Christmas with the Bohn family

Opening presents with the Bohn family.

The towels straight from Disney World were a huge hit...thanks Patrick family.

Dress up stuff is so much fun...and clearly a favorite!

Pure joy and anticipation.

In the beginning of opening presents after every tear of the wrapping paper Ataly (on her own accord) walked to the garbage to throw the paper away. Thankfully it didn't last for every present.

Thanks P boys for allowing Traeger and Grandpa to use your DS systems.

There were daily Nerf war show downs this year. I guess the little boy never grows out of a man...that's a good thing.

Ataly even tried to hold her own with the boys. Doesn't she look intimating?

Making about a hundred new barrettes to sell for "Skip to My Lu". Proceeds go to the adoption fund for the P family. They still prayerfully await the arrival of their daughter after 2 1/2 years of waiting. I will post some of the goods at a later date.

Happy 10th Birthday Gideon!

It was a sweet blessing to have Saturday morning to do NOTHING. Not something I'm used to doing and Dad had to keep reminding me to relax.

Traeger cuddled up with Grandpa and Nonnie watching his new favorite movie ,"Alvin and the Chipmunks."

Every year family and friends head off to the movie theatre to watch the movie of Gideon's choice for his birthday...this year it was "Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Squeakuel"

Traeger was a fan of his first ever movie theatre experience.

Traeger hanging out with Gideon and his friends.

Breck and Traeger trying their voices out on the new karaoke machine.

Ataly and her friend Hadassah.

Dishing out the birthday treats to G and his friends.

Ataly wasn't sure what to think about being a cute little present.

For some reason she really took to Lincoln (Uncle Adam's brother) The two of them getting in the Nerf War action.

The Nerf gun champs

Christmas Photo Shoot 2009

Kudos to James Stokes who graciously took on the challenge of photographing our family for our Christmas card this year. We loved working with him and felt blessed to have such a talented guy taking our pictures. He took the work home and did his magic. Here are the final products of some of our favorites, it was hard to choose just a few. Enjoy! If you happen to live in the area and need someone to capture your family, kiddos or friends, he's your guy. You can find him here to check out his fantastic work, grab his number and call him for your next occasion.

Our 2009 Christmas card

Our thank you cards

I love this picture James was trying to capture of our lives. The kids running circles around us. Ataly wasn't in the mood to cooperate but you get the idea.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day we woke up and made plans to join the Wipf boys as they traveled down to Marshfield to meet their new baby brother, Judah Ross who was born @ 6:26 pm on Christmas Eve, weighing in at 6 lbs. 7 oz. What a joy to see and hold Judah after much prayers and concern for him and his mommy during the pregnancy.

The Wipf family--4 boys

our prayers will keep coming your way Korby :O)

Traeger proudly held his new buddy Judah.

I experienced overwhelming joy when I held Judah for the first time after many months of prayers/pleads with God.

Judah is evidence of God's grace...He is worthy to be praised!

We wouldn't have wanted to spend Christmas Day any other way!!!

After arriving home from our time with the Wipfs, in attempts to get ahead of a winter storm, I packed like a mad woman and was all set to go within the hour and we were off on our week long Christmas vacation. We made it home to my parent's safe and sound.

Ataly decked out and excited to be at Nonnie and Grandpa Bruce's house.

Also wanted to include Ataly's 1st ever pony. Lots of hair still falls out but I think she looks so grown up with her hair up in a pony. My baby is growing up.

Christmas Eve

I have to admit this Christmas Eve didn't fill my heart with tons of warm fuzzies. It had been a busy week, and on top of it all Luke was scheduled to preach the sermon for the Christmas Eve service, which meant me being alone on Christmas Eve (I'm still learning the ropes and grace required to being a pastor's wife). By the time I arrived at church Thursday night I was all but feeling in the Christmas spirit. After getting myself and the kids ready, I arrived at church and headed right up to the nursery, since Ataly isn't ready to sit through an hour sermon, wondering why I even took the time to go through the motions. Don't misunderstand, part of me wanted to be joyfully celebrating the real reason for the season but I just couldn't shake my bad attitude. I feel compelled to share all of that, not to complain, but to be honest about the fact that I have a long way to go in becoming the woman of God that He wants me to be. My attitude was terrible that day. The world wants me to keep it looking all polished and like I have it all together, but folks, this Christmas I just didn't have it all together. I want to be real and share the joys and the hardships on this blog so it doesn't just look like we're the perfect little family. We're not. God has us on this journey, and I'm learning to become more vulnerable and share real stuff so in the end, all that you see is God's grace working in and through me and so that you will join me in giving glory to Him for His great and marvelous works. Next year when I look back, my prayer is that I will praise Him for giving me the strength to grow, plan better and grow closer to Him through struggles. And maybe if you happen to have a bad day (if by chance I'm not the only one :O)) you can know you're not alone and that God's grace is sufficient.

The kids chowing down at the Becker's before heading to church.

Strike a pose.

After church there was a present under the tree for each of the kids. It was their Christmas jammies. We all took off our church digs and welcomed the comfort of our holiday wear for the evening or what was left of it.

Ataly wasn't sure what to make of presents but Traeger assured her she would be pleased with what was inside. The wisdom that comes with age :O).

WooHoo for Christmas jammies!

Just my size

Sleepover

When Traeger had the idea to sleepover in Ataly's crib I wasn't thinking it was a brilliant idea. It would mean their bedtimes would be much later than normal and ....well that's the only excuse I could come up with, and not a good one at that. So here they are, finally sleeping after some laughing, crying and much chatter. They fell asleep much later than normal but it's only sleep, right. They took great naps the next day and had fun building memories.

All better

Ataly kissing Traeger's hurt foot. Luke wanted to capture on photo, the pure love. Not thinking Ataly will be kissing her brother's feet for many more years :O)

Jammin' out

College Kids

Luke and I were catching up on our Survivor show around 11 pm when out of no where we thought we heard someone knocking. The knocking persisted, except it had moved to our kitchen window. Luke jumped up to see what was going on and met the face on the right--YIKES. Quickly he realized who it was, just the college kids dressed up, ready to sing Christmas carols at our front door. They came in and chatted for a while and then were off to grace others with their presence.

The next night they all, along with more of their friends, came over to play games and chat. It's great having them back home to connect with and catch up on what's going on while they've been gone at college.

3 seasons room

Here are the latest pictures of our 3 seasons room. We haven't come up with a new name for the space. Maybe we'll always call it the 3 seasons room so we remember just how far we've come and how thankful we are for the year round use. We just can't thank God enough for providing for this project. It's been a great journey and we are blessed by the new space. We still have the flooring, lighting and decoration decisions to make, but for now the space is fully functioning and did I mention how much we LOVE IT?!

Watching their morning show in our new favorite chair.

The entry way. The wider door frame has allowed for so much more light to shine into the rest of our house.

Kudos to Chelsea for picking fabulous paint colors and to Luke for the time he took painting it.

The light fixture is temporary...we're on the look out for just the right track light. And if you know me well, you know it might just be a year before I find just the right light :O). Also, praising God for how he provided our 2 new pieces of furniture for free.

Another huge change to the layout of our house but so thankful for the decision to open up our kitchen.

The refrigerator's new home. Another change we love!

So lots of changes and still a long way to go, but I feel no rush. I will be sure to update as the flooring, lighting and decorations find a place in our new space.