Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots

The title is the name of one of the books Ava got for Christmas from her Aunt Shelli. How fitting for a little girl in our family! Anyone that knows us very well knows that we enjoy hiking very much, but our little girl also likes her princesses!!! The girls got several books for Christmas and I think Nathanial and I are both enjoying the new reading material!!!

Aspen went ahead and turned one even though her mommy wasn't ready for it!!! Nelda took her birthday pictures (they are gonna be GREAT!) and we had a small party for her on the 20th. She devoured her cake, just like her sister she has a MAJOR sweet tooth! She got into opening her gifts a little more than I remember Ava doing. It is so fun to watch them rip into the wrapping paper and then squeal with delight when they see the new toy!!

Gabe enjoying a cupcake too!

Christmas this year was pretty relaxing. We spent the evening and night at my mom and dad's this year since we didn't put up a Christmas tree, so we could have a tree to put our gifts under in the morning. Ava went on "pretending" that Santa was real!! :) Nathanial rode his bicycle the whole 25miles to my mom and dad's!! It took him 3 hours! Christmas day we went to Nathanial's parents for the day. I think this was the least stressful Christmas ever. It was nice to just relax and enjoy time with our parents. The girls got tons of stuff of course. We watched a video that our friends in india had professionally done raising awareness of the work they are doing and it brought back memories, which made our Christmas seem a bit overkill. I hope to instill in my children that it is wonderful to give gifts, but to never lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas in all of it. And that there really are children all over the world who aren't loved by so many people and showered with gifts. But these children are loved by Jesus and when we love them we are loving Jesus. I hope that they go out and really love the unloved and don't hold them at arms length and just talk about the "poor little kids". Its so easy for me to do that.




On to the "project". Nathanial like me to update on the house. Things are progressing. The front porch is nearly done. The inside is ready for electrical, plumbing, and heating and cooling work. The addition has been started!!! And siding has been ordered and should be here soon!! Things are moving along!! Well, I hope everyone has a fun New Year's Eve.... we are hoping to!



One last thing! Congrats to Mandi and Andre on their new addition to their family. Ella is absolutely beautiful! I love her to pieces already!

BIG birthday this week

My sweet baby will be 1 this week. I've been stuck on this thought for several weeks now. I love watching her grow, but I don't know if I'm ready for her to be 1!! Well, the day is coming soon, and there is nothing I can do about it! :) I'll post some pics over the weekend hopefully, we are having a small family party for her due to the holidays, our "inbetween" status, and because she really won't know the difference!!

Tonight is the Jubilee Christmas. I really enjoy helping out with that... and was so thankful for that day last year. After a long day involving work, jubilee christmas, then wrapping our families presents and tucking my ava into bed - lo and behold my water broke and 5 hours later little Aspen Grace was born!!

I'm on my lunch break that is almost over so I should be going.... pictures will come soon! Have a great day everyone!

LOVE the weather!

Some may think I'm a little crazy... but I am loving the cold weather! Fall and winter are my favorite! I love jeans and sweaters, curling up with a fuzzy blanket to watch TV, even freezing while pumping my gas this morning just because I knew how good my heated seats and blasting hot air would feel in the van! Anyway, life has somewhat slowed down now that all the unpacking is done, for the time being anyway. It's just the usual, trying to keep our living space clean and orderly... yeah right!! Seriously, am I the only one who's house looks like a disaster zone all the time no matter what I do!!! Nathanial says I get more done on days that I work than when I'm home! Speaking of work, I'm only working 2 days a week now. I'm excited to get to spend more time at home, I just want to get organized and be productive--whether it's getting stuff done around the house or spending good quality time with the girls.

Our house is coming along. All of the new windows are in, Nathanial is getting ready to do the addition, and we have been starting the process of picking out cabinets, flooring, and interior doors. It's been fun! We have such a great time searching for the best deals. We got our appliances last weekend and got a killer deal! We were so excited! I keep meaning to take some pictures of the progress and I keep forgetting!

The girls are doing great. Aspen is WALKING!! I got in trouble at playgroup because I hadn't told anyone that she has been walking for several weeks now. But it's hard to pin-point the exact moment when they actually get the hang of it. She is all over the place now, but the poor thing is CONSTANTLY getting knocked down by her sister!! The fighting has begun, Aspen gets so mad at Ava and it's hard to keep from just laughing at her.

Aspen loves bath time in the sink... Ava doesn't pour water on her head all time!!

Rockband on the Wii

Last Monday a friend of ours from our time in India came to visit. Tigi's wife is German and they have been on "home assignment" in Germany for several months and he recently made his way to the States to visit some friends and his brother who is studying in Orlando. We loved being able to spend some time with him. It was interesting to get his take on America. We took him to Mi Pueblo and he couldn't believe the size of the drinks, he was amazed that we would eat more than the chips and salsa along with that huge soda. He took lots of pictures of the huge houses around with 6 car garages. In other parts of the world you just don't see the extravagant houses. Anyway, I'll leave you with a picture of Tigi, a great friend!

until next time....