Pictures of Titus

Titus Abram - what an adorable new nephew! Those cheeks - I love it!

New Baby!

On Thursday, my brother-in-law Simeon and his wife Bonnie had their second child, Titus Abram. He was 20 inches long and 8 lbs, 4.5 oz. We are just praising God for His goodness, since there easily could have been complications due to a rare pregnancy-induced liver disease Bonnie had...but God is good and both mom and baby are doing fine! I'll post pictures as soon as I get my hands on my new nephew!

First Snow, First Steps

Yesterday marked our first snowfall of the year. Don't be fooled by the pictures of this great looking snowman though (go Cubs?); we only had about an inch on the ground...but Caleb and Levi were determined and after much scraping (with a trashcan lid), they were able to put together this guy! Yesterday also brought Jared's very first solo steps. He's been such a chicken cruising around the room with 1 finger on everything. We finally were able to send him back and forth between us by himself. It won't be long now! As for me, well, it's the beginning of the year and there are always so many things to "organize" for the upcoming year. And for those of you who know me...I love it and hate it all at the same time. BUT, I have been convicted lately in several areas of personal service and proper time management - I guess that's just a nicer way of saying that I'm sometimes selfish and lazy. I've been reading through Numbers in my devotions and it's very interesting (and shall I say scary???) to see how upset God was when his people complained about His provision or bucked the authority God put in place. Let's just say it is a good study for me!!!!

Don't Mess With Texas

After Florida, Caleb and I went down to Texas to see Caleb's brother and family. After two days, Caleb and Luke ditched us (for good reason - class in Dallas) and left Liesl and I with 5 kids - age 4 and under. There are times in our lives when God shows us how unsanctified we really can be - and well, this was one of those times. We had so much fun with them...including making crafts (the homemade glasses were unfortunately all the creative juices I could muster)and watching the eerie display of "like father, like son". Both Caleb and Luke, then Elijah and Levi were playing video games minutes apart from each other. Funny stuff! Oh - and I can't forget that Jared's two front teeth decided to make their own grand entrance in the cow patty land of Texas!

Beach Boys?

How is that we as an extended family decide to go to Florida for Christmas this year to avoid the snow and cold of the midwest, only to get there and be in for four days of gray, rainy, and cold weather? No beach boys for us! Instead, we spent some time with my family and just relaxed...okay, not really, but it was nice!

It's finally time for Presents!

Since I just figured out how to get my pictures here - here are Levi and Jared on our Christmas morning (which was really 12/23). Levi is definitely at the age where presents are a huge deal...and the smallest gift gets the great response of "This is the best present in the whole wide world!" Works for us - we'd like him to remember that when he's 12.

New Year Resolution

Well, besides many serious and spiritual resolutions of this year, I am determined to keep up with this blog. I have not kept in contact with many of the people that I would love to - and it seems that blogging is the easier way to do it! It's like a mass mailing that people seek out instead of deleting it! Besides, what better way to see the two little boys in my life. Caleb and I finally got our digital camera functioning and as soon as I figure out how to get the pictures from the camera to my blog (that really does tell everyone how old I am), I will load up several from Christmas and our trip to Florida and Texas! More about Texas and 5 cousins under the age of 4 later! Please visit me and write me and I will desperately try to keep up with you all! I know Liesl will by my blogging Holy Spirit and "convict" (nag) me until I write something new!