Christmas Bliss

Family was here. LOTS of family. And we ate. And ate. And ate some more. The boys built a snow fort. The girls stayed cozy and warm inside and played with the babies. We played games, watched movies, went to church, and just spent quality time together. I could not have asked for more.

Santa did end up visiting even though I already had everything I could have possibly asked for. As I get older the more I realize that God has blessed me abundantly with an incredible family. And then on top of that I married a man who loves me and encourages me to be a better me. And he has a pretty incredible family, too. This Christmas there was an overflow of love and my heart is beyond full. My only hope is that you felt it, too, however you spent your holiday. And just remember to thank God from who all blessings truly do flow.

And since pictures say it better than I could ever put into words, here is just a glimpse of the past week. It truly was perfect.

I hope you had a merry Christmas, and just in case I'm too "busy" avoiding technology and spending time with those I love instead of posting, have a safe and happy new year. Blessings and holiday cheer to you all!

A Good Year

With each passing year, life just seems to get sweeter and sweeter. Honestly, I think that the sweetness factor is owed mostly in part to a deepening faith and relationship with Jesus Christ and a partnership with a man that I love, respect, and just like to hang out with. This past year has been the best so far in my life, and it sure has been one wild ride! In my lifetime, very few years will rival the action packed twists and turns of 2009... but that's what made it so very special! So here's to 2009... and to the many sweet moments:

We rang in the new year in sunny Florida surrounded by family and loved ones...

Then conquered a marathon, finishing side by side after 26.2 long miles.

We said our goodbyes to a beloved member of our family, but it gave us the opportunity to spend time with those loved ones we don't see often enough.


We had some fantastic weekends and times away in cities far from home...

And then spent the spring busy with wedding plans and festivities.

We said our "I Do's" and vowed to love each other for the rest of our lives on a most perfect summer day in June...

And (barely) squeezed in a romantic mini-honeymoon before...

Packing up our belongings and making the long trek to Illinois.


We successfully purchased our first home and fell in love with every nook and cranny...

And even loved the nooks and crannies that needed updating (which we've done a lot of).

We learned that life in Small Town, Illinois is a life that we absolutely love and met some of the most genuine, kind, and caring people in this world.

We celebrated as our campus of Crossroads Community Church opened its doors and continued to grow and blossom...

And celebrated God's glory as Josh baptized his wife. We continued (and still do) to deepen our individual faith as we thank God daily for His gift of marriage.

We experienced the excitement, shock, and bewilderment of some unexpected news and prepared ourselves to bring a new life into this world.

Several visitors made their way to Small Town, Illinois and gave us the opportunity to show off our new town and open our home to friends and family (feel free to continue that trend!)...

And FINALLY got the exciting news that our new arrival would be a baby boy, which was music to our ears as we both had a feeling all along.

We learned that home is where the heart is and hosted our first family holiday at Thanksgiving, serving dinner for 10 of our favorite people...

and survived our first (of many) snowfall.

And as icing on the cake, we spent Christmas in our new home with just the two (or three!) of us, truly being thankful that this is the life that we live.

What a year of many, many blessings. It is by far one that we will never forget as we have learned a lot, experienced so much, and adapted to whatever came our way. I know that throughout our marriage and life together, things will not always be so easy, but I know that we will always have more blessings than we know what to do with and for that I am thankful. So as we say goodbye to 2009, we celebrate the times that we had and look forward to the adventure to come in the new year. Happy New Year to you and your family, and may you have more laughter than tears, hope than doubt, and more blessings bestowed upon you than you even know what to do with. We love you all and look forward to all that is to come!

"I thank my God...

...upon every remembrance of you."

~Philippians 1:3

There are some days in this life that make you realize that you couldn't count your blessings even if you tried because there is simply just no number that reaches high enough. In this life of mine, I have had some fantastic Thanksgivings. Most were spent with my immediate family around the table with all of the trimmings, two were spent in Mexico with an odd array of rice and beans mixed in with the usual fixin's, one was spent with only my sisters when the three of us were all in college, but this one was absolutely something special. This was our first Thanksgiving at home as a family... in OUR home as a family... and it will forever hold an incredibly special place in my heart.

The festivities truly began the day before. By then, my mom, Josh's dad, and the Van family had all arrived in town and our home was bursting with activity. People were sleeping on couches and air mattresses, jackets and shoes were everywhere, there was not a quiet spot in the house, and I loved every minute of it. Our home is too large for just the two of us, as we knew when we purchased it, and to hear laughter and noise from every corner filled my heart because that's how a home should be... messy, lived in, but mostly full of love and activity. On Wednesday the girls made just about as much food as they could manage including stuffing and pies and the boys enjoyed the brisk winter air with a few games of football in the backyard. Looking out the kitchen window and seeing them all have such a good time was awesome and somehow made the inside of the house feel warmer. For the past five years I have been in sunny Florida for Thanksgiving, and while the warm weather is a blessing, there is something just a little festive about the cold. Everyone should be able to see their breath on Thanksgiving if you ask me.

That evening, most of us went over to the Crossroads Youth Building and took part in feeding some folks from our community. We had over 50 youth kids, from 6th-12th grade, participate in serving the meal. We served about 170 people and the atmosphere was full of a light, carefree energy that could put a smile on anyone's face. We had invited anyone who wanted to come... whether it was for economic reasons, being away from family, or just to get a good meal, and it was very well worth it. The greatest part was watching the kids come by and ask (repeatedly) if someone wanted more lemonade or another piece of pie, each one of them enjoying the role they got to play. It was the perfect kickoff to Thanksgiving weekend.

Due to some houseguests sleeping in the living room, Thanksgiving morning felt a little more like Christmas. Since most of us got up early, we gathered in the kitchen, drank coffee, and talked to let the others get a little more sleep. By the time everyone was up, almost everyone was hanging out in the kitchen together, which was nice considering that everyone pretty much dispersed for the rest of the day. The little guys were out back playing in the clubhouse, the guys watched football, and the girls finished used most of the morning to finish the cooking. Almost everything was done by noon, so we took over the couches and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade thanks to having a DVR! We all oohed and ahhhed over the floats, the bands, the balloons, and the Broadway show snippets and fast forwarded through all of the commercials. Around 2 o'clock, we brought out the appetizers and a cut-throat game of 4-on-4 boys vs. girls gin commenced... and we won't mention who won.... it's a holiday, and therefore not important. Unless the girls win of course. Shortly after that, the guys all headed outside to fry the turkeys and between setting the table and last minute preparations, it was dinnertime before we knew it.

I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to finally fill up our entire table. By the time we all sat down, there were 10 of us as we were joined by Josh's worship leader and his girlfriend and there was enough room for everyone all at one table. It was awesome. Before saying the blessing, Josh asked that we all go around the table and say what we were thankful for, which is always something that sounded like a neat idea, but I've never actually done it. The answers were all about family, new babies, good marriages, good health, and Kevin told everyone that he was thankful for our troops serving overseas to "protect our nation." By the time Josh's turn rolled around, I was pretty much in tears... oh how blessed we truly are!

For hosting our first Thanksgiving, I have to say that the food was incredible! A major thanks goes out to my mom for pulling most of it together and to Angie for making some of the side dishes. Somewhere along the line, I deemed myself the "pie lady," perhaps as a tribute to my Grammy who passed away a few years ago, and this year the pies were out of this world delicious (thanks to a few friends who passed along recipes!). But in the end, the food was the least important part of the holiday. The day was all about the faces around that table and those that were missing and couldn't be with us, the trials that we had faced this year and how far we had come since, the people in our lives who hadn't been around very long but had already made a huge impact on us, and the love that we shared as we cancelled out all of the distractions in our own busy worlds to stop and enjoy each other's company. This one was special, that's for sure, and I am so very thankful for the enormous amount of joy in my life.

I hope that yours was just as special, no matter what the day entailed. And let us all be thankful everyday for our blessings are too numerous to count.

More photos to come... but this is all I have for now: Down, set, hike!

Two of our turkey fryers... looks like hard work!

Set and ready for food and folks

3 Delicious pies... pumpkin, apple, and pecan. YUM!

We've been working on the rail...ing

After our trip to Ohio, Mom and the VanValkenburg family came back with us for a short visit. And since there is not much to do in Small Town, Illinois, we put them to work! When we bought our home, there was no railing on the front porch, which is something that insurance companies require within a certain time frame of purchase to insure the home. The previous owner had rebuilt the entire front porch (thank goodness we did not have to do that!) and all that was left was the finishing touch. The two Josh's went to the hardware store on Sunday night and bought all of the wood, started it on Monday, finished it on Tuesday, and then the girls and painted it that night and Wednesday morning before heading out of town. Josh somehow got roped into painting to, although he still can't figure out how it happened and Kevin and Kyle both lasted about five minutes before deciding to play catch instead. So here are the highlights of their trip:

The first few posts go in

The handrails sure made the mail lady happy! She was happy to see them going up!

Kyle stayed long enough to have his picture taken... smart boy!

And it's COMPLETE! Well, minus another coat of paint!

And to complete the post, here's the before and after shot:

What a difference it makes to our home sweet home! Thank you to Josh, Angie, Mom, Kevin and Kyle for all of the help and a great visit! And as a simple disclaimer: no, we do not make everyone who visits us do home repairs. Although we may be more willing to make up the guest room if you come ready to paint! :)