+++++Henry's Baptism+++++
Grace & Tegan Playing in the First Big Snow
~~~First Trip to the Dentist~~~
Christmas Program at Church
THANK YOU MS. NANCY!
All for which we are thankful...
Grace (and Whopper)
Thankful for Family.
Each a gem of great treasure.
SO THANKFUL FOR MY 87 YEAR OLD GREAT~GRANDMOTHER!
GRACE: BESIDE HERSELF WITH THANKS FOR MIMI SHARON & GAYNOR!
Giving thanks for Sopapias!
Thankful for wonderful trips in Texas with family and safe comfy rides home to Chicago!
Hot Apple Spiced Cider
Hot Chocolate
The boys broke out the bags one more time before winter...
Maya (in car), Josh, George & Rob
The Girls
A little Monkey named Nathan came to Daddy's office too...
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TRICK-OR-TREATING!
Our third halloween together! We met while pregnant with our (shown) first borns and are now not only friends, but neighbors. Grace, Isabella & Zach were born within 7 days of each other.
CAN YOU BELIEVE HER HAIR?! We just love baby Ella and her hair!
CHICK & THE EGG...
Ella is very clear on who came first! Does the costume look familiar to anyone? (wink)
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New Life Community Church ~ Harvest Party
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Halloween Interview
Janie Wells came to visit us! We all went to the pumpkin patch!
I (finally) got to ride a PONY!
Smiling into the Sunshine!
SNACK TIME!
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Breakfasts with Friends!
CHRIS MAY came to Town!
George thinks this (blogging) is becoming an addiction. I think he's on to something! At any rate, here I am or we are... George just asked what I was doing - oh no. I'm caught! (George just learned how to use his ipod - kind of - big day! Where is Alison? Alison - you need to call George and remind him how long it will be before his ipod is obsolete.)
Side bar central - GRACE. Tonight at dinner Grace had a few moments of expressing her inner "2.5 version." She'd been on a bit of a tear since I'd gotten home so I finally asked her if she liked having Tegan over to play all day. She (of course) said yes. I then explained to her that if she were going to behave poorly after spending a day with Tegan that perhaps we couldn't have Tegan over to play any more. (Smart, Mama... trying to inspire good behavior by a bribe of time spent with a sitter! silly.) Grace looked me in the eye and with tears welling said, "You will have to leave me all by my self all day... No more Tegan. I have to stay all by myself." Good job, Mama! "Leaky eye" syndrome is contageous in our home - I looked at George with tears welling and in humored disbelief and said, "You've got to be kidding me." In a lame attempt to be affective, we looked away but soon unraveled into tear streaming giggles. Good times at the dinner table.
I'm posting from George's lonely laptop right now as he cozies next to me on the couch peeking over my shoulder with ceaselessly streaming commentary... this is the most recent picture of us on it. Three years ago on George's birthday in Basalt, CO enjoying our (now second-only to Grace) favorite passtime: fly fishing.
Goodnight - we're off to bed -finally - it is late!
Central to our lives is our belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We believe our only true purpose here on earth is to bring glory to God's kingdom on earth. This is why today was a particularly important day for us, our family and friends.
After searching Chicago (and the surrounding area) through and through since early 2004 we finally found a home at New Life Community Church about a year and a half ago. (Check it out here:http://www.newlifechicago.org/). We had delayed dedicating Grace because we had not found the right home where we found ourselves intellectually and spiritually fed... until stumbling upon New Life Community. (Nueva Vida for those of you who know me and "the story".)
We believe that a child dedication is not (by any means) a way to secure or our child's salvation, but is a publicly made parental committment to:
1. Raise our child in the way of the Lord
2. Set a godly example in our speech, actions and pursuit of God
3. Pray often for her and her salvation and service to God
4. Seek to teach her God's word and take her to church
Furthermore, we believe that part of this publically made committment is to actively engage our community in supporting these efforts and to pray blessings over Grace in her spiritual development. It is also a petition for our family and church family to pray blessings over us - that we exhibit the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, kindness and self-control) in our every day lives as well as in our parenting along with discernment and wisdom. All of this is to say that this act is not one of "ritual", but rather one of a robustly substantive committment.
Many of of family members and friends (who either live out of town or attend church elsewhere) were not able to come, but they were with us in spirit. Yaya & Papa attended as did our well loved babysitters Tegan & Kat.
This was a perfect way to start our week and accentuated by beautiful weather!
Grace kicked off her special day with breakfast and a wonderful little gift.
So special to celebrate this special day with two of our dearest and most well loved Grace-sitters!
Thank you for coming, Kat & Tegan! We love you!