Eight is Great!

Things have been a little busy around here! I can't believe Addie has already had a birthday, but I still haven't blogged about Emma's birthday!

My sweet Emma is eight years old now! EIGHT!!! Can you believe it?

Emma's birthday was the first day back to school after Christmas break. She was pretty bummed about that. When she got home, we took her out to her favorite restaurant (Los Tres Amigos) for a birthday fiesta. :) Her favorite part was when the waiter came out with a bunch of others and sang "Happy Birthday" to her in Spanish, and gave her a big sombrero to wear. It was fun.

After dinner, we went home and had cake and present time. I think she learned that having a birthday on a school day can still be fun. :)

My happy eight year old! The waiter put whipped cream all over her face. :)

Emma opening the watch we got her.

Christmas Morning

I took a little unscheduled blogging break. We were just enjoying the wonderful Christmas season, getting over the flu, having a birthday, and getting back into the swing of things. I'll post about that all in good time, but for now I wanted to share our Christmas morning with you.

Christmas eve was a great time at my parent's house. My brother and his family came out and we had a lot of fun with presents, playing the wii, and I went sledding with all the kids. Fun times!

Poor Josie was the first to come down with the flu. Christmas eve (3am) she woke up and was sick. The rest of Christmas day she has a temp of 103.8, but was no longer queasy. She didn't let her fever stop her. She enjoyed Christmas morning, then went back to bed for the rest of the day.

We all slept in to almost 9am (crazy, right?), and all the girls wanted to do was hear the end of the advent story, Jotham's Journey that we have been reading every night for the advent season. If you guys are looking for a great book, seriously go buy this one. It was all 5 of our favorite part of the Christmas season this year.

After our story, we had a leisurely breakfast, until my dad couldn't take it anymore. "Who has ever heard of children who don't want to open their Christmas gifts? It's after 11AM!!!"

Well, I actually thought that was cool. The focus of this season wasn't the presents. It never is the presents, and I think the kids are getting it. My dad was just teasing anyhow. :)

The girls cuddling on Christmas morning.

Our Advent "wreath". Not really a wreath, but they were Josh's grandmother's candle sticks, and I thought that was pretty special.

The gang all waiting for me to finish taking pictures so they could eat. :)

I love this picture. The girls were all so excited for each other as they opened gifts. Look at Emma in the back. She seems more excited than Josie! (That could have been because of the flu.)

Was to Certain Poor Shepherds

The World in Solemn Stillness Lay

All is Calm. All is Bright.

Christmas Traditions

I remember when I was growing up, the day after Thanksgiving was just as fun as Thanksgiving itself! Black Friday, you ask? No way! If you even knew my mother, you would know that shopping would never be on her list of fun activities. I am speaking of the lesser known of traditions (unless you live in the Livingston County area) of the Fantasy of Lights Parade!

My parents home town hosts a Christmas parade every year to usher in the Christmas season, complete with Santa Claus himself riding on the last float, going to the county court house to light the Christmas tree. It is very cute small town fun, even though this small town is now a large one. :)

My family has started it's own tradition as well. The Sunday evening after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree. We invite some students and staff who haven't gone home for their Thanksgiving break to join us, and it is a lot of fun! This year was a smaller group, but just as fun. With the weather being so warm that weekend, Josh was able to hang a lot of outdoor lights this year too! It looks so cheery. I love it.

Here is one of the floats in the fantasy of lights parade. One of the requirements for the parade is that your float must contain at least 5,000 lights!

We were able to meet up with former student, and long time friend Jenna. This was probably the most exciting thing about the evening because we haven't seen Jenna since March! She is one busy girl!

I gave the camera to one of the students to take pictures, so I have about a thousand pictures of ornaments, and hardly any of people. he he

This was Addie's first year she was able to hang the star! She is growing up so fast.

ARRRRR Matey!

The week of the Turkey Bowl, we have a "spirit week" at our school. These are just fun days where the college students dress up as ___ (their favorite Bible character, superhero, hillbilly, nerd, you name it). Well, on Friday it was "Ninja vs. Pirate"day. Addie SO wanted to dress up, so we made her into a little pirate. (Team Pirate all the way!)

I must say, she made the cutest pirate ever!

This pirate scowl is complete with a nasty scar! :)

No shivering timbers here. This pirate has nice sturdy sea legs instead of a peg leg.

You have to wear some of your pirate booty, right?

Now all this little pirate needs is a ship!

Turkey Bowl 2010

The Saturday before Thanksgiving holds a tradition here at New Tribes Bible Institute. It is the day of our annual Turkey Bowl!

The Turkey Bowl is a staff vs. students football game where the students remind the staff that they are all old. Remember Turkey Bowl 2008? Well, that was the closest we ever got to winning since we have been on staff!

This year was supposed to be different though. This was the year that we had the interns on our team. These guys are still in their early 20's, at the peak of football playing age. Surely they could help the staff be victorious this year, right?

Well, that was the plan anyhow...

The staff are in black. Why is no one catching this guy!!!

Joshy, you're lookin good!

I like this photo for two reasons. #1 The student in the back looks like he is about to face plant #2 It was our only touchdown of the whole game.

Why are these students cheering? Well, they may have beaten us by a couple of touch downs, but you didn't hear it from me!

Let the Preparations Begin!

Addie and I started bright and early with the Thanksgiving day preparations. After all, Thanksgiving is TOMORROW!!! She is such a great help in the kitchen. :)

First I made the crust. I showed her how, but it is kind of a delicate thing, so she just watched that part. After the crust was made, she help make one of her Daddy's favorites: Pecan pie! YUM!

With a trip to the store, a trip to the Bible school to say our goodbyes, and an upcoming trip (in a few minutes!) to Emma's class for her Thanksgiving party, we are not as far along as we'd like to be, but the day is still young! :) At least we got the favorite dish made.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving day dish? Are you going traditional this year with your menu, or mixing it up with say, enchiladas?

Crust is made, and we are getting ready to start the filling.

Josh brought me the perfect pick me up for a day in the kitchen! Thanks for the cinnamon dolce latte Josh! It was perfect!

You can never have too many helpers in Mama's kitchen. :)

Busy and Wonderful Times!

I love this time of year. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. The kids are all stoked for a little break from school. The Bible School students are eager to have a weekend road trip back to their homes. :) Love, love LOVE it!

Things have been pretty good here. I went to Colorado for four days (as mentioned before) and then Josh left for a week to hunt the vast amount of deer who live in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Unfortunately, the deer were all hiding. My dad was very generous to us, and gave us some of his venison, so we still got some meat for our freezer.

These last couple months have been difficult for us financially. Our support has been low, and it is discouraging. We were totally blessed today though, by an anonymous gift of a whole thanksgiving meal purchased for us! What a HUGE blessing that was! Even though we are going to go to my parents for the actual Thanksgiving day, the food from this generous person is feeding us tonight and tomorrow, and for many more meals I'm sure! I do LOVE turkey! :)

I am off to see how I can fit my broccoli cheese soup I just made into a Thanksgiving menu. :)

I leave you with these pictures of our trunk-or-treat time at a church here in the area. Some good fall family fun, with some amazing costumes made by my mom. :)

Addie as Glinda riding a pony. :)

The cowardly lion Josie looking brave on her pony.

The scarecrow Emma sittin pretty. :)

Yes, Josh and I even dressed up! he he

Campus Life Coffee Social

A couple weeks ago, the Campus Life crew here at New Tribes Bible Institute put up a little coffee shop in the dining hall for one evening.

Josh and I have enjoyed working with Campus Life here for over three years now, but this was one of the events I was most impressed with. It wasn't super fancy, or high entertainment that made me love it, but seeing the students really take initiative, and pull this event off! They put a lot of work into the event, and had a lot of fun doing it. Who knows? This may become a regular event. :)

Making some delicious drinks! We had students who were baristas at many different coffee shops making the drinks. They make at least 120 drinks that night!

The menu. It wasn't fancy, but it did the trick. :)

Some students played games, while most just sat around and chatted. I think everyone enjoyed the evening.

Fall in the Park

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while! It looks as though while I was gone, my hubby blogged. I left him with the camera so he could take pictures of his time with the girls. He took pictures of his friend's deer. he he

I got a great chance to go to Colorado to spend some time with my friend Lizzy after her and Michael had their first little baby. It was a lot of fun helping her out and visiting. I will tell you more about it later, when she sends me some pictures. :)

This has been a great fall! Most of the time it has been unseasonably warm, so we have enjoyed a lot of time outside, before Mr. Jack Frost comes to town.

The other day we were just running around in the park across the street, and I thought I'd take my camera along.

I love my family so much! What an amazing gift they are to me!

Josie with her new smile. :)

I loved the silhouette of this picture.

My three sweet girls!

Look at that cute family of mine! :)

While Mommy is away...

I finally got to take some pictures...

A buddy of mine, and a student here at the Bible School got the shot of a lifetime yesterday. Tim saw this guy about 40 yards out and dropped him real clean. I got the privilege of making the photo record this afternoon. We also got to enjoy some fresh venison backstraps at lunch time. Thank you God, for whitetail deer!

An October Saturday

Yesterday was beautiful! It started off chilly. It was the last games of the season for my two soccer players. Let me tell you, the chilly weather and whipping wind made me completely okay with that. :)

As the day progressed, it turned out quite lovely. We had some students over. We got some yard work done. The girls had loads of time to ride their bikes (as one of the last few times I'm sure, with Winter right around the corner).

After dinner, we decided to carve and paint some pumpkins. I love seeing how creative the girls get with their pumpkins.

One of the advantages of living right next to a huge park. You get a pretty view all year round!

Two of our silly jack-o-lanterns. :)

The girls sitting with their masterpieces. Yes, Josie is wearing socks with her flip flops. What can I say? She gets her fashion sense from her dad. :)

Josie's Big News!

Josie wanted to share her big news with you all...

She lost her first tooth last night!

She was very excited when she learned that it didn't really hurt.

Even though she is the first in her class to lose a tooth, it has been a long time coming. She has had that adult tooth back there even before the baby one was loose! I don't know how that big thing is going to fit in the tiny space. We will see. :)

Josie was terrified to loose a tooth. I am so proud of her bravery! Such a cute little smile too!

Soccer Shocker!

What is the shocker you might ask? That I actually have children who know how to play!

I am serious. This is huge. Taking the fact that I can't even chew gum and walk at the same time out of the equation, I am not what you would call an "athletic type". Sure, I ran track in middle school. Not very well mind you. After every race I felt like I was going to puke, and my face remained red for hours. I just don't have the skills/coordination/stamina it takes for something like soccer. I remember one time two years ago when we had a group of students here for student leadership training, and they all wanted to play soccer. They were a person short, and I was begged to come play. It seems I forgot to wear my flip flops, which is my favorite way of getting out of something like soccer, or anything remotely physical (I'm sorry Addie. I can't take you to the bathroom, I have flip flops on, see?). Okay, I'm kidding on that last one...maybe.

Anyhow, so I foolishly had my sneakers on, and was asked to play. After I told them how I had never played, how I don't know how to play, how I can't even walk and chew GUM at the same time (everyone always thinks that's a joke) I gave in. I got out on the field, and stood there. I was told to block someone, but I really am just too slow and clueless. After about two minutes someone said, "Man, you really ARE as bad as you said!" and at that moment, some wonderful person swept in and saved me from the rest of my humiliation.

Now, I'm not completely un-functioning in the world of sports. I played on a co-ed volleyball intramural team in Bible college. I even managed to hit the ball over the net a few times. Growing up I played a mean four-square game, and I remember a time in high school gym class where my twin sister and I dominated the badminton competition. There were no awards. No announcements. No parade. I felt very excited that we were, in fact, the champions my friend. [ insert Freddie Mercury's voice here]

All of this sports history of my life lead me to believe that any offspring I had would suffer from the same dysfunction gene as me. I did, however, marry a wonderful man who could easily be described as athletic. He played football, and soccer, and ran track all in high school. He played soccer in college, and in Bible school. He also kicks butt in sand volleyball. Much to my utter joy and amazement, his athletic gene was passed down to our daughters. Sure, some have it more than others, but all of them could wipe the floor with me at any given moment in soccer.

Badminton anyone?

Goalie is a perfect position for Emma and her type-A, "by the book" personality. She didn't let anyone score the whole time!

Josie just running along. This may not be her game, but she sure is having fun, which is more that I could say if I were out there.

Daddy warming up Josie, and comforting her after a big fall. Josh is such a great encouragement to the girls!