Busy, Busy, Busy

With 4 Christmas parties, 2 weddings, a children's ministry CD, holidays spent with lots of family, and all the other festivities, we have been busy, busy, busy.  It feels like we haven't stopped since, uh, I don't even remember when!  The month of December especially has thrown me for a loop!  Thus, why I haven't been blogging!  It may take me a while to catch up!  
As for some quick notes of interest:
Amish Friendship Bread- Summer, a friend from church, gave me a starter mix for Amish Friendship Bread at the end of November.  You mush the bag for 5 days, add ingredients on the 5th day, mush it some more for 5 more days and bake on Day 10.  Before you bake it, you make 4 starter mixes with one-cup of batter to give out to friends.  Hence, "friendship bread." Well, the bread was GREAT!  So I decided to keep all four starter mixes and make them for Christmas gifts!  After my Amish Bread craze, I had made 20 loaves of bread, eaten more than I should, and gave out 14 Christmas gifts complete with a loaf of bread, a starter mix, and directions.  It was fun, but I just had to stop the insanity!  So, I disposed of all of the starter mixes I had left.  I sure hope it comes my way again sometime!
Weddings!: We had the pleasure of attending two very special weddings this month. Congratulations to Nate and Danielle Hernandez and Jeff and Ruth McFadden!  Nate and Danielle are basically adopted family.  When Nate was in high school, he needed a place to live and my sister and her husband took him in.  He came to know the Lord soon after and has been such a joy to have in the family!  We were so thrilled to see him marry a beautiful and godly girl and can't wait to see all that the Lord has for you two!  As for Jeff, Jason was actually his junior high leader at a church here in the valley!  After a long courtship, he too has married a beautiful and godly woman, and we have the pleasure of having them join our small group at church.  We pray that God would bless both of your marriages and use them to further His kingdom!

With Heavy Hearts We Say Goodbye to Joneen

Proverbs 31
verses 10 -12: An excellent wife, who can find?  For her worth is far above jewels.  The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.  She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.  
verses 25 -31: Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.  She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.  She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.  Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: "Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all."  Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.  Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

The mother of some good friends of ours passed away on Thursday December 20th.  She certainly was a wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and bondservant of Christ that feared the Lord and smiled at the future.  As I read over this well-known proverb, I am struck by her life and how much she resembles this Proverbs 31 woman.  As I watch my friends grieve, I am amazed and refreshed at their eternal hope in Christ and their rock solid faith that their mom has truly gone home.  Through her labor, the gospel truly has been handed down from generation to generation.  Hundreds of people attended her memorial service at our church.  I was so aware of a marvelous woman living a simple life at home, serving her husband, her children, her church, and her neighbors, all for the glory of her Savior.  And this simple life affected the lives of so many.  What a legacy!  O great God, I desire to live my life for You and for Your glory, just like Joneen.  I too want the glorious gospel to be handed down to our children and for them to have saving faith in Jesus Christ!

Psalm 116:15- Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of His godly ones.  
Joneen has truly gone home to be with her Savior!

As an added side note, our pastor Rich Richardson, preached an amazing message last Sunday on death and heaven.  It was so helpful!  It is available for free download: The Birth of a Savior and the Death of a Saint.

Check out us elves!

After seeing Tara's little elves, we had to join the fun! Check us out!

Welcome Baby Miah!

Well, it has been a busy busy Christmas season and there is much to blog about, but only time for one post. So, the most important one is the new arrival of our niece Naamiah Ellasae Michaud. This is Jason's younger sister Jenna's fourth baby. She is absolutely precious! Considering the fact that we still haven't met their third child, Toben, we miss them very much and wish we were there to love on all of them. Welcome little miss Miah! God has given you a wonderful and God-fearing family and we can't wait to meet you!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

My niece, Gracie, turned 1 this week! My how time flies! Happy Birthday Gracie! I missed taking pictures at her party, but I will get some and post them soon.

Late Night Appetizers with Good Friends!

Last Saturday we had a wonderful evening at our Care Group Leaders Christmas party at church! I am so thankful for our church and the way they care for our souls and envision us for the work of Christ! Afterwards, Jason and I joined our good friends Jon and Lory and Chris and Tara at Chili's for some late night food and laughs. We had a great time! Here is a picture of us girls. I don't even think we stopped laughing for the picture! Also, we had two Christmas parties last week and I wanted to say thanks to the Pettits, and Danae and Ruth for offering to watch our girls. We were blessed by your willingness to serve!

The Christmas Spectacular!

Last Friday, my in-laws took John, Jessica, their three girls, Jason, myself, Abby, and my niece Madison, to the Dodge Theater to see the Christmas Spectacular. It was a great production! The real Rockettes performed, their was a lot of great music, costumes, and very imaginative sets and dances. The best part was that they devoted a significant portion of time at the end to do a full-blown Nativity scene and told the real Christmas story. They even said that it was the true meaning of Christmas and quoted Scripture and everything! Abby loved it! It held her attention for the whole 2 hours and when it was over she said, "Again!" She melted my heart that evening in her adorable dress, with really curly hair (it was humid and raining outside), and clapping after every scene. Hooray for a daughter who enjoys the theater! Thanks Gary and Dee for a beautiful evening!

I Still Can't Believe the Cardinals Lost that Game!

I have had the pleasure of playing fantasy football in our family league for the past couple of years. I actually really enjoy it and am becoming quite the football fan! Having my own team has really motivated me to be interested in, learn about, and watch football. This certainly serves and blesses my husband! Recently, we have been playing college football on Playstation 2 and Jason has been teaching me all about positions, plays, and strategy. The more I learn the more I like it. My Dad also has season tickets to the Arizona Cardinals and we have become quite the Cardinals fans! Last week, Jason and I played each other in fantasy football and had the chance to go to the Cardinal's game on Sunday. Thanks Dad! It was a fun and excruciating all at the same time! The Cardinal's were supposed to win and instead they stunk! All in all though, the game was really fun. Here is a picture of us at halftime. If Jason looks disinterested, maybe it is because Larry Fitzgerald just caught a 48-yard hail mary touchdown pass and he is on my fantasy team! Ha Ha! But my gloating didn't last long! Jason creamed me! 130 to 94! Oh well, it is probably for the best! I love you honey and thanks Dad for the tickets!

Cause Baby It's Cold Outside!

Well, finally a little bit of chilly weather here in the desert! The Christmas tree is up and the Christmas music playing loud and clear! Some favorites are Ella Fitzgerald and Lous Armstrong singing, "Baby It's Cold Outside," Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, and Whitney Houston all have great Christmas albums, and I love the Sovereign Grace "Savior" Album.
I have always loved the holidays, but having kids adds so much more excitement to them. We were leaving Costco the other night and it was the first time we really felt cold going to the car. So I looked at Abby and said, "Yeah, it is Christmas time!" She looked at me with a big smile and said, "Yeah, Christmas time!" It wasn't until we got home that I realized there was some confusion. We pulled into the driveway and Abby starts crying and screaming, "No, go to Christmas!" She thought Christmas was a place. So, how do we explain holiday? And even more, a holiday season? And much more than that, the meaning of Christmas? Kids bring such a different angle to life! So Jason drove around the neighborhood and showed Abby all of the Christmas lights and did his best to explain. When we got home, we put up the Christmas tree and somehow, some completely unknown way, she associated Christmas with Superman! Don't ask, I don't have a clue! So it took even more explaining to get her to stop calling it the Superman tree. What a cute kid!

Thanksgiving Festivities!

Well, we had quite the full day of fun, family, and festivities on Thanksgiving Day! Jason started the day by playing in his annual Turkey Bowl with some good old friends of ours. Then it was off to his family's house for our first Thanksgiving dinner. As per the usual traditions, we had lots of turkey, mashed potatoes, football, and an afternoon nap! Then it was off to my family's house for more turkey, mashed potatoes, and, mmmm sweet potatoes! Ooooh yah, gotta love Thanksgiving! Soon after this excessive indulgence in lots of yummy food, we had birthday cake and celebrated my brother's 30th birthday! Happy Birthday Timmy! Although I am certainly thankful for all of the food, I left the day so thankful for the family that God has so richly blessed me with! For reasons too many to name, I love you all! And for our church... I am increasingly thankful to God for our local church, for our humble and wise pastors, for our dear friends, and for our small group that we love to serve! If we didn't have our families to celebrate with, we could have been with so many great and wonderful people that we love! And all of this purchased for us on the cross! My greatest treasure, my greatest deliverance, my greatest need taken care of, the thing to certainly be thankful for the most, my dear Savior Jesus Christ!

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.
(Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Written by Robert Robinson)

Praise the Lord for his all redeeming love on this day of thanksgiving!
Here are some pictures from our day.
Jason's Family:





My Family:

Zoo Lights!

Last week, we went to Zoo Lights with Jason's sister and her family.  It was a rather enjoyable beginning to the Christmas Season!  Cool, but not cold, Arizona weather, Christmas music playing throughout the park, and of course, lots of Christmas lights!  

November Arizona Day at the Park

It is amazing how fast weather changes! Today the weather is cold, but just last week we had the most beautiful day at our neighborhood park! You've gotta love Arizona. The middle of November and we are still at the park in the beautiful sunshine! I put Katie in the stroller and Abby pushed her baby in her stroller next to me. It was adorable! Abby loves the park and we got some great snapshots!

Katie is cruising!

Check her out! She is everywhere! It sure doesn't take them long!

Gilbert Days Parade

This morning the girls and I met up with my sister, Tracy, and her youngest, Maddie, at the Gilbert Days Parade. We had a great time! All different kinds of valley organizations and local officials paraded down downtown Gilbert. We saw lots of horses, dance groups, marching bands, girls, boys, cubs, and any other kind of scouts you can think of, about a dozen different rodeo queens and "miss somethings", charity groups, mayor, city council, Sherriff Joe, and local businesses (just to name a few). From our curbside seats, we got lots of little treats passed to us; including flowers, beads, candy, flyers, church invites, and coupons! Most of all, we just had fun chatting, waving, and cheering people on. Abby cried when we left and with the saddest frown said, "Gooo Baaack!" He He! I couldn't help but chuckle!
Abby loved all of the horses!

She was a good little waver!

This was a really cool train thingy that had a great band on the back!

Lots of marching bands!

They had several of these great old and restored army vehicles! They were really cool!

Abby, smell the flowers!


Katie liked the flowers too! Then she tried to eat them!

Ooooh, free stuff!

Abby's version of "Say Cheese!"

Us all together enjoying the festivities!

Is that the fire alarm I hear!

Yes, it is true, I set off the fire alarm in our house last night. You see, I have this love-hate relationship with our newly purchased wok! I love using it, I love the food, it is cheap, easy to clean up, and veggies taste great in it. But, it spits at me and burns my arms, and, when I cook the meat, smoke comes up like crazy! It is actually a humbling experience because, this tends to happen much more for me with the wok than for Jason! So last night, I am trying a new recipe, I cover the steak in cornstarch, put a little oil in the wok, toss the meat in, and smoke filled the kitchen and the family room and the fire alarm begins to roar! I don't know, it baffles me, any thoughts? Please, feel free to send me any thoughts! Well, here is a picture of one of my fav meals in the wok! Yes, it is quite yummy, but is it worth it?

There are most men, then there are the men in my life!

There are so many times that I sit back and am so thankful for the men in my life. This happened again last Tuesday night for our date night. My dad is one of a kind, such a treasure! I certainly could not start a list of all the reasons that I am thankful for him because it would be to hard to bring it to a close! My dad is so generous and loves to serve, especially his family. He gives, and gives, and gives of himself. He used to babysit Abby all the time. Then when we had Katie, I made sure to always ask my mom for babysitting because, what guy wants to babysit 2 little kids. Well, he finally convinced me that he really did want to watch the girls, even when mom wasn't available. He just wanted to spend time with his granddaughters! So, the past two date nights, he has come over by himself, watched the girls, and put them to bed. This past Tuesday night, he had Suns tickets, gave them to us, and stayed home with the girls! Then when we got home, he talked about how much fun he had! Oh, what a great Papa they have!
Here is Papa playing dress up with Abby!

And then, there is my love! My greatest gift short of salvation! To another man so unlike most men of this world, I love you!
Here is us cheering the Suns on to victory!

Dance Party!

In our house, we love to have dance parties! There are many times when, in order to break up the day here at home, we will crank up the music and have a dance party! We jump around and act all crazy! It is such a great girly thing to do! The other night when Daddy was home, we all joined in on the fun.




Daddy and Katie joining in on the fun!

Our attempt at a family photo!