And how about you...

I'm not sure if I just get excited about every new season or what. I don't feel like spring is my favorite season, but right now it just seems like it is. With the weather warming up a little and buds popping out everywhere I get so excited! I found these branches on an obliging curb. Don't worry...they were already cut by the owner :) I wasn't sure if they would blossom when I put them in water, but they did. They are so pretty now! Do you think every season is your favorite when it is starting?

Well, here is my little almost 21 month sweetie in a dress she recently received from Nana. I just couldn't stand how cute she was. I find myself more crazy about her every day. I find myself thinking...can I really love another one this much? Does your love just grow exponentially?

Bear has become a distinct part of our family. It is so funny to me sometimes. The other morning I heard Brynne saying "I love you, Bear" before I got her up. We have regular chats in the car about how we left Bear at home but we will see him soon. Brynne has said for a long time "obey God, obey daddy, obey mommy". Lately she adds "obey Bear". She kind of does it with a smirk now, since I have corrected her so many times. Most meals Brynne asks for him to come sit with her while she is eating. I can't say no. Sometimes I feel pretty silly running to get him and set him up at the table. Do you do anything crazy for your kids?
We recently discovered a wildlife preserve about 10 minutes from our house. It is the most beautiful little spot. It really makes you feel like you are not in the city for a while. It's funny to me, because we have lived here for 5 years now and just found it. There is something so refreshing to me when we can get out and enjoy nature for a while. Do you find that too? (especially if you live in a city)

In other news I will be 12 weeks on Monday. I must confess that these last few weeks have been pretty unpleasant at times. I am reminded of what a blessing it is to feel energetic and love food. I'm also reminded that I have a pretty wonderful and accommodating daughter and husband. Lots to be thankful for!

another stork will make the journey

We are so happy to announce another little one will be joining our family. I think this one has really been wearing me out, because I have not posted in a long time! We will be welcoming little Baby Hall September 27th.

Have I mentioned...

how much I love having cousins nearby? It is so much fun. These girlies love each other a ton. Lately our trips to the park are a blast!

I can't wait for warmer weather.

The fun will never end.

Breakfast...the best meal of the day

Ever since we were married we have pretty much worked evening schedules. This allowed us to accommodate seminary life, and since Rob still has the same job we are still at it. Because of this schedule, we pretty much never eat dinner together. I think our only dinner nights are Saturdays and Sundays. Well, what do you do when you cannot have dinner as a family? You make a big deal out of breakfast. And really, is there a better meal in the day? It has been fun to experiment with a lot of breakfast ideas over the years. We almost always cook this meal together which is even more fun. Our latest new dish to try together was this quiche. We found both recipes on allrecipes.com (my all-time favorite recipe spot). It was soooooo good. I especially recommend the crust which consisted of flour, canola oil, and ice water. Who knew?

So, any other big breakfast fans out there?

And where is Brynnie?

Of course, in her reading corner. This sight has become very familiar in the last few days. I am not sure what made Brynne so excited about reading "on her own" lately. When I get her up in the morning she will immediately start saying "chair" which means please put me in my reading chair. Off and on throughout the day she will ask to go back to her room and get in her chair to read. As you can see, her constant companion is "Bear". The only part that makes me sad is that when I try to pick her up and read to her she gets a little perturbed. However, I am not giving up my reading rights yet! We will just have to take turns. Wow do I love this little girl!

Reflections

...on my identity - this year I was sweetly reminded of the wonderful blessings I have in Christ and the Gospel. I have been learning to apply all aspects of my identity in Christ to every area of life. I feel like God gave me new joy in my salvation this year in a way that has not happened in a long time. This has been a wonderful blessing from the Spirit, and I pray it continues on into 2011.

...on being a wife - in 2011 Rob and I will have known each other for a whole decade! I cannot put into words the joy I feel at being married to such a wonderful man. I am constantly reminded that God rejoices to give us good gifts when I think of Rob and our relationship.

...on being a mom - it was incredibly fun to experience 6 to 18 months with Brynne this last year. It feels like we blinked, and the time was gone. These months have been full of change for her. Sometimes it seems she changes and grows every day. There are many challenges to parenting, but I cannot get over the blessings of being a mom to Brynnie.

...on my local body - we were able to be part of some very exciting things at Cornerstone this year. Our community group met this fall and put some goals in place. We talked a lot about how the gospel applies to our lives and should be impacting those around us. We were able to have multiple block parties and reach out into our communities as a group. I'm really praying that the Lord expands our ministry together this year.

...on our future - we continue to ask God for direction as we look to a new year. Our house is on the market. We have had one serious buyer look, but he has not contacted us again since then. We would still like to go to Tacoma, WA, but are willing to go anywhere the Lord directs. I'm thankful for the lessons God teaches us through waiting.

...on having a book list - this year was the first time I worked on reading through a list of books. I had about 15 and made it through about 11 (a few were replaced with something else I picked up during the year). Even though I did not get through as many as I would have liked, what was great about having a list was that I always had something in mind to get going on. It really helped me to be more focused with my reading. I would definitely like to do this again.

...on reading my Bible - that sounds weird, but it was parallel so I had to do it :) - I posted earlier in the year on how much I enjoyed the NLT chronological Bible this last year. It was so enjoyable to read events in order and really helped me to see the overall flow of scripture better. For Christmas this year, Rob bought me the TNIV Books of the Bible. If you have not heard of it, it is amazing! It is written without any chapter or verse markings and laid out more like a normal book. They have a number of reading plans to help you go through scripture in a very purposeful way. Books that were originally written together (ie Luke and Acts) are put back together etc. I just started their 60 day reading plan called the Drama of Scripture. It has been awesome so far.

These were a few reflections I had as I thought about heading into a new year. Sometimes I feel a little depressed when a new year rolls around...I think for a number of reasons. But this year I actually feel so much joy. I'm so thankful for what God has been doing and look forward to whatever He will bring this year. I pray the same is true for you.

Are you serious???

I could not believe my eyes tonight when I was standing in the checkout line at Walmart. I had to run out for a few groceries and definitely picked the wrong line. There were two ladies in front of me with three carts full of groceries and a baby. The one standing directly in front of me opened a package of three baby bottles, grabbed a 20 oz of sweet tea and then dumped half into one of the baby bottles. She handed the bottle with the tea to the baby to help her stop crying (pretty bad in and of itself but not the worst). I then watched as she ditched the half-used bottle of tea on one shelf. Then she dropped the other two baby bottles on another shelf. She was piling her other items on the conveyer belt so I was pretty sure I knew what she was trying to do. I was so mad I just said "you can't leave that on the shelf". She turned to look at me and said "oh yeah, I was going to buy it". Right...

Walmart, you owe me :)

The Unexpected

Well, the last few days didn’t exactly turn out the way we had imagined. With our parents flying in from Wisconsin, we decided it would be best to rent a beach house in Sandbridge for the week to accommodate 9 adults and 3 kiddos. We all moved in on Tuesday and had

a wonderful and relaxing time. We enjoyed our normal Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

celebrations. They could not have been better. Saturday night we

heard snow could be coming, but we went to bed

with rain coming down, and I thought it

would be like most snow storms around here. An inch or two...maybe we would miss church, but all would be well. When we woke up Sunday morning, I could hardly believe my eyes as I looked outside to see an actually snow storm. A storm that I have not seen since moving here five and a half years ago. Well, okay, we can just get cozy and hang out. No problem. Uh uh. At about 9:00 am, the power went out at the beach house. We all gathered in the living room, brought every blanket we could find, and found ways to amuse ourselves. We kept calling the rental company, and

they would say the power was supposed to be back on in a few hours. Well that kept being pushed back until we realized, we had to get out of there. The temp in the house was down to 59 degrees and even if the adults could make it through the night, we didn’t want the kids to freeze. We found out we could not head home because of road conditions and tunnel closures, so....at about 5:00 pm we ate take out pizza (we were happy to find a place out on the corner still open!!). Then (by flashlight) we packed up whatever we absolutely needed and made the trek to the Davey’s house. My brother is engaged to Marla Davey and her family was sweet enough to put all of us up. We arrived - almost all of us unshowered - and crashed for the night. We were so thankful for their hospitality. It was a pretty incredible spectacle to wake up and see all the mounded snow the next morning. I don’t know for sure, but someone said that it’s the most snow this area has seen for 30 years. Crazy. Well, as I write this, we are at my sister’s house and on our way to getting back to routine. I know we have some serious shoveling to do before we make it into our place, but it will get done. Chalk it up to another eventful family vacation!

Delights

My sweet Cade

My Brynnie, almost 18 months

We are hanging out at a beach house in Sandbridge with our family,

and Brynne's favorite find so far has been a barrel of monkeys.

Nothing beats playing with Nana and Papa

Our newest addition - Mr. Bryce is the sweetest boy ever!

Every year one of my students gives me an amaryllis. It is so beautiful!

We had some very uncharacteristic snow for around here.

Brynne thought it was "icky" so we had to encourage her otherwise.

Best buds

We wish you all a merry Christmas! I am so thankful that God has

given us so many wonderful gifts to enjoy. He is so good.

A lovely visit

This last weekend we enjoyed another fantastic trip to Charlottesville for our Thanksgiving celebration. We always have lots of food and relaxation, but this trip also included a visit to a petting farm. Brynne was in her glory. I'm so thankful for sweet family to celebrate with. I also loved (as always) the beautiful scenery.

Wishing you were here...

Have you ever had the experience of missing someone you never met? It might sound odd. But ever since I met Rob and began to fall in love with him, there is someone I miss. That person is his dad. Tomorrow as we celebrate a sweet holiday, we will also be remembering his dad who went to be with Jesus ten years ago. Even though I named this post "wishing you were here", in a sense I don't. He has been enjoying something for ten years that I can only imagine.

I think one of the reasons I look forward to meeting Rob's dad, Andy, is that I have experienced him through his wife and three boys in a very special way. I have heard wonderful stories from my mother-in-law. I have watched JA and Phil interacting with their family and those around them. I have experienced the most incredible love and care from Rob as my husband. I have watched Rob raise our daughter for almost 17 months. I know these actions are not just taught, but learned through experience. I have been thinking lately about the way children imitate their parents. It is so natural. Kids just want to be like the people they spend so much time with. I can tell that Andy was a very special person because of the legacy he has left in his boys.

So, as I think of thankfulness, a great part of my thankfulness this year is for a man I never knew. A man whose life has touched mine in a way he will never know until I meet him in heaven. Ultimately, I thank God for His sovereignty in the circumstances of our lives. He is always weaving together the most beautiful story. I'm so thankful that I have the opportunity to be a part of that story.

Do you have a little Christmas shopping to do?

Well, here are a few ideas for you! I received this box in the mail last weekend and was so excited to pull out each item. I ordered a bunch of these incredibly cute hand towels. I felt like they were such a unique gift for Christmas? Then I also received these adorable cones, an H, and a sweet little book for Brynnie. Where can you find all these treasures???? Right here at etsy. My good friend Sarah Branine recently opened an etsy shop called Cranny. If you have never been on etsy, it is worth your time to stop by. I believe it is all hand-crafted items. Check it out!

Holding On

I don't know about you, but I always feel like I'm holding my breath to see how long the leaves will last. The beauty always puts me in awe and brings me such joy. I often think at this time of year that it is so sweet that God can bring beauty out of death. Truly, the leaves are dying and going to be composted into the ground. And yet, God chose to make this process of dying bring something so beautiful. Sometimes I feel like we get sucked into believing that death is always a bad thing, but when we remember the cross, we realize that God can bring about wonderful blessings through death. Satan thought he had the victory, but really God was bringing about the greatest victory ever known: the eternal victory over death that we can now enjoy as well. Maybe the leaves are just another reminder.

finally...a few pictures

A festive little cart from one of our favorite Olde Towne stops - The Kitchen Koop

Nothing so fun as finding little acorns on the ground and clutching as many as possible

Brynnie loves to kiss - usually cousin Bryce and Daddy and Mommy...

but sometimes her bear, the computer, the door, an article of clothing, the newspaper, dogs and who knows what will be next!

We love Mondays...Rob's day off! This day we enjoyed a walk in Olde Towne.

Nothing like shoe soup...yes she is obsessed with shoes already!

I thought our trick-or-treating would be such a joke, however once this little one figured out everyone was putting little treasures in her bucket, she was all about it. She trudged right down the sidewalk from house to house. It was a blast!

Daddy's little ladybug

Sporting a sweater made by a sweet lady in our church.

We were experimenting here with the new camera - so far, we love it!