Mah Christmas Tree!

Thanks, Mom and Andrew for my lovely Christmas Tree! I have it all set up in my house right next to the couch in my family room where it makes me feel all warm and Christmassy!

Love you guys,
See you soon!

We'll see you all soon!!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing you. We love you all sooooo much! : )

Christmas by the Lake

What a wonderful celebration of a wonderful Gift!




















If you look REAL close you can see Grandma and Grandpa in the window of this building. My neighbor made this storefront into a gorgeous apartment. Her sister lives there now and, as the next post explains, Grandma and Grandpa were able to watch the parade from the warmth of her home. But they were troopers! They walked all the way from our home to Main Street, then down to the lake, then back home - in the snow and ice (uphill both ways?!)!





Love you all so much!

Clear Lake Christmas

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...











Jack Frost nipping at your nose...












Yule tide carols being sung by a choir...










And folks dressed up like eskimos!!

I feel like I'm part of a song!

Grandma, Grandpa and I experienced Christmas by the Lake for the first time. It was, as Grandma described it, inspiring. Just as the parade was about to start the snow began to fall. I can't imagine a more beautiful setting! We walked down to a friend's home right on Main Street. Gma and Gpa got o watch the parade there in the warmth while I tried (unsuccessfully) to get some pictures so you all could experience the fun with us.
After the parade everyone walked toward the lake to watch the fireworks. Just beautiful. Happy birthday, Jesus! Hope You enjoyed the party!

Matt as a kiddo...aka...Jeremy

Who do you think this looks like? Jeremy thinks it is a picture of himself! I found this pic yesterday and thought it was fun to see. Thought I would share. Love you all.

Enjoying Your Posts

hey, family!

Thanks so much for the pictures and posts. I don't have great access to the Internet here because I don't want to drop $6.95 for 24 hours of service, but all your posts get delivered to my phone so I get to enjoy them there. The I-net is a little slower like that, so commenting doesn't always work out betweeen bits of work, but I am definitely appreciating getting to checkin on ya' here!

Miami is nice. Work is good. Things going well, but I'm looking forward to coming home and seeing ya'll!

love you, family!

the hike

We have to do one of these when you all are here. We had so much fun on our "hike". It was really more like a walk with a bunch of snack breaks but it was wonderful to be outside with the boys! Hope you enjoy the pics!

We had fun decorating the Christmas tree...but we can't wait to pick one out with you guys when you get here! Check out this pic of Tyler...I think he was mad at the flash! This was maybe the 20th pic taken of him in a row! What a cutie. Can't wait to see you Dad, Mom and Don!

What a cutie! All dressed up for Joe's wedding!

Their singing debut!

Here are some fun pics from the boys singing in church last week! Sorry they are not very good quality but I have to figure out how to take pictures inside the church, they always come out fuzzy and dark. Anyway, it was so much fun to see the boys sing. Check out the first pic...Jeremy took off his shoes on stage and wandered between the microphones to see which one would work so he could yell in it! Haha. Andrew was very poised and knew all of his hand motions and words. He looked very dapper. Hope you enjoy!

some fun pics

Here are some fun pictures of the boys in the hats that Connie made for them for Christmas. They are all so handsome!!! Love you all

Okay, guys, the house is cute and all, but I need to see my chickadees!!!!! All 8 of you!!

We love you!

Christmas around the house

We are so blessed. Home is warm, comfortable and with the Christmas music playing in the background, the only thing missing is you!! God is giving us lots of opportunities to open the home to Iowa family and friends, though. Maybe next year we'll winter with some from California! : >


We were able to light the tree in the back - make sure Andrew and Jeremy know it's part of Jesus' birthday celebration. How good it is to celebrate how good He is!
We sure love you all. : )

Christmas around the lake

Hi family! It's beginning to look alot like Christmas around here! It's just beautiful. Cold, but beautiful. The first picture you see is the morning of our first real snowfall of the season. I drove over to gma and gpa's to get the sunrise shot for you. We had a storm over the weekend that dropped snow, then sleet, then rain. All the beautiful snow on the ground is covered with a thick layer of ice! It's gorgeous to look at, but a bit of a mess to be out in. They postponed the Christmas-by-the-Lake outdoor festivities because of the ice. Hopefully the coming snow will be enough to cover the ice and they'll be able to have the celebration this weekend. It should be alot of fun.


Lady of the Lake has a different look this time of year!

Love you guys. Can't wait to see you!