Merry Christmas!

Christmas! It's here! I love this time of the year! It is my all time favorite! And one of the biggest reasons why I love it...there is so much joy! Almost EVERYONE shares a little more, loves a little harder, gives a little more freely. Smiles aren't bottled up...songs are sung without apprehension...others are placed before ourselves! But most of all, Jesus is ever present in our thoughts and hearts! We celebrate His birth! We remember His death. We rejoice at His resurrection. And our souls long for His 2ND coming! There is unity. It feels as though all the bad and ugly, all the worries and strife's, all the stress and pettiness melts away for a brief moment and we come together to acknowledge that there is a God, Whose plan is bigger than our very existence. His Son was sent to redeem our lost and sinful souls. We submit to the purpose of furthering HIS KINGDOM, not our own. And nothing this world throws at us can replace our eternal home, where our Heavenly Father waits with open arms! It creates such excitement within me that I don't know how to express the joy flowing through my veins! JESUS!

Christmas! Celebrate our Savior! Celebrate like never before! His story is so beautiful. And His story was conceived for salvation of you and me! Unworthy sinner that I am....I hold a place in heaven b/c of our mighty God's unfathomable grace! Praise His Name! Merry Christmas!

Wesley's Day

There are so many posts I want to write...so many things to catch up on! It feels like it has been so long that I was away from blogging! But that will have to wait for another time. Right now, I have to brag on my sweet son! Wesley Anderson is one of the sweetest, kindest, tender-hearted children I have ever met! He loves people! He loves to make people laugh, make them happy, make them smile! He is the biggest help! He never EVER complains about helping me out at home, with the other kids, or doing WHATEVER needs to be done! He is constantly thinking of others first...his sister or brother...me or Daddy! My heart feels like it will explode sometimes for the joy I feel just being his mom!

Today we dedicated the WHOLE day to Wes! Since my surgery and Travis hurting his leg, we have had to depend on that boy more than any 6 yr old boy should be depended on! His responsibilities tripled and he never batted an eye! He rolled with it and even had fun with it! He learned to change diapers (seeing as changing diaper requires 2 hands), do the dishes, fold laundry, pump gas, and the list goes on! (of course all of these activities were supervised:) But it blessed my heart to see him jump right in and do what needed to be done, just b/c we needed it! We didn't have to threaten or bribe him...he willingly served! So, once we were feeling better, we told him we wanted to honor his servant's heart and reward him with a day filled with whatever he choose to do! He was beside himself with excitement!

Our day began by sleeping in this morning:) Then we all went to see the new Narnia movie! (great movie) After that we took him to Fred Meyer to spend his Christmas money from Nana and Grandpa! (that was a BIG hit!) After which we had some lunch and went downtown for Winter Solstice with Daddy to watch him play banjo! The kids got to sit with Santa and take pictures! We then played Putt Putt golf, and Wesley won! After that we ate dinner, at Wesley's request, at Chili's! And to finish off the night we watched the fireworks downtown! It was a perfect day! I am so thankful for my family! Each child God has blessed me with is so special and unique...and I couldn't imagine my life without any one of them! Thank You Lord for my family! And tonight, I thank You especially for Wes!

Winter Wonderland!

One of the greatest parts of living in Alaska is the snow! We LOVE IT! We love to play in it! Daddy, Wes and Emmy spent the greater part of one afternoon building this new friend! They had so much fun! Isn't he the cutest!


We really enjoy riding on our snow-machine! It is cold though! BRRRRRRRRRR!

/ We all wanted a ride!

It was too cold for Lukey on the snow-machine but he had a blast helping daddy shovel the driveway! He really thought he was big stuff!

And I can't keep this little guy out of the snow! Just walking from the house to the car he will purposely fall into the snow, eat the snow, sit in the snow, run in the snow, hide in the snow, or throw the snow! This child is ALL BOY! He is such a stinker! This is him making his infamous "Cheezer" face! I love it!

The 2010 NutCracker Ballet

We have a new tradition! Every Christmas season, we take Emmy to the Nutcracker! It is so much fuN! We (meaning me, my mom, and Emmy) get all dressed up, go out for a nice, fancy dinner, and then to the ballet! It is great! Emmy Grace LOVES it! She looks forward to it all year long. Now granted, we live in Fairbanks, Ak...so it isn't the grandest ballet in the world...but they do a nice job for out little town.


Here is Emmy all dressed up ready to go to dinner and the ballet! So excited! Doesn't she look so grown up!
Mommy and Emmy Grace! Emmy said I was as beautiful as Mrs. Jennifer! Not a princess, but Mrs. Jennifer! She thinks the world of my sweet friend!

Mimi and her girl! She loves my mom probably just a little bit more than me! Mimi hung the moon in her book! It blesses my heart to see the joy in their relationship! My mom is the greatest Mimi in the world! I'm glad that she got to be apart of this night with us!

We met up with a friend of mine, Molly, and her sweet little girl Jaime! Emmy Grace and Jaime are great friends! They were all dressed up together and danced the night away every chance they got pretending to be "sugar-plum fairies" and beautiful "dancers"! Love it!

Us Girls! We had such a fun night! I think the greatest part wasn't watching the ballet, but watching Emmy's reaction to it! It brought joy unspeakable to my heart! I love being a mommy! And I love having a little girl in my life!

Im Back!

Well, here I am again! Finally back! It has been entirely too long! But you see, when your writing/typing arm/hand is operated on...it delays blogging and emailing and journaling! It has been torture to me! But I am finally on the mend...and feeling much better! Still in a splint, so these next few posts may be short, but I wanted to update our last couple of months!

I did have surgery on my arm. For Carpal Tunnel syndrome. It was painful and NO FUN! But I have been learning alot! Sometimes I believe God wants to strip all control away from us so that we will look 100% to HIM! I haven't learned painlessly...for so many times I go kicking and screaming! I resist the awesome work God wants to do in my life...fearful of the unknown. But through much prayer and encouragement from some very dear friends, God has begun speaking to my heart once again...and my soul has felt alive like never before!

This is my ulitmate favorite part of the year! I love celebrating! LIfe, Joy, Christmas, Family, Worship, Jesus! It is the best of all best! I feel the "party" all around me! It inspires me to live to the fullest! And it is so beautiful to celebrate with my children! The pure delight of every mystery unveiled...the light as it shines in their eyes as we tell stories, sing songs, bake cookies, give gifts to friends, eat and enjoy family and friends! I have so much more to write...but this will have to do for tonight...sorry to have been away for so long:)