winter wonderland

i just love how snow just transforms everything.

happy birthday, jesus!!

in celebration of the birth of Christ, 

we pause from our daily lives to gather together with friends and family. 

this is a magical time of year. 

this year, in particular, i have been truly blessed. 

my thoughtful husband decided to get a brand-spankin-new refrigerator for me.

the one we've had since we got married has been good to us, but it's probably about 40 years old. it was time. 

i actually received this beauty last week. it's so pretty and shiny. 

and gets our milk really really cold.

thank you, michael. you're so good to me.

and the ONE gift i made myself this year goes to michael's sister jerrie.

i hope she likes it.

no... i hope she really loves it.

wishing you and yours a very merry christmas

xoxo

evan

scenes from my house on a snowy christmas eve

our collection of christmas cards and holiday flair

cocoa krispies and pbs for breakfast

the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

the magical snow

still need to wrap gifts...

the "happy new year" is there from the image i took for our new year's party invites

isaiah took this one... mr and mrs gingerbread cookie

(they both made these at school. sarah's is on the left)

isaiah took this one too

they love having cali inside... and she loves having playmates

tracking santa!!

more tomorrow...

giving hope

my sis-in-law and i decided that instead of our kids giving toys to each other for christmas this year, we would do something a little different.

so we filled a shoebox and sent it to operation christmas child. instead of sending yet another toy to wyatt, amelia, and abby... we sent this shoebox to a little boy somewhere in the world who otherwise wouldn't get anything for christmas.

it was really fun to pick out all this stuff with isaiah and sarah. i explained to them that we were doing it for a kid who doesn't have much. i loved teaching them about how blessed we really are.

another thing we did for each of my brothers & their wives for christmas was make donations in their names to charity water.

2 people who do not have access to clean water will receive clean water for 20 years.

i'm sorry...

i'm such a bad blogger!

time is getting away from me so fast.

i guess that's what happens when you're a busy girl.



how about a christmas card and a promise i'll be back a little more often than once a month??? ehh???

isn't it a lovely card??

yet again, melanie has blessed us with her photographic talent.


if you are in need of family pictures, pics of your kiddos, or someone to come to a birthday party to capture all the fun, melanie is your girl.


i'll be back with more christmas flair, i promise!