making merry

Some friends joined us in decorating sugar cookies and watching a Christmas movie.
Jaden is holding the last of the puppies. She will go to the girls in the picture when they finish language school soon! (the puppy, not JJ)

Emma, Avery, and Zephan went down to Ester and Emily's apartment and became living Christmas trees

gone fishin'

Some good friends (Max is in the pic) of ours took Chris and Gavin deep sea fishing a couple of days after Christmas. Gavin caught this tuna. It was delicious! Thanks Max and E!

'ata boy, Gavin!

The first weekend in December we were able to spend some time with dear friends we met while at seminary. Thanks for a great weekend of wonderful food and fellowship! We will miss you.

Snow! Glorious Snow!

We had a wonderful day of snow. We woke to a small blanket covering the ground. In the afternoon the white stuff really began to fall! What a fun blessing for everyone. The kids had some friends over and we had hot cocoa by the fire after they played in the snow for a while.

Long time, no blog

It has been a while since I have blogged and I have lost my camera! Sorry for the tardiness.
In honor of the hiatus, here are a few random pictures from the past two months (don't get your hopes up-there aren't many).

Me and my man! We don't get too many of these (pics of the two of us) so I had to mark the occasion. Chris is almost done with his classes and we are SO enjoying having him around more now that he isn't working nights.

This is Sam. Sam is a special person to us, especially Jaden. This girl is blessed with wonderful musical talent and a love for God...good combination! We are thankful for Sam's influence in Jaden's life.

This picture is from a visit with a long time friend and her kiddos. Gavin and her oldest are 12 hours apart in age! We sure love them and are grateful for the time we had that day. (sorry, the lens was dirty-I am SUCH the photographer)

Well, I know it isn't much but there it is.

We are enjoying our transition time. We have been able to visit with friends we haven't seen in a while. Right now we are enjoying some time at GranBud and Grammie's. We spent Thanksgiving with friends and family at PawPaw and Nana's. Chris cooked and made the most wonderful food. I wish you could have been there. I will post pics and the menu later.

Tonight we are going to get our Christmas tree! I love the hunt for the tree. Watching the kiddos wander around with eyes wide, searching for the perfect tree, is one of the highlights of the season. We will crate our belongings right before Christmas so the decoration situation will have to be negotiated.

We are in the process of sorting through our earthly possessions- deciding what we will take with us and what will stay. What an undertaking! It is actually pretty liberating. "Stuff" isn't as high on the priority ladder and that feels great.

The leaves are beautiful this year and I am taking lots of mental pictures. I don't imagine there will be many seasonal changes where we are headed. ;) We are so excited and can't believe that the time is getting so close.

Balut...

is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. They are common, everyday food in some countries in Asia, such as in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern featured Balut when Mr. Zimmern visited the Philippines. Chris caught the show and was discussing it with some of our church members. This is what resulted:
We fellowship with some of the best people around. This is one example of the fun we have. After a home group Bible Study, our Filipino friends fixed this delicacy for Chris to try. YUM?!


I have to hand it to him...he really gave it his all. He went for the "whole" experience, biting into the egg...no nibbling for Chris. That's my man. Seriously, I love this about him. He is not afraid to try new things.

...let's just say that Balut will not be on our regular menu.

(Chris had to add this picture...not for the faint of heart!!!)

On a side note...apparently, Balut was a featured food on Fear Factor. Someone turned down $50,000.00 (what I heard) so they wouldn't have to eat it...
my husband did it for kicks (flex those muscles, Chris!).

Happy Birthday, Chris!

I have no idea how I got these photos to place this way!?! Oh well...

February 25, 2008
Chris celebrated his birthday at Benihana's...YUM! Some friends joined us and graciously took pictures (I forgot my camera...hello!) The kiddos loved watching the chefs do their thing and ate up the delicious food.
The kiddos say that some of their favorite things about Daddy are...
He makes me laugh
He's funny
He makes me smile
He likes to take us fun places
He loves us so much
He loves God
He has a loving heart for people (around the world)
He preaches for God
He's really nice
He's my buddy
He's handsome
He's a Christian

I would have to agree.

ONLY IN TEXAS!

Yep, we had snow today-lots of it.
I was wearing capri length pants and crocs yesterday. Today the heater was on and I was in my cozy, cold weather clothes.

Our friends, the Mays, walked down to play in the snow. Chris May had everyone snowball fighting-thanks, Chris.
Gavin was down the street playing with some other friends so he didn't make the photo session.
We sure enjoy our neighborhood, there is always someone willing to throw a snowball at you.

A day at the Fort Worth Zoo

Here we are...happy to be at the zoo. Well, almost everyone. Emma is having a hard time being happy to pose for a family shot. This is # 43 I think. Just kidding. But you can tell from A's face it was not the first picture we took.

We had a great time (really). The Fort Worth zoo has something called Member Mondays during June as a way to say Thank You. We got in an hour before general admission, had a free snack (which Emma promptly spilled all over her pants), and got to feed the parrots for free. Our friend, Justus, came along and helped out immensly with wrangling kiddos in the summer zoo crowd. Justus works with Chris at the hospital. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of him!

We got to see an elepant bathing and get UP CLOSE to his face...way cool.

These are the kiddos with our special friends. They met us at the zoo and we all walked around together, shared stollers, and enjoyed the overcast (not as hot) day together!