Christmas Wishes from the Wards

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

May that Word, Jesus, richly bless you this season.

Merry Christmas!
Jonathan, Kaethe, Amalia, & Brinnly

Birthday Preparations and Celebrations

We managed to recover from a quick-onset stomach flu in order to host a Christmas-birthday-belated housewarming party this past weekend. Jonathan and the girls whipped up a batch of double-chocolate cupcakes. Delish! Our dear families braved blizzard-like conditions to supply us with goodies and willing hands for the cleaning, cooking, and decorating that fell by the wayside this past week. And then we feasted and celebrated!

Why we own a minivan

We expect our backseat to look like this in July--but one will be an infant seat!

Fifteen Months Old

A long-overdue final shot with Pooh, but here is our littlest girl. Although she would be the first to note that she's not so little anymore. She is quite the walker and really hasn't sat down ever since her friends Jack and Gail Ryan left a few weeks ago. Jack definitely encouraged her to show off her moves. Her ideal method of transportation is pushing a grocery cart or stroller, preferably with a bag and purse around her shoulder. She doesn't seem to take offense when her daddy refers to her as the "bag lady". Just this week she picked up a few words including "please", "up", "hi", "Mali", "purple" and one specifically referring to potty-training that she loves to use for shock value. She is FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY sleeping until at least six a.m. at which time she demands her new favorite food--a bowl of cereal. Or five. She is now officially finished nursing and we're all proud to have made it this long. And she has high hopes of upstaging her sister in next year's Christmas program.

Amalia is an angel

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Please tell me you appreciate the irony in that title. Actually, she did make her debut in the choir of heavenly hosts last night in our church's Sunday School program. She managed to keep her halo on and follow along to both the finger play and three verses of Away in a Manger. After that, she was pretty distracted by one of her favorite baby-sitters playing Mary and holding a Baby Jesus doll. And then she tried to climb down the stairs to see Daddy and Brinnly in the audience. But what else can you expet from a two-year-old?

The doctor's kit in the preschool room helped keep the little actors quiet before their time on stage.



(She's the shortest angel on the right in this picture)