Jesus ~ Being Thankful Day 13

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son that whosoever believed in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life  (John 3:16).
Jason came home from school one day very excited,  "You lied mom, Santa is too real.  He came to school today!"
Some people like to let their children believe in Santa Claus.  To them it gives Christmas a magical feeling.  I grew up in a home where there was definitely no question that Santa was not real and my siblings and I were probably those annoying children who ruined it for other children.  (Sorry about that :)).   Now that we have children the discussion usually comes up, 'how are we going to handle Santa Claus?'  I have heard from some that when they found out that Santa wasn't real it was really traumatic for them.  They were crushed that their parents would lie to them.  On the other hand there are those who just grow out of it and are not traumatized in any way.  For myself I just don't think that I could tell my child that Santa is real. I just can't.  But in trying to be honest with my child I have already been accused of lying to him because in the world we live in Santa is everywhere.  Even though we don't pretend that Santa doesn't exist we don't want our Christmas to be focused on a jolly man with a beard and belly dressed in a red suit; it's just not as great as hearing the wonderful story of the birth of a baby.
This time of year is so fun to get together with family, to give gifts and to receive gifts, but I am so thankful that God made this wonderful plan to send Jesus to save the world from itself.  For me it makes Christmas so much more special to know that there is a God who loves me so much he would sacrifice his one and only son so that I can go to heaven when I die.

Jason and Mia at the park

I love photographing children in their element!  It is just so much fun to capture how they really are!

Here are some pictures of Jason and Mia at the park on a warm November day.  Before winter decided to show its face.

Jason just looks so serious in this picture.  And of course having a little snack of pb and j.

What would he do without his peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

Have I mentioned that Mia loves jumping?  If a park has these jumping things she always goes on them.

I love these slide pictures!

Jason figured out what I was doing and then I HAD to take pictures of him going down the slide.  He is getting to be such a ham. :)

Climbing back up the slide........what child doesn't do this?

Okay these next couple pictures are from a pair of shoes that were just lying at the park.  Yes, I realize it might be strange.  Actually some older boys came to the park while we were there.  Later they asked me, "do you know whose shoes these are?"  "No" I said.  "Weren't you taking pictures of them?"  "Yes, I was."  They thought that was a little out of the ordinary.   Oh well. :)

Here's Mia's feet as she is trying to jump on the jumpy thing

Someone might recognize those sandals too. :)

Snow Days ~ Being Thankful Day 12

Sometimes I think its easy to forget how the ordinary things in life are sometimes the most treasured.  Last week we had a bunch of snow days.  Josh got to stay home and spend time with Jason and Mia and they had a blast!!  He hardly gets to spend time with them doing fun winter things like sledding because of his school schedule (and a 40 minute drive).  So I am thankful for snow days that let Josh stay home and have some family time with all of us.

Noses and Giggles ~ Being Thankful Day 11

I am thankful today for little girl giggles.  And little boy giggles too. :)  Mia is in a stage of being very aware of her nose.  We have had peanuts, playdough, and mini m&ms up her nose.  And a band-aid stuck on her nose for no apparent reason.  But it provided us with giggles.  Life is too short not to laugh and giggle.  I love hearing Jason and Mia giggle and laugh.  It is so contagious.  They are such good friends and have such a good time together.  It is such a joy to hear their happiness.

Christina and Andrew

The second wedding Josh and I get to enjoy next summer is my sister Christina's!  So far in the family we have three married siblings.  This will make number four and another girl!

They are thinking a wedding in July.  I can't wait for warmer weather!  Andrew carved this....awww!

Christina is majoring in Spanish!  She is so great!  I need to have her teach Jason and Mia some spanish! :)  Andrew was such a good sport, since he wasn't too sure about having pictures taken.

This last one is one of my favs!  The light was so so beautiful!

Shoes ~ Being Thankful Day 10

Don't worry I am still working on my days of being thankful.  Maybe I should have titled this, "Boots!" instead of shoes. :)
  I love shoes!  I also love taking pictures of shoes (and handbags :)).  So I am thankful for shoes.  I know this isn't very deep.  But shoes are just one of those things that you can't do without.  You have to have at least one pair of shoes.  Shoes are one of those things that can define someone's personality and style.  They can be fun, serious, comfortable, at times change who you are for an evening or be the source of freedom for a morning run.  So hooray for shoes, dates, style, dressing up, staying home, running and all the things in life that take shoes.

Snow days!

I can't believe that my last post was 6 days ago!  We have had snow days all week and its been like a mini stay-cation.  I am working on getting all my pictures organized so I can get caught up!  I just had to write something though. :)  Jason and Mia have just loved having daddy home.  Josh has been working on some home projects and in between sledding, playing k"nex, reading, and just having a great time being with the family.  We made our Christmas chains, tried a new way of making pretzels and almond bark, and still have Christmas cookies to make, and of course turtles!  We cannot go without the turtles!  Maybe we will adventure out in the snow to try and do some Christmas shopping.  Oh and Josh and I have seen three movies lately: "The Blind Side",  "Up", and "The Proposal".  "The Blind Side" and "Up" are definite must sees and seriously think about adding them to your collection.  "The Proposal" started out pretty good but ended up finishing kind of weak.  It's okay, but I don't know if its a sure fire keeper.  That's kind of the heads up on what's been happening this week.  Stay tuned. :)

Hannah + Brad

Josh and I are so excited for weddings! Next summer we will have two weddings in our families to go to.

The first one will be his sister Hannah and her fiance Brad, who just happens to be a musician too. :)

These too are just so great together!  We cannot wait!

Hannah is so gorgeous and creative too.

We just had such a great time together, we really should just hang out more. :)

Brad proposed to Hannah at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo.   And she was so surprised to see her parents there to congratulate them!

This is so one of my favorites! :)

Okay, these two are so cute together!  You can't deny it.  They officially met in 2005 and then met again at a wedding this past fall.  Talk about meant for each other.  I love "how you met" stories and Hannah and Brad's definitely is at the top of my list for greatest stories.  Can't wait until the wedding!

Music ~ Being Thankful Day 9

For those of you who know Josh and I, you know how much we love music.  Music is such a blessing from God.  To me it seems like a tiny piece of heaven we get to enjoy here on earth.  It has such an impact on us as human beings.  In movies, it tells us how to feel.  When you are down, music can lift your spirits.  We use it as motivation, worship, and means to express all those gooey feelings of love that we experience.  What a blessing music is to our lives and I am so thankful that God gave us such a gift.

Sunlight ~ Being Thankful Day 8

Sorry, I got a little behind with my Being Thankful posts.  Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can get caught up.
Today I am thankful for sunlight.  Winter is on its way and I am not looking forward to the white skies and sunless days.  Yesterday was so warm, Jason and MIa and I got outside, and just soaked in some sun!  It was wonderful!