Thursday, January 29, 2009

Happy Birthday to Fabio

Fabio turned 30 years old last week! Here he is with his "over the hill" cake I made him. Hehe. It was just a little hill. Maybe when he turns 40 I'll make a bigger hill, and a bigger one for 50, and so forth. :-)~ I am so thankful for him in my life and so I made a list of just a few of the things I love about him to honor him for his birthday. I love you, baby!
Thirty Things I Love About Fabio


· He loves the Lord

· He is a visionary

· He is not content with the status quo
· He is handy with his hands, and can figure out most anything

· He is the most handsome man I know

· He has a great sense of style and takes care of his personal appearance
· He is a good provider for his family

· He likes to be (and tries to be) organized

· He speaks the same four languages I do

· He is wonderful with the children

· He takes time to do fun stuff with us
· He is adventurous

· He likes to try new things
· He has an international mindset

· He is a gifted preacher

· He is not afraid to speak truth, even in uncomfortable situations

· He is always full of creative ideas

· He is sensitive to the Lord’s leading, even in difficult areas

· He loves and appreciates me

· He is spontaneous and likes to do fun stuff at the spur of the moment

· He doesn’t dwell on the past, but does try to learn from it

· He spends time really meditating on God’s Word, not just reading through it
· He takes the time to share with me from his heart

· He prefers to hang out with me and the kids more than with anyone else

· He challenges me to grow

· He is always looking out for people in need, to reach out to them with Jesus’ love
· He enjoys learning and is always looking for ways to learn

· He isn’t afraid to give up whatever it takes for the sake of the Call

· He is a loving leader in our home

· He helps around the house and with the children

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Tea Party

Yesterday Dominique and I took a half an hour out of a busy afternoon to have a mother-daughter tea party. :) I have been meaning to do this for a few weeks, but there is "never time". I finally realized that this is just *life* and we just had to make it happen! So, we got all gussied up and she even got to wear lipstick, and we got my antique teacups from my great grandmother, the special tablecloth and some tea. You should have seen how *excited* Dominique was! She was just GLOWING!
























































Friday, January 16, 2009

Snow Babies


It has been COLD here!! We have hardly left the house - even to run to the mailbox is torture. But..... we did make an exception to meet our friends to play and eat at McDonalds yesterday! hehe. Here we have Johann and Nicholas all bundled in their cozy carseats.

Adeline and Dominique


Sweet little girlies!







The table is our "snow gauge".




And we took Johann sledding for the first time the other day. He barely noticed. After bundling him up good, I put him in the ergo and put MY coats around him too. ;) He did make it down the hill twice, but I dont think he noticed that either. :)


This is sledding. Joshua really did have a good time. Really. He actually had such a good time that he didnt want to stop for me to capture the moment with my camera. Hence the look. :)



This is the "I can barel see with this hat on" smile. :)




Israel looks happy in this picture, unlike Joshua, but also unlike Joshua, he really did NOT enjoy himself sledding! He cried most of the time and just wanted to be held. Didn't help that we went during nap time....
I did coax him down the hill once with Johann and I and I even managed to get a smile out of him, but it was short lived.




This is the first week in a LONG time that I feel like I'm finding my groove again, so maybe I'll start posting more often? Time will tell! This week has been blissfully uneventful, and I'm hoping for more of the same in the near future! Two post-worthy happenings, though, are:
1) Johann got a TOOTH!!! I can't believe it, since he is not quite four months old! Yikes! What happened to my newborn??
2) Two weeks ago, Abby King came from England to intern at our church and will be staying with us for about the next six months. She's been lovely!
More later!

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Christmas Smattering


Well, I have SO many pictures from Christmas and so little time to blog them all, that I am just doing a quick smattering, all out of order and with only brief captions. :) Hopefully now that the holiday joy is behind us I'll get back in my groove again, including blogging. :)
















This was playing "Guesstures" at our house on Christmas Day.





































Sweet little fiesty Moriah. :)






The Zajac family joined us for Christmas as well and Jonny played a little guitar for us. :)





Opening gifts:







Christmas morning with the kids:







Me and my big brudders:








Before Christmas, making cut-out cookies with the kids:




























Visiting with my Grandma Jean and all of my mom's side of the family the weekend before Christmas:



























Visiting with my Grandma Nita and my dad's side of the family also the weekend before Christmas:
This is Grandma Nita with twelve of her seventeen (?) great-grandchildren!







We drove to Grandma Nita's in the middle of the worst ice storm I ever remember seeing! Here is the outside of Grandma's house, with the ice-laden trees hanging down over the driveway. The ice was so heavy on the trees that tons of huge branches and limbs fell all over the place and the men spent the afternoon getting them cleaned up.



Some of the boys ready to eat our huge big yummy meal at Grandma Nitas:












Grandma Nita and Elizabeth (and Johann!)












Somewhere in the holiday bustle, Johann turned 3 months old and I stuck him in that wooden bowl again to get some pics. :)













Yes, he is outgrowing the bowl! :)

The quilt underneath is special because Grandma Jean made it.









And these almost last pictures are actually from the event that took place first! Mom had a Christmas craft/ project day for the grandkids that was a lot of fun! They dipped pretzel sticks in chocolate and sprinkles, watched a Christmas video, and decorated wreaths with their mamas.






Mom also had some "gifts" for them to open: dress up clothes for the girls and k'nex for the boys, to keep at her house for them to play with.











The finished wreaths:














Fabio and I at his company Christmas dinner - which currently consist of him and his boss! hehe. We went to a Brazilian steakhouse. :)











And lastly, another sister-in-law picture! Suzy hostessed a Christmas dinner at her church that she invited us to attend and it was a lot of fun! :)
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!