Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours we wish you a very Merry Christmas!! We hope everyone had a wonderful time on this special day when we celebrate God's presence joining us here on Earth. Thank you, Jesus! May you reign in our hearts forever.

Gingerbread house

One of the wonderful things about having Kelly live with us is that she helps make memories with Laine too. I was just beginning to think about doing a gingerbread house with Laine for the first time this year when Kelly mentioned that she wanted to do that with her. So I passed the baton and let her take over. They had such a fun morning together!

You can see the excitement in Laine's face as she enjoyed the candies before putting them on the house. And then she got down to business and started concentrating on where to put each piece.

And of course there's no better outfit to wear while decorating a gingerbread house than a pretty princess dress!

The finished product turned out beautifully. Thanks, Kelly, for helping Laine build her first gingerbread house!

Practice, Practice

Mead is slowly practicing her walking skills. Down in the basement we have several toys that enable her to walk from one end to the other on her feet. She was dragging one of her feet, but now she's pretty good about keeping up the pace and taking quick steps.

She turned 11 months old yesterday, so we'll see when she actually breaks free of the walker and ventures out on her own. Initially I didn't think she would make it before a year, but who knows... this could be a big month in the walking department!

Christmas baking

I've never been into making Christmas cookies, but this year I decided to try something new. Laine and I picked up a few cookie cutters and some sprinkles and went to work.

Unfortunately I didn't realize that I needed to refrigerate the dough for a couple hours before trying to use the cookie cutters! So our first batch produced a sloppy stocking and "melted" snowman and a bunch of round sugar cookies.

Nor did I realize that butter cream icing tastes much better than plain powdered sugar icing. Fortunately I got great recipes for both sugar cookies and yummy icing from friends, so our next batch of cookies should turn out much better!

Good-bye Sweet Friends!

It is with tears that we say good-bye to our friends, the Smiths. Even though we graduated in May, we've still been able to hang out with our seminary friends because we only moved a few miles away. Well, seminary friends don't all take jobs in St. Louis, so now it's time for some to move away.

Corey and Janet were some of our first friends in St. Louis, and because of similar backgrounds before seminary we quickly bonded. We lived across the parking lot from each other for three years, and often one or the other of us would end up at each other's apartments on any given day.

Ty is Laine's first friend - they met when they were just weeks old. They got to hang out one last time yesterday, and thankfully I managed to snap this great shot of them together. I know they will miss each other and all the play dates they've had.


Janet, Rachel, and I have gotten especially close this year. The Novaks will be leaving in May (unless they take a job in St. Louis!), so that will be another sad day. Corey and Janet, we will miss you tons! Thankfully Indy is only a few hours away and phones work great too. We love you guys and pray for the best in your new ministry!!

Musical prodigy

Mead has been disappearing around corners lately. I think a new independent streak is showing itself. Just when I start to wonder where she's gone to, I often hear the piano playing itself. Or so it seems.

In reality Mead is standing on her tip toes hitting just a few keys and loving it! Watch out Mozart, we've got a young pianist on our hands.

A new love

It's finally here! Penny has been saving for months (and then waiting for days once he finally made the purchase) for this bag. It's his new briefcase, satchel, whatever you want to call it. And he's in love! He came home from work right away once it arrived to move out of his old backpack and into the new and much more aesthetically pleasing and long-lasting briefcase.

When I first saw it online I wasn't so sure about it - too rugged? too bulky? Who knows. But I have to admit, it's quite impressive looking now that it's here. As one friend said, "Wow! That's a nice looking piece of leather." Anyway, just thought I'd give a glimpse into Penny's new love. I'm sure you'll hear about it in a sermon before too long!