patriots for those that don't follow sports) football games with my Dad, which has been a treat for the both of them (I think:-)

Good night and merry preparations!

Almost 5 months

It's late but I wanted to do a little post and thought that this was a sweet photo of our little Matthias. This whole past year has been a bit of a blur for me and it is wild to think that my baby has already been with us for about 5 months! He is such a happy baby, loves to carry on a good conversation with you and we are so blessed to have our little #4. As many of you with children already know they are all so very different and we love to see and work with the uniqueness that God placed in each of their lives, though challenging at times very worth all the effort.

Presently we are in NH and Jeremy is the interim pastor at Park Street Baptist Church for this coming year. Shortly after the holidays we will be making another move (though hopefully the last one for a while) into the parsonage as we begin that ministry full time.

As there is now less than a weeks time before Christmas is upon us the next few days I am sure will be a flurry of activity and creativity. The kids were able to work with me this afternoon (as Jeremy was out) to get his present prepared . . . so that would be one down and about 4 more to go as I work with each of them to complete various gifts for the holidays. It sure is more work to do things this route (the Homemade one) but the lessons that we are able to model and teach into gift giving far outweigh the extra effort that it requires. We say over and over again that it is the 'thought' that counts but are we truly able to live that out when the opportunity presents itself? That has been a personal challenge to me as well. . . if I am telling them that it is not the dollar factor in a gift that makes it good but the thought and effort to give in reflection of love (it's getting late and this is getting long so I'll wrap it up). Then a homemade gift is very acceptable . . . that means some extra time and thought on my part as well in living that out in our gifts to them. This philosophy has also helped in toning down the commercialism craze that normally goes along with celebrating Christmas which is after all supposed to be the remembrance of our Saviors birth.

52 hours later!!!

Well, (hmmm, I think that I like to start things that way. . . well:) anyhow, we have arrived back in NH safe and sound. The trip was VERY long, and personally I have been very tired and extra thankful for a comfortable bed to catch delicious Zzzz'z. From El Paso, TX to Alton, NH was a total of 52 hours in the vehicle with several (but not too many) stops and a few days in MO to see family but we are here now. Thank you to all that kept us in your prayers, attitudes were great, the baby was a gem, Jeremy stayed awake, we got in some good Christmas carol practice, the dog did NOT get sick, the heat (finally) came on (thank you Lord for that miracle) and the list goes on!

The above photo was taken on one of our final outings around the city as we were down town visiting the Mercado (open air market). Good-bye Mexico (for now) it was crazy, fun, exciting, tearful, and an amazing time that we are privileged to have in our lives and memories!