It is our family's prayer that you find the same wonder, awe, and joy as a child when you think about the miracle of the birth of our Lord and Savior.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas!

Sledding Videos

Snowtime

Yes, these are pictures of the same child who less than a year ago, didn't just dislike the snow, but I think, hated it. If you don't remember, jog your memory here. Needless to say, his opinion has changed quite a bit. We all put some work into the snowman, but it just wasn't meant to be. First, the snow wouldn't roll into balls. It was more off a pile-and-smooth method of building. Secondly, since our "trees" are mere twigs themselves, we don't have anything to use for arms. If anyone is looking for a last minute gift idea, we need fixing for a snowman. We'll definitely have to try this again sometime though.
The sledding was a hit. He would get quite upset when we would need to catch our breath. It's not easy to run through several inches of snow! We didn't get out til almost sunset so the pictures are pretty dark. I'm sure we'll be out doing this several more times. Nate also thinks the sled is great for pulling around indoors.

Colossians 3:17

Brad has used several clips off this site as sermon and teaching illustrations. I happened to be looking for something else on the site one day, and I came across this. I'm not sure why it came up with my search results since it had nothing to do with what I was looking for, but I thought it was pretty good. If you watch The Office on NBC, you can see they used the Office style. Next time they start pushing the use of your spiritual gifts at your church, see if dodgeball shows up on your inventory. (Unfortunately, it's not one of mine.)

Asia!

Looks like I won't have to wait for Matt to be in Afghanistan to get a visitor from Asia. Africa plans anyone?

Check back later today for some Nate in the snow pictures. His Grandpa Knorr requested pictures of sledding and a Nate-size snowman. We'll see if the little guys up for some outside time later today.

Jesus has 2 mommies

Notice anything peculiar about this nativity set? Yep, Jesus has two mommies! Nate was given the Fisher-Price nativity by his favorite Patty and Gary. They have one at their place, and I have always thought it was the cutest thing. (When you press the angel down, it plays music and the star lights up.) I was thrilled and so thankful they had gotten him one, and I eagerly began to unwrap it when we got home. Each piece is wrapped in it's own plastic bag. I was quite perplexed to find that we had 2 Mary figures and no Joseph. I'm left to wonder if this was done as a joke by the packer or what. Is it an attempt to modernize the Christmas story??? Some might be a bit offended, but I thought it was hilarious. So, I'd like to introduce to you baby Jesus and his two mommies. Any suggestions as to how I explain this to Nate?
(Fisher-Price is sending us a complete set of all the figurines for free, hopefully this time we'll get a Joseph.)

4 continents! I've had visitors to my blog from North America (duh), South America, Europe, and now Australia. Matt's going to attempt to get an Asia for me while in Afghanistan. Anyone heading to Africa? I'm assuming Antarctica is out of the question. Too bad.

I've really been struggling to blog lately. Facebook has taken over a lot of my computer time. Tori introduced me to a scrabble game on there, and I'm addicted. I'm going to have to limit myself to Scrabulous only when Nate is napping. I'd like to think my brain is getting some good exercise by looking at all those letters. Get a facebook and play scrabulous with me!

Is anyone else getting annoyed with the tv reruns? I'm going to be so bummed if the seasons are over. I spent all summer gearing up for the new season, and it's essentially over. At least make some new Grey's Anatomy!!! I hear they're actually making a Big Brother to air in the spring due to all this craziness. I'm going to have to just start watching a lot of reality tv I suppose.

Some Cute Stuff

As Nate gets closer to turning two, I find myself thinking a lot about how we'll decorate his room once he's out of the crib and in a big boy bed. I've actually spent quite a bit of time roaming the internet searching for ideas. I want something that can grow as he grows. I don't want to have to start completely over again a few years from now. Today I happened to find a person whose blog recommended a toy off of this website. They have some of the cutest stuff and shipping isn't out of this world expensive. Here is the stuff I would love to do in Nate's room when he graduates to a new bed in the extra bedroom. (I have no intention of repainting the nursery. Too much work went into it.) Here is what I found. I like that they are wall decals and can just be removed when he outgrows the look. I also love the colors! I would probably do a pretty neutral wall color. I also love the quilt. It's a bit pricey, but I know from making quilts it's just the way it is. What do you think? The whole reason I ended up at this website is because of this adorable play food. If I was rich, I would go to town on this website!!!!

hold the pickles, no mustard, please

I just want to say that raising a toddler brings something new everyday. Lately Nate has become quite opinionated about getting dressed. It's turn more into a fast food ordering situation than anything else. Yesterday's order was: I'll have a shirt, 2 socks, 2 shoes, and hold the pants, please.

I also did not intend for this picture to be an action shot. He has learned though that there is a screen on the back of the camera, and it has him on it. He now chases you while yelling until you let him look through all the pictures.

When do I get to win a battle around here???? Score: Nate: all Andrea: 0

snow business

I just have a bit to say regarding the snow. There is a sense of normalcy to snow here. It's no big deal; the "life goes on" mentality is in full force here. This is not the way I was raised. Snow days were cherished events in my childhood. Snow day to me say family day. It's just how I was raised. When it began to snow in Little Rock, everything was canceled and closed. It meant the family got to spend an unexpected day together. (And Dad might just start the fire place.) Those who know me well, know how much time with family means to me! I love it! To this day, I just feel like it's wrong when we go about our normal daily routines and work when it's snowing. I think God gives us snow days to give us a break from the normal and take time to just spend together. And I like my way of thinking. Along with this comes my decision that I plan to stick by even though I live further north, I cannot, do not, and will not drive snow covered streets. It's just not worth the risk to me. If they really think "life goes on" despite the snow, they need to install some form of heated street. How's that for an idea. Someone please get to work on this idea.

the snow is following me, make it stop!

I need to back up a week and get caught up on what we've been up to and share some pictures along the way. A week ago right now, we were in a charter bus on our way to Keystone, CO for the youth ski trip. Nate and Mags stayed with Brad's parents while we were gone. We had 16 kids and 4 adults, including ourselves. They've not had much snow (we did get some while there), and haven't been allowed to make much either thanks to the drought. That made for some really packed down, icy skiing/snowboarding. Our group made 3 trips to the medical clinic, with one ending up with a broken wrist (the other two were sore but okay). The slopes stayed really busy thanks to 36 Hours of Keystone which was also taking place. (People are really nuts enough to ski for 36 hours straight.) The drive home was long on Sunday, but we got to see several movies we hadn't previously seen. Enjoy some pictures.

Today we got some snow of our own here. In all it was somewhere around 4-5 inches. Not a bad little snow. We took Nate out in it when we cleaned off the driveway and sidewalks. He still isn't the biggest fan of the snow. He also wasn't to fond of the snowpants, boots, or gloves. He keep trying to get me to take the gloves off because he couldn't pick any of his outdoor toys up. He did venture into the snow to try to get me to pick him up a couple of times, but he prefered to stay where we'd cleaned the snow off. Maybe he too was meant to be a southerner like his momma????? I really thought he'd like it this year. I guess we have about 8 more months of winter for him to get use to it! Enjoy some more pictures.

Also want to say thanks to all who checked in on us to make sure we were okay yesterday. We didn't know anyone involved, but know of people who work there, had been there earlier, or were planning to go there that day. Unbelievable is still the word that comes to mind when I try to comprehend what has happened.

Get to Work

Nate decided to give us a hand with feeding Mags yesterday evening. It was cute and took several trips between the dog food bin and her bowl. I wonder what other chores he capable of . . . taking out the trash?????

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