holiday greetings through christmas cards...

as many of you know i love christmas time... i love everything about this time of year... but, one of the things i love most is getting to the mail box, before gwen and getting the christmas cards out... i love hearing from you all, i love the letters... but most of all i love the pictures... some are just great family shots... some are from trips you took this year... some are of the kids, so we can see how big they are getting and how they have changed... and some... my favorite are when the kids are caught in a crazy instance... caught by the camera... laughing... crying... looking so much like their personalities are... these are the reasons i love getting them... why i love getting home from work and reading the mail... this is one of many reasons i love this time of year...

Thanksgiving and Birthdays!

We celebrated Thanksgiving along with Mark, Cole and Uncle Daniel's birthdays on Thanksgiving Day at Mark's parent's house. It was a wonderful day filled with family, food, gifts, and lots of laughs!

Mark and The Bird


Say Cheese Uncle D!


Mark and Cole blowing out their candles together!


Cole and his stash!

dinner conversations...

so... tonight at dinner we had our usual conversations... ones we have had HUNDREDS of times... and many of the responses to the many questions asked were typical... one that we enjoy asking is what our 3 school going children did at recess... this was my favorite subject in school and their many stories of their time with their friends amuses us and makes for alot of laughs... so tonight we asked the question and these were the responses...

mom: what did ya do at recess today?

noah: you know mom... ive started to play basketball (instead of soccer) and now ALL the kids are playing basketball...

mom: ethan... how about you?

ethan: well...(pause) at first recess me, hector, and michael tried to pull this weed thing out of the ground... we tried the whole time but couldnt get it out...then at second recess we just walked around... i asked hector if he had ever heard of Jesus... he said no... so i told him all about him...

at this point i almost choked on the large chunk of bread in my mouth and i felt this feeling of pride in my son unlike ever before... i didnt know whether to cry or cheer or clap or hug him...

ethan continued: i told him all about Jesus and i could tell he was really listening...

at this point i started to clap and cheer and we spent the next few minutes talking about sharing our faith...

after dinner ethan told me that hector said his parents didnt believe in Jesus.... hector had been to church once when he was 4 or something... but ethan thinks hector either" believes now or is very close to believing"... ethan also told hector that its ok for him to believe in Jesus even if his parents dont... because he needs to...

i pray that we, as a family have this same conversation HUNDREDS of times in the coming years...our 3 oldest have all had the opportunity to share Jesus with their friends with boldness that can only come from God...

thank you Father... thank you for your son, thank you for your sacrifice, thank you that you choose to use us to tell others about you... and thank you for ethan and his example to me...

me and my best friend...

more photos of me and her...

Bed Head

And you thought you were having a bad hair day!

Behind The Clouds

If you ask any 3-year-old boy what his favorite movie is, you'd probably hear many of them say, "Cars!" Cole is no exception. He loves everything Lightning McQueen. Lately in the car we have started to listen to the Cars soundtrack, and his favorite song is "Behind The Clouds," by Brad Paisley. Here's his rendition for your listening pleasure . . . . .

When it starts to rain (these words aren't actually part of the chorus of the song, but Cole absolutely insists that they are) behind the clouds, the sun is shining . . . . believe me even though you can't quite make it out . . . . you may not see the silver lining . . . . but there's a big blue sky waiting right behind the clouds.

I know that these lyrics aren't necessarily "Christian" in nature, but they are a great reminder to me every time Cole sings them (which is many, many, many times a day!) that even on those days when I don't necessarily see or even feel God's love, I still KNOW He's there . . . waiting for me.

i would go to a church like this...

1,372 seats... looks about 70% full...(typical)( i know alot of pastors that would like that pew count...)( is that darth vader in the 7th row?)
3,976 windows... lots of natural light...7 feet by 5 and 1/2 feet by 30inches in size...

75,000 + legos... lets just say my boys are officially jealous... after looking at this my boys wanted to know... "when do we start...?)

a night on the town...

we went out to dinner tonight to the melting pot http://www.meltingpot.com/ in tacoma with our good friends wes and martina...

the night was perfect... the food was great... my wife looked wonderful...the conversation was engaging...


our friends hadnt been to this restaurant before so it was a great new experience for them... every aspect of the meal was surprising... the 3 cheese fondue to start the meal was perfect... the salads were de-lish... cooking the food... the meats and veggies was so fun and the dessert... the chocolate... was incredible... the final surprise... the check... you should have seen their jaws drop... ouch!!!


well... i guess there is a cost to all good things... it was worth every penny...


p.s.... martina wants to sneak in nilla wafers next time to dip in the chocolate... sounds like a great idea!!!

p.s.s.... wes wants to make sure they will serve the same "punch" the next time we go... i think we can arrange that...

this...was a rough one

today was a tough day... i wanted to blog this and give some great story or verse that would encourage me and you... but i was dry... i had nothing...

then i thought... i will ask you... i will ask for comments on "how do you get through a tough day? what do you do to remedy a day like this?"... so thats what i was going to do... but... ill surf my daily blogs first... i thought...

through a friend of a friends blog i stumbled upon this well known... often used passage... and i knew... this was it... this is what i needed... maybe you need it too...

The Lord is my shepherd;

I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows;

he leads me besides peaceful streams.

He renews my strength.

He guides me along the right paths,

bringing honor to his name.

Even when i walk

through the darkest valley,

I will not be afraid,

for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me

in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

My cup overflows with blessings.

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me

all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 23

i would love if you have a favorite passage, quote or saying... or if there is something you do to get you through a rough one... if you could share it with me... i would greatly appreciate it...

tomorrows a new day... a new dawn... and with a new day comes new challenges... i am glad to know He is with me...

mm