Merry Christmas 2007

"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." Matthew 2:2

May the Lord bless you this Christmas season in your worship of the King.

Riesa – 8 months. My favorite part of the year was being born and finding out how big this world is. So far I’ve learned to crawl, eat solid food, laugh a lot and sign a few words like “more”, “all done”, and “drink”.

Noelle – 5 years. This year I learned how to read. The best things that happened were… Ashley coming over to play and my sister being born. (Ashley is a 3 year old little girl that Jen has watched since she was a baby.) My favorite things to do are… practice writing letters, playing with baby dolls and looking at my gingerbread house. My favorite experience of the year was going letterboxing. And when we went letterboxing we saw a buck and he was sharpening his antlers. We found the box right where he was sharpening his antlers. My favorite book was “The Night Before Christmas”. Next year I would like to write letters. I do ballet and sometimes I do recitals and sometimes my mom and dad and friends can come and watch.

Megan – 8 years. I hope this last year was the best for you. My favorite thing to do is… watch Pokemon, play with Pokemon cards and anything Pokemon. I also like science and one of the things I do for science is learn the names of birds and watch birds. I also like to learn about dinosaurs. My favorite books that I’m reading are Nancy Drew and the Bobsey Twins. I went on a trip to Popops and Grandma’s (Brukiewa) house last Christmas. I enjoyed being with them. This year Mema and Grandpa (Grillo) are going to stay here for Christmas. Next year I would like to read a book about fairies. My whole family does karate. We did a tournament. We did stick fighting and a kata. Kata’s are a series of moves. There are weapon katas and sparing but we didn’t do any of that. I have a new sister, she’s the cutest thing in the universe.

Gabby (the pooch) - I have designated myself as a constant guardian to the new baby. I don’t mind much when she pulls my ears and pokes my eyes. I also faithfully remind the girls to feed me and bark at any thing that comes near my territory. The highlight of the year has to be the camping trip with my family.

Jen – This year has been full of mommy activities . . . homeschooling the girls, dance class, field trips, play groups, leading a Daisy Girl Scout troop, laundry, housekeeping, dinners, gardening, giving birth, nursing… etc. Some of the things I’ve enjoyed most are: starting a journey with my family toward a black belt in Karate; teaching Noelle to read; watching Megan’s love of learning carry her into amazing discoveries: quiet moments in reading, study, prayer and contemplation (it happens). I’ve enjoyed studying the life and works of Beethoven and Mary Cassat and finding out that I love history! I have loved reading some of the classic books with the girls and Dave before bed. And then there is Riesa…what a sweet blessing. She is amazing! I am also involved in a project started by an old friend in Florida, Broose Johnson. He wrote a beautiful princess song for his daughter that I recorded that can be personalized. Check out the website to hear some of the song at aprincessafterall.com . I am often overwhelmed by all the Lord has blessed me with! I need His grace every day and He never holds it back. A particularly meaningful verse God gave me recently was Isaiah 40:11. “In His arms He will gather the lambs, and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.”

Dave – The highlight of the year has to be the birth of my third daughter Riesa. We named her Riesa which means “laughter” because I laughed when I found out we were having a third girl. God has been gracious to enable me to spend lots of great time with my family this year. We’ve enjoyed Letterboxing, hiking, camping, visiting family in Steamboat and cutting down our Christmas tree this year. This year God has impressed on me just how much He is in control and what a comfort it is to know that I am His.

May Christmas bring you closer to the King as you contemplate His birth, life, death and resurrection all for you.