Christmas 2007

We all had such a wonderful Christmas. I am so amazed as we look back over the year at all God has blessed us with. Grace was still in China at this time last year and we all spent Christmas without her here. I remember looking at her picture and wondering how she spent the day. Was she with other people who even celebrated our Saviors birth. Now she is here and even though she doesn't quite understand what this holiday is about yet, she knows it is about Jesus. When Hadyn was her age he woke up Christmas morning and asked when we were going to the airport. The airport?? Why would we be going to the airport. Hadyn said, "to pick up Jesus, so he can open his presents and have cake." We all laughed really hard and he still had this confused look on his face. The boys are getting older, so they didn't get up as early this year,but were still really excited to come down and open gifts. Before Christmas Rylan kept ordering gifts for Curran and couldn't stop, then he couldn't wait, so he gave him a few of the gifts early. I told him this was against tradition, but he didn't care!! They really enjoyed buying gifts for each other.
We had the B's here for dinner and played with all the new toys.

Christmas 2007

Christmas Picture 2007

We all went up to the Landstuhl Castle near our house to take Christmas pictures. It was really cold and windy, but we managed to get a couple decent pictures without looking like we are all totally cold. There is never a good day to try to dress everyone for a picture and find a time that we don't have something going on. Curran had set up this time to take another families picture, so I had the boys grab their matching coats. As we're trying to leave the house on time Hadyn informs me that his coat is missing?? We didn't have time to search for it, so he is wearing mine in the picture. It is definitly a little big. Anyway, mission accomplished Christmas pictures 2007 finished.

Gracie turns "2"

We all had such a great time celebrating Grace's 2nd birthday. I cant believe how much she has grown and changed since she has been our daughter. What a huge blessing she is to all of us. It blows me away to think that before the beginning of time God had this special little girl from across the world chosen for us. She is full of joy. Some of her favorite things to do at 2 are put on everyones shoes including her pink high heels with the pink butterflies on them. She likes to dance around on the tile with these and make lots of loud noises. She loves to be chased by her brothers and tickled and would also love to tell them what to do if I would let her. She loves books her favorites are Big Red Barn,A Fish Out Of Water and Go Dog Go. She also loves Dora DVDs and asks to watch one everyday. She doesn't need help knowing where to find them and opening up the case and asking each brother if she can watch one until she finds somebody who will say yes. She loves to sing hymns and knows quite a few now. I'm amazed how she can memorize all the words, she also likes the Jamie Soles songs. She still loves to eat raw veggies but also loves burgers and pizza. Mike and I take her on a pizza date every Thursday night.

She has gone from not wanting us to hold her and give her love to giving us all hugs and kisses and telling me "Mommy I love you so much" several times a day and she runs out to meet Mike as he comes home from work. All the bonding work has made us all closer to her. We are so grateful for the opportunity God has given us to raise and love His precious children.

Happy Birthday Grace!!

TRIMMING THE TREE

Every year it is our tradition to decorate the tree the day after Thanksgiving. The boys all look forward to getting all the ornaments out and I'm always amazed how many we have. Because of the weight of all the ornaments we have to tie the tree with a rope to the wall and we never manage to fit all the ornaments on . Gracie had a great time looking at all the ornaments and she loved hanging them on the tree. We can't believe that at this time last year we only had a picture of Grace and it was so hard knowing that she wouldn't be with us for Christmas. Now it is strange to think about her not being here with us. She brings great joy to all of us. She loves to sing. Right now her favorite songs are Amazing Grace, Holy,Holy,Holy and Jesus loves me. She usually enjoys singing these after she is in her crib for the night and the volume is always loud. The boys are telling stories of what they remember about each Chtristmas,this is fairly amazing since we have moved 9 times in the past 12 years. Ahh to be young with a great memory. This is all our favorite season. As we celebrate the birth of our glourious Savior we are amazed at his goodness and mercy to us. We are all so undeserving!!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Every year for Thanksgiving our church meets and celebrates the goodness of God and how He graciously cares for His people. We always have an abundance of great food and the kids bring games to play together. After a scrumptious meal the dancing begins, yes dancing at a church function. Our boys all danced and Grace loved to be swung around by her daddy. It is a blast and even the youngest ones get involved. This lasts for several hours and then the children begin dropping like flies. Around the room are many strollers filled with sleeping little ones. The fellowship is sweet and after all stuffing ourselves, in a non glutinous way of course, we load up the vans and head for home.

Kids night at our house !!

Curran and Rylan had some friends over for a night of Xbox Halo entertainment on the big screen. It's fun to watch kids interact at this age. I have to laugh and wonder were we actually that goofy. They really are great kids and it is a joy to have a bunch of young adults come over who are so polite and respectful. The best part is when the dads showed up and were totally killed in every game of Halo. There were definitely some competitive spirits in the room and it wasn't the kids. It is rough getting old.

Veteran's Day 2007

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Burg Eltz Castle

Curran just bought a new schwanky camera and wanted to
start taking pctures right away. He decided he would
take some pictures of Grace and she was more than happy
to help him out.

Can you say cute!!!

Gracie dresses for Reformation Night

O.K. I know this doesn't look like a reformation costume,but it was too cute not to dress her in it. We celebrated at our church and everyone dressed in costume and diffrent people stood and talked about there part in the reformation. The kids were all in costume

and there were games and lots of candy. With 5 kids that is way to much candy to have in the house!! Grace had a great time and was wired from too much sugar.

Gracie

Happy 40th Birthday Mike!!!

Mike turned 40!!! I am so happy, because I turned 40 last year and he is finally catching up to me. We are all so blessed to have such a great man to lead us and love us all so much. We really enjoy it when he is home spending time with us and he always gets us laughing. He is truly my best friend. We had a fun party at home and the boys put up funny banners . The candles on the cake almost set off the fire alarm. Grace loved all the smoke, she is reaching up trying to grab it in the picture.

Oct 2007

It is getting colder here and we are all enjoying the fall colors. Grace has been sick with some kind of flu bug,so the day we went for pumpkins she just wanted me to carry her around and was not so thrilled about picking out a pumpkin. Everytime we would put her down for a picture she would scream,poor thing, so the only picture we got of her is on Mike's shoulders. She is usually always happy so today is a bummer!! The boys all got pumpkins and Rylan got a light one to make me some pies. He enjoys cooking and baking and has been known to make a scrumptious chocolate cake. All the boys are busy with school and after traveling all summer it is nice to just have time at home.

PUMPKINS

Swimming

The weather gets pretty gray all winter long in Germany, so most towns have nice indoor pools with slides and play areas for the kids. There's a great snack bar for food and coffees. We always get french fries and my kids like them the German way with mayo {YUK!!} It's a great place to come in the afternoons when school is done. The boys always finish school faster when they know we are going to swim. This day a bunch of mom's met with a bunch of kids. I thought this was a great picture! One thing that is different in Germany is there are no rules. There may be a few, but they are never enforced. Therefore if you kill yourself it's your own fault. I have to remind my boys that 15 people on the slide at once probably isn't a good idea.

Curran WinsThe Photo Contest

Curran saved his money and was able to purchase a pretty shwanky camera. You usually don't see Curran now without a camera around his neck. He has been taking a photography class and has been taking family pictures for people in our church. He really enjoys it. Curran entered a photo contest and won a 1st and a 3rd place. The first place was a picture through a wine glass called Glass View.The 3rd place was in the nature category and was a black and white picture of a dock at the lake where my sister lives. It was called Summers End. The pictures will go on to another base wide level for competition. We Hope he wins!!!

Oktoberfest

Curran Opening Gifts

CURRAN TURNS 13

Curran is now officially a teenager. I have heard all kinds of horror stories of what happens to nice children at this age. Hormones raging and all kinds of attitudes. I have to say by God's grace alone I am totally enjoying life with my older boys. There is always something totally funny happening between my two oldest boys and of course we all have to get involved in whatever it is. We have been doing a lot of laughing lately,the two of them are quite comical and they know it. Curran is planning to have a sleep over for his birthday also. It isn't the same kind of party as my younger boys. This party has beverages served like mountain dew and cappucinos with a lot of blog checking and you-tube videos. Then they stay up, eat a lot of junk food,watch movies and in the morning they actually sleep in. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful boys. WE LOVE YOU CURRAN!!!!

Hadyn Opening Presents

Hadyn's Party

HADYN TURNS 10

Our little boy is growing up. It's like I don't notice it until they reach double digits. Yesterday he was still little, but today, 10 WOW!! He opened presents at home and then he planned to have a bunch of friends for a bonfire and sleep over. They were outside at the fire for a long time cooking smores with big sticks of course. Then they played some flashlight tag down in the woods, but after several injuries we thought we should call them inside. They stayed up late and got up early,but that's what makes a great party. Happy Birthday Hadyn WE LOVE YOU!!!

Lets go to the castle!!

It's a great sunny day and Mike is off work, so we have to do something, we just can't sit inside. The boys suggest the castle. It's a ruin only a 15 minute drive from our house and there are some great hiking trails too. Grab the backpack for Grace and we're off. We plan long trips like this too. The boys have to bring their own sticks, like they won't have any in the woods when we get there,but I'm informed that the sticks we are bringing are special sticks. They look like ordinary sticks to me. Grace is able to run,jump and climb now, so she is off chasing the boys. She really is becoming a little mother, she would tell them what to do if I'd let her. They all adore her and she is fully aware that most of the time she is the center of attention. She is such a joy and blessing to all of us.

Charging The Hill

This is what I see as I get out of the car. Curran is already over the hill. You would think these boys never get out to play.

Jenn and Grace walking

We took a hike on one of the trails close to our house. The boys love to get out and run and Grace is close behind. We do bring the backpack for when she gets tired which is rarely!! The summer is drawing to a close and I am looking forward to fall and all the leaves changing. I am not looking forward to all the school planning I have to do so I opt for a walk and put it off fo another day!!!

Hiking near our house

photos from germany

Puppies!!!

We had 6 very cute yorkie puppies. One of the little girls has a cleft palate and we don't think it will survive. The mama is still taking care of it, so that is a good sign. Our boys aren't too interested in these black lumps especially when they just lay there, but in a couple weeks they are really fun. When the girls come over they all flock to the puppies and will hold them forever. Gracie loves the puppies and she has been really gentle with them. She wants to touch and hold them every morning when she wakes up.

THE FALL OCT 2007

It was like every other Sunday night at our house. Around 6pm folks start showing up for Sunday night Bible study and grub. After the study all the kids run out to burn off all that energy they have from sitting. Derek is a tree climber so up he goes to the top of the tallest pine tree. We hear from the back yard Derek fell out of the tree. No great panic, until we see the faces of the kids. It is bad!! With in minutes 5 doctors are on the scene, mostly from our church and the ambulances arrive, S.P.'s come running down the driveway and a huge crowd develops as a rescue helicopter hovers above. Derek is quickly taken to the trauma unit and after many exams and x-rays it is determined only a broken wrist. God was truly protecting Derek and as we went out to look up the 50+ foot tree every branch was broken. God had known as he grew that tree that those branches would save Derek's life. We are so grateful to our merciful Saviour for his sovereignty over our lives.

Family Pictures and Bocci ball at the pool

New Jersey AUG 2007

At The Beach AUG 2007