For Deb...

Yes, that's a baby doll hat on Gloria's head. And yes, she actually liked it. :)

Visitors from afar

Auntie Tara and her boyfriend Jesse came to stay with us for a few days after New Year's all the way from California. We had fun just hanging out and Stevie and Bekah got to meet Tara for the first time. We also had a whole week of lake effect snow, which they caught the tail end of. They attempted to make snowmen with the kids (it was the wrong kind of snow though), and went sledding. We even got stuck behind several Amish buggies/bicyclists on the way back up to drop them off, so they got to experience Indiana to it's fullest. :) It was hard to say goodbye, but it was so good to have a visit with her that we'll take what time we can and cherish it. I was a loser and kept forgetting to take pictures, so these are the only two I have (both of which are not great...). Tara, please e-mail me yours, please!!!

Sweet baby girl and those that love her

Katy took these pics of Bekah... I love her big blue eyes (and who doesn't love a baby in a cute hat?)!

Getting some Daddy love...

I could kiss those cheeks nonstop!!!

And here's some (actually, lots of)video for the grandparents' viewing pleasure...

Bekah has been giggling since she turned 10 weeks old. I know, you think I'm crazy. But the thing is, everyone has heard her to prove it. She's just such a happy girl- she exudes happiness and giggles. And she is very verbal(as Nate puts it)... she sounds like she's trying so hard to tell us what's going on. I've been trying to get her giggles on video, and I succeeded in the last video, but you can't hear it over Katy's voice trying to make her giggle. I will not give up though. And, in the meantime, you can just enjoy how incredibly cute our newest blessing is.

And more...

And more...

And more...

Kitchen Day and I am a Recipeaholic...

I have done this on a smaller scale before, but since I needed to make food for several families in our church and I knew we'd have some busy weeks ahead because of having company and travelling, I decided to spend most of the day cooking 2 weeks ago. This is what the kitchen looked like... I made 6 loaves of bread, pie crusts for the freezer, chicken and broth, browned 5 lb. of ground beef, cooked 10 lb. of chicken breasts, made yogurt, spaghetti sauce (a huge stockpot of it), and I was going to make salsa but realized (after prepping all the cans and lids) that my canning utensils were still at the friend's house that I loaned them to (oops!). I don't have the freezer space for that many jars of salsa (and I was using the huge cans of tomatoes from Sam's, so I would have to make a lot at once), so I'll do that later. I also just got my MOMYS cookbook- I have been waiting forever to get one, and it is AMAZING. So I'm sure I'll have plenty of new recipes to try out and freeze soon... :)

Multitude Monday

So many things to be thankful for. The list continues...

11. A soft bed to sleep on.

12. A van that's dependable and that everyone and everything fits in!

13. Our church family.

14. Homemade spaghetti sauce.

15. Snow falling softly to the ground.

16. Seed catalogs causing dreams of spring and another chance at having the elusive "perfect garden".

17. A dryer that works and doesn't complain about it's workload (2 loads/day at least!).

18. My cousin finding me on facebook (I haven't seen her since I was very young).

19. Living near the Amish and shopping at their wonderful stores.

20. A chance to bring meals to some families and brighten their day.

21. The sound of baby's breath in the quiet of night.

22. Seeing the boy play and roughhouse all over the dog and seeing her just give him a bath and roll over for him in return. The children are her sheep.

Stop over and see more things to be thankful for over at Ann's site (click the box below)...

Happy New Year!

Okay, I'm a few minutes behind...
Nate and I were tallying up what we've done in the past decade, and I thought I'd write it on here to remind myself when I'm 80 (since this blog is my journal of sorts)! :)
We started 2000 as newlyweds (we'd been married less than 5 months) with our friends the Grabers and the Wilsons at a party at our apartment. James almost blew his hand off throwing some fireworks off of our balcony. We were celebrating the fact that the world didn't fall apart at the strike of midnight like "everyone" predicted. Good times...
Then we...
moved 7 times.
had 5 children.
lost 2 children.
changed jobs (Nate) 9 times & (Colleen) 3 times.
bought a house.
tried to sell our house.
graduated from nursing school (Colleen); attended and graduated from seminary (Nate).
Not all necessarily in that order... but not bad for 10 years, huh? :)
When you take a test to find out how many stressors are occurring in your life, the top stressors are :moving, job changes, having children, losing children, buying a house, and attending college.
Right now I'm just grateful that God has brought us closer together through all of these major stressors and that we are (hopefully) looking forward to a slightly less stressful new year! :) I hope all of you are blessed in the new year also!

Multitude Mondays

Finding it all too easy to take for granted the graces that He has bestowed upon me, I am excited to begin an endeavor to account for some of them that I spot in my day-to-day life. If you want to join me or simply find out more about counting graces, click on the link below- you won't be sorry!

1. Sleeping infants.
2. The sound of my husband coming home.
3. A warm, cozy house.
4. The sound of my children saying "Mama."
5. 3 turkeys in the freezer.
6. The smell of fresh ground flour.
7. The sound of book pages turning.
8. Blue eyes looking up at me.
9. A son who loves to push buttons.
10. Christmas cards hanging on the doorway.