Horses

When we first arrived for lunch, the kids saw the horses and couldn't stop talking about them. They wanted to take a carriage ride, but it was a bit pricey and VERY cold! So we opted for just petting them ;-)

On our way to see the horses...Morgan knew the way!

They were so BIG!

And beautiful.

Frankenmuth, MI

We headed up to Michigan this past weekend to celebrate Christmas with the Reimenschneiders! Our first stop was for lunch with the group at Zehnder's in Frankenmuth.

Morgan and Jaron with our waitress.

SANTA!

This is the new way Jaron likes to wear his coat. Too funny - what he doesn't realize is that I kind of like the zipper in the back...he can't get it off without help! ;-)

Morgan with her candy cane from Santa - if you look close, you can see the lipstick marks from Aunt Becca on her cheek ;-)

LOVE these three!!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours!

Preschool Program

Sunday afternoon, we bundled up and headed out to Morgan's preschool Christmas program. She and her friend Ellie held down the singing :-) It was so cute to watch them. They knew all the motions and they sang out so much that you could obviously pick out which voices were theirs. I was a proud momma. Morgan has loved music since she was born and I'm so thankful that God has already blessed her with a gift of music at such a young age. I'm so thankful that I decided to put Morgan in preschool. It has been wonderful for her. I can't believe that she'll be heading to kindergarten in less than 9 months...oh my, let's not go there!

Calvin, Morgan and Ellie

Morgan and Ellie

Morgan and Ellie - They call each other "sisters." I'm thankful Morgan has a good friend at school!

Our Church Christmas Program

Last weekend was a busy one, full of Christmas programs! Saturday, we had a dress rehearsal in the morning, and then our first show in the evening. Then, on Sunday, the second church program was in the morning, and then Morgan's preschool program (pictures in next post) was in the afternoon. Morgan was an angel in both programs and had such a fun time. Saturday night I curled her hair and she wanted me to curl it for her Sunday programs too. She said that it made her look like an angel :-) I thought so too!!

The Nativity - Morgan was all smiles.

She did such a good job as an angel.

I love this one...she really does look like an angel...however, I'm a little biased ;-)

The whole cast

Some Thoughts

Here are just a couple thoughts from this morning:

-First of all, I love that Morgan is desiring to have her own "quite time" right along with mommy.

She does my heart good.

-As I was reading in Hebrews again, 4 times I read,

"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart." WOW! Do you think HE may want to tell me something today?! I tell you what - I'm sure listening and my heart is OPEN!

-Hebrews 3:13 - "Encourage one another daily, as long as it's called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sins deceitfulness." What a thought...seriously...here I am, going through one of the toughest times in life so far...just waiting for someone to encourage me. Ummm...HELLO! Instead of me feeling like I need some encouragement, I should be encouraging others! That way, we'll both be encouraged. That's the way God intended it to be.

-Hebrews 4:16 - "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Why try to do anything on our own? God promises that he will never leave us. He is there to help us, all we have to do is ASK! How many of you have children? Isn't it the same way? We see them struggling to do something, and we want to help them so badly, but they won't help us. And, if they aren't ready for our help, they just get upset because they want to do it on their own. All the while, we are seeing that if they would only accept our help, life would be so much easier for them. I'm so thankful that I have a God who is personal and is waiting and wanting to be a part of my every moment life.

If You Want Me To - Ginny Owens | With Lyrics

As I was reading my Bible this morning, this song was playing. Just had to share. It's been a favorite, but had some reminders for me that I needed right now.

Then, I was reading in Hebrews.

Hebrews 2:10 - "In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering."

So - Shouldn't we be eager for suffering in our lives so that we can be made "perfect" or more like Christ? Wow. I'm sure not eager for suffering right now. But maybe I should be.

Lord, help me to see suffering as something that is making me more like you. And I pray that I would be able to have the attitude and eyes of Christ as I go through those times of suffering. You never said it would be easy, You only said I'll never go alone. Thank you Father.