Christmas Was Special

We had the whole crew here for Christmas plus some extras. We were blessed to have Nathan and his new bride, Hannah, with us from Texas for two weeks during Christmas. Along with them, Hannah's sister, Stacey, and their friend (Nathan's former roommate), Andrew, joined us. We were 17 altogether. Can you find all of the children in the picture? Mom and Dad are not in that picture. Lots of big dinners and fellowship. Thanks to Beth's great organization and hospitality, coupled with lots of helping hands from the family, we were able to eat well. Besides that, our children were introduced to a few new games, like a variation of scrabble called speed scrabble. This was Hannah's first visit at her new in-law's home, and so we were filled with joy to have her here. Preceding them by two weeks, Katie surprised us by flying home in early December. She had been in Texas for two months working at ALERT. We so enjoyed having her home, and appreciated all the help she gave us with all the goings on around the house. Our Stephen took a liking to Stacey, and Johanna took a liking to Andrew, so that was fun to watch.

We trust your Christmas celebrations were a joyous time for you with family, and centered on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Abby lights the Advent candle~by Beth

Another Advent season at Tamiami means lighting the Advent candle. Here Abigail lights her first candle. She may have done it last year with one of her sisters, but not by herself. Her brothers are in the background in the front row. You can also see two of the new windows the park put in this summer. We were very surprised at all the improvements when we returned this fall. It all started with a roof leak and lead to a new tin roof (not flat anymore but with pitch), new entry, new windows and doors, some new improvements in the kitchen, opening up some doorways, and moving one door. It looks really updated and nice. I am trying not to covet the kitchen!

A Field Trip~by Beth

I did it. I actually took the kiddos on a museum field trip this past week. I had tickets for our local hands-on museum and thought I better redeem them before time ran out. The above photo is of Emma doing a weather forecast. There is a closed circuit camera and tv that allows the children to see themselves doing the weather. Emma did a fine job. I helped her with placing all the icons for the different weather. It is quite unusual to have snow in Minnesota and a hurricane in the Gulf at the same time. The children also got to see gravity in motion with various tracks and balls, air, clouds, a thunderstorm, wind tunnel, and a live demonstration of feeding the sting rays. We also were able to get to a show that featured a python, some sort of frog, and an alligator which they all got to touch. Can anyone say "Hand Sanitizer?" We had a nice time and even stopped for a quick lunch on the way home.

Abigail's 4th Birthday~by Beth

The day after Nathan was married was Abigail's 4th birthday. While all the relatives were around, like Grandparents and a great Aunt and a great Uncle, we had a little celebration. Here is our beautiful Abigail.

Caleb and Joel are both Referees~by Beth

Last August Caleb took the referee course to become a certified, Florida soccer referee. He passed his test, ordered his uniform and got on the roster of refs. Here is a photo of my two guys headed to Caleb's first game as a ref.

A Fall dinner~by Beth

Just before we left for Nathan's wedding, I cooked up our great big pumpkin that was gracing our table. I froze all the cooked pumpkin for future use and made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for the trip. When I got home I made a yummy fall dinner of pumpkin soup, generally liked by most, and some fresh baked rolls. It looked so fallish with the seasonal table cloths, decorations and candles. I just had to take a photo. Kind of reminds me of Abby Anderson posts :-) I also made a delicious chocolate pie from a recipe I found in a magazine. It turned out wonderfully. It was so rich it was a good thing that we all only got a thin slice.
So, here was our dinner last week. It took me until now to get the camera unloaded with all the computer trouble we had at the end of the summer. I hope to update with some other photos. That will have to wait for another day.

Nathan's Wedding

We arrived home early on Monday morning after attending Nathan's wedding. It was very beautiful and both brides in this double wedding looked beautiful. We had six members of the family be a part of the ceremony, including Jon who was the officiant of the service. After a cold, rainy week, the heavens opened up to sun and warm temperatures for a perfect wedding day. It was still very chilly for the pictures at 8 A.M., but by an hour before the ceremony our jackets and sweaters all came off. We are beginning to get some great pictures off facebook. Of course our photographer has a slew of pictures that we will get after she edits them all and Nathan and Hannah get back from their honeymoon.

We arrived in Big Sandy on Wednesday last week. Nathan and Hannah had planned all our dinners and lunches for the entire time we were in TX, including the night of their wedding! That was a blessing. There were so many involved in some way in making this day happen. We are so grateful for everyone's help. Johanna was a wonderful flower girl. She was always at Nathan or Hannah's side, even after they ran through the bubble line on their way to change to leave. I made her come back to me. It was bittersweet to see them drive off. I was happy for them, but sad to say goodbye. That night all my family and Katie left along with a good portion of the folks that came for the wedding, so the dorm where we stayed was quite empty and quiet. That was depressing. After so much noise and activity it was like the air went out of a balloon and everything felt flat. We got up at 4 A.M. to pack up to leave. Of course it took us nearly two hours to actually get on the road, but we made it home in 19.5 hours, which is pretty amazing. Jon and Joel had to get to work and college the next morning. I have gotten most of the unpacking and washing done, and nearly everything put away. Now to look forward to Christmas when Nathan, Hannah and Katie will be coming home. Yea!!!!