Christmas is coming!

I love Christmas! It is a wonderful time of the year full of family, joy, and Christ. It is a bit different not having the cold and snow as Christmas draws near but I find that I enjoy this time of year a bit better because it's not so cold here. We bought a tree and decorated it with the kids. That always helps to put us in the Christmas mood! I find it hard to take pictures while trying to direct the kids in putting up the ornaments. I just can't quite keep up with all three of them and their excitement. We grabbed a couple pictures of Doc helping Daddy put the angel on top. Doc got the honors because he's small enough for Daddy to lift over his head and yet old enough to do what we are asking.

Stretching to reach...

Doesn't he look happy and proud of himself? We did have him straighten out the angel so it faced forward after we took this picture.

The finished product. Well for that night anyways... We ended up adding some more ornaments once we got more ornament hangers.

This was an experimental shot of  the tree that I took...

We put up some other decorations around the house including our Mistletoe. We even put up a few lights outside for the first time ever!

The kids have been asking about snow for awhile. They really seem to miss Michigan. We heard of a Winter Wonderland nearby and thought we would take the kids and check it out. Another activity to help it feel more like Christmas. The old downtown was all decorated with lights. It was really neat. The kids loved the drive through town.

One of the many trains that go around town for the light tours.

Walking into the Winter Wonderland.

They had ice skating and a s'more pit. I'm sure the ice had a hard time staying frozen since it was 50 degrees out but it's neat that they offer it.

The slide is coated in ice....this is how Floridians go sledding....

They had a cute little elf village for the kids to explore in.

GQ got a kick out of the houses that were just his size.

Such a sweet little face....

"Snow" fell at the s'more pit. Doc was in awe.

Can you see the "snow"?

Mr. X was trying to catch it.

I think the kids had fun. Doc probably more so than the other two.

We also went on a brief little train ride at the Winter Wonderland that took them past some Christmas lights. We didn't get a chance to see Santa but I don't think the kids minded much. The snow was really just soap suds but the kids thought it was neat and didn't know the difference. WB was disappointed that it wasn't real snow machines like what they use at the ski resorts up north. Doc is so excited about Christmas and keeps asking if it's in one week. We talk frequently about why we celebrate Christmas and what it means. It's fun seeing the kids excited and really into it this year. I miss being near family for all the festivities but we have a wonderful Church family down here and my brother is close by. We are truly blessed and the Christmas season helps me to remember the greatest gift of all, Jesus. What a truly wonderful gift we have been given!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving as a national holiday to set aside a day of thanksgiving and Praise to God our Father in Heaven for all the blessings He has given us. We need to remember the real reason behind Thanksgiving and remember how blessed we are. All too often, especially in a nation as wonderful as the U.S., we get caught up in all the things, all the stuff we want. We are bombarded with advertisements on a daily basis for any number of things that will "improve" our life. We are blessed to have been born here in a land of opportunity. We have so much that so many do not have. As I read about our Compassion child, it makes that even more fresh in my mind. So many people across the world lack clean water, electricity, and a solid roof. So many people are hungry each and every day so while we enjoy our feasts today, give thanks for what we have and think of those that have so much less. Lift them up in prayer. Regardless of your beliefs, you didn't choose to be born here....that in itself is a blessing that is outside your control. Be thankful today and every day! God bless!

Fall

I really didn't know what to expect out of the seasons here other than HOT in the summer and no snow in the winter. I had heard that the leaves don't change colors. When we built our house, we requested Red Maple trees in the yard. I picked them because we had bought a type of Red Maple tree (it's called an Autumn Blaze) in memory of my Grandpud when he died. We planted it at my mom and dad's house and it turns a gorgeous vibrant red in the fall. So it reminds me of his tree since I can't see it all the time anymore and it reminds us of home a bit. I was pleasantly surprised that the leaves do change color a bit down here.

One of our Red Maples.

It's really kind of nice that the leaves do change some. It gives us a semblance of fall without the cold, bitter air. I think we have the first Red Maples in the neighborhood and the same builder chose a Red Maple for the house across the street.

We are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving. We're going to my brother's for the day which will be nice. This is the first Thanksgiving I've had off in 3 years. It's nice to have been invited so it's worth having the day off. :) Doc did some Thanksgiving activities at school this past week because they are off all next week. He was so proud of his Indian hat and vest.

Dad took a picture of him to show me when I got home.

Of course Doc was still awake and had to tell me all about his Indian clothes before he would go to sleep. That boy is so attached to me. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving with my brother this year. We have been blessed and have so much to be thankful for.

Compassion

For awhile now, the orphans and children of poverty have been on my heart. I would love to do mission work, but right now that is not right for our family. I would love to adopt, but right now it is not within our means. That is OK. There will be a time. I believe that and I believe it is something impressed upon me by God. However, I wanted to do something NOW. We decided as a family to choose to sponsor a child through Compassion International. It is a child sponsorship program that provides food, educational opportunities, health and hygiene training, and medical check ups in addition to the message of Jesus. This program helps spread God's love to these children who many times feel as though they don't matter.

How do you choose a child?! There are so many. We poured over child profiles and pictures looking for a child to sponsor. We had decided we would like to sponsor a girl because we have all boys. Silly reason, sure, but it helped us narrow it down a little bit.  Then we asked the kids what age they would like. Doc said 4, Mr. X said 3. We looked and looked. We found about 6 different girls that stuck out to us to choose from. It was agreed upon to pick Genesis from Ecuador. She is 5 almost 6. A little older than we had originally planned but she has been waiting over 6 months. I just don't know how to choose from so many. I don't feel like I chose the right way but I prayed that God would lead us to the right child. Genesis means "birth" in Greek and is the first book of the Bible. To me, the name means a beginning. I hope that our sponsorship is the beginning of a new life for this precious little girl. Mr. X is so sweet. We placed her profile on our fridge and this morning I found this:

Mr. X wrote on it, "We all love you."

Mr. X just warms my heart. He is becoming more and more empathetic to those around him and I love to see it. I love that he is so sensitive to others and that the Gospel is so simple to him. Sometimes I worry that he doesn't really get it but then he will say something or do something that proves otherwise. Kids keep it simple. We, as adults, make it more difficult than it needs to be. Then at dinner, Mr. X prayed for her. He prayed that she would be able to go to school and that Jesus would remember to love her. :)

One of the six girls we chose from has really tugged at my heart strings. Oh how I wanted to sponsor her but it was not for me to decide on my own. This is as much for my children as it is for the child we sponsor. This little girl's name is Yuyun. She is from Indonesia and 4 yrs old. I prayed that someone would sponsor her soon since it was not for us to do. I just looked at Compassion's website and she isn't there! An answer to prayer I am sure of it. Someone sponsored that sweet girl. Oh how it makes my heart sing to know these children are being chosen each and every day! Will you pray for them? Will you pray that more children are sponsored and get the opportunity to hear about Jesus?

Getting Settled

We have had so much upheaval lately. Now, I can finally say, we are getting settled. GQ changed schools the same week we started packing up to move. Now we are getting into new routines and getting our new house in order. GQ is adjusting to having a big boy bed and Doc and Mr. X are adjusting to sharing a room again. We have had few moments of downtime but not much.

We did a movie night for the kiddos one night. They loved it! Mr. X didn't want his picture taken though and GQ was plastered up next to Mr. X so we just got a picture of Doc.

 The windows are low enough for them to look out so they were watching the builders across the road. This will work until our plants in the front grow higher than the bottom of the windows. We are sure how high we will let them get but for now the kids can see out the windows. :)

Since starting at his new school, GQ has been all about the "baby". He insisted on me wrapping up his baby for him. And then his baby needed to go with him in the car.

The boys are feeling the tiredness of the move too! We caught GQ lying down on the table because he was tired. I'm not sure why he picked the table but it was cute anyways.

Our church family has been such a blessing to us with this move. They helped with the kids, they helped with the move, they loaned us trucks... It has been amazing to feel such an outpouring of love.

Moving!

Boy has time flown! We have been super busy packing up and moving a few weeks earlier than planned. We bought a house! We are liking our new neighborhood so far and meeting our new neighbors. We have a playground right down the road and can enjoy the pool anytime.

We got to enjoy Halloween in our new neighborhood and the kids had a blast!

Our Little Super Heroes

Mr. X doing his Green Lantern impression.

GQ's little legs just didn't keep up with his brothers.

The move has also given us the push we needed to get GQ in a big boy bed. So far I think he likes it. It took him a few nights to get use to it but he really seems to enjoy it now. The older two are sharing a room and have bunk beds. Another new adventure for us. They have shared a room in the past but never had bunk beds. Doc sleeps on top (with railings of course) and loves it. The only problem there is the giggling at bed time. It's getting better though and if they can continue to happily share a room, we get to have a guest room for when family comes to visit. We are thankful for the many blessings that God has given us.