Round Table

We have the joy of hosting an event every other month at our house called Round Table. We borrowed an idea from our church in Charlotte (Pub Night). The event is for the Young Adult's group at our church. There is a topic for the night that Matt does a brief teaching on and then they break up into small groups to discuss and think about what the Bible teaches about it and how to interact with it as Christians, and then Matt does some closing remarks. It's been a great joy to host. It's neat to see our house full of people interacting with scripture and being changed and challenged and grown. What a blessing. Last night the subject was Money - how to glorify Christ with our money. We had some great discussion. Here are a few pictures of the groups discussing. We pray that this would be a blessing to those who come and that God would use it to grow His Kingdom in the hearts of His people.

Owen's latest drumming video

As you all know, Owen is quite the drummer. He's progressed over the last almost 3 years and it's been a facinating process to watch. Somehow he knows that drums have a snare, cymbals and a bass drum. He has expanded from drumming on one surface to multiple surfaces. It is still a joy to watch and listen to - most often he sings some of our favorite songs and they are a great reminder to me of the Truth of the Gospel all through the day. In this one he is singing "Go Tell it on the Mountain" but you can't really make it out on the video. Enjoy!

10 Months Old and on the move!

Baxter turned 10 months this week - pretty crazy! We're two months away from a joint birthday party of a 3 year old and a 1 year old. How did that happen?

So, at 10 months, Baxter is a joy - a very busy joy! He will sit and focus on a toy or a book, but he really likes to move and explore and figure out the world. Here are a few pictures of him with a new dump truck that he got for Christmas. They give a good idea of what his little life is like right now. He is also becoming a bit of a ham, waving and blowing kisses (puts his little pointer finger to his lips) and laughing. We are thankful for him!

It's Here!

Christmas day was finally here and all were excited. Here are a few pictures to capture our time with my family. It was a great time to relax together, talk, love each other's kids, and be encouraged about who this Christ who was born is. We missed my brother Brett and his family - they were in CT so that he could have basketball practice. But we did get to Skype with them which was fun. The grown-ups learned a new game at night too - Chicken Foot - that is played with Dominos. Very fun!!

A happy momma with her two boys.


This is what Baxter liked most about Christmas this year!



Owen was always very serious when opening gifts.



Baxter and Nathan - 3 months a part.



The cousins had such a blast together. It was a treat to see Owen love and be loved by Reese and Megan especially. They sat at a cousins dinner table and just laughed and talked and ate. Owen tried all sorts of new things because they were and he was distracted!



Owen played his first game of Trouble. He even won! They only let him off one time! Here is is popping the dice with his leg high in the air. It's all in the technique.



O and Megan ("mey-mey") played Jesus Loves Me together - Megan on the piano and Owen and his makeshift drumset (a cymbal and two pencils - to a drummer, anything can be made into a drum).



Bax and Nathan enjoying a snack together.



We didn't end up making Monkey Bread for Christmas Day, since mom had so much yummy food already (especially Banana Bread and chocolate chip cookies!!!!), so we made it this morning. YUM! A good once a year treat!



Happy New Year too! We are thankful for another year to walk with Christ with each other and to be able to celebrate the great redemption that he purchased for us. We hope and pray you would know it more and more too!

Christmas Eve

We enjoyed celebrating Christmas Eve with our church here - there was a 4pm family friendly service that we went to. There were lots of families and children all singing about the birth of Jesus and listening to scripture readings and short sermon by our Children's Ministry Director, Joe Brown. After the service, we enjoyed dinner with one of our Young Adult friends and then we headed off to Grandma and Grandpa's house with the boys in their PJ's. Once we arrived at my folks, my brother and his family arrived and we all went to bed to get ready for the business of Christmas the next day.

We have a new family tradition for Christmas Eve - Christmas Pasta. It's a meal that I got off of the Food Newtwork (Everday Italian - Italian Chicken Pastina). Last time I made it I was struck by how the tomatoes and parsely looked very Christmas-y, so we made it our new tradition! Here is Baxter after enjoying some.



We also had a birthday cake for Jesus - it is His birthday afterall - to again help us remember what we are celebrating (we need a lot of help remembering!). Here is Owen enjoying his piece.



Here is a self-timer picture we took of our family before the boys were changed into PJ's.



Sweet boys!

B's first haircut

We cut Baxter's hair for the first time. We didn't change it too much, just cleaned up the length a little bit. This picture is staged. He certainly does not sit still enough for a hair cut! Matt held him for it, but to get a picture he had to set him down. He did a great job overall! Owen had one that day too and so did Matt and I. Owen thought it was great that we all got haircuts in one day.

Early Christmas from Grams and Grampop

We enjoyed an overnight visit with Matt's folks the weekend before Christmas. They came down on Friday and watched the boys while we were at our Staff Christmas party which was a huge gift to us! Then the next day we were able to just hang out and play. They brought the boys Christmas presents which the boys enjoyed opening and we made some yummy Christmas cookies.

Here is Owen sitting at their new table! He REALLY enjoys playing at it - it provides a place for him to play that is MOSTLY outside of Baxter's curious reach. He likes to play with puzzels, matching games, picnics, etc. Thank you Grams and Grampop!



Here is Owen focusing on making some cookies. We made ginger bread men, snowflakes and christmas trees.



Here is the finished product - the part that Owen enjoyed the most was perfectly positioning the mini-m&ms. Like father like son :)

Christmas Tree

Though we were a little bit late in getting our tree, it was a joy to have it and see Owen and Baxter enjoy it (for Baxter it was a good training opportunity!). As we prepared for Christmas this year, we were really mindful at trying to teach Owen about the story of Christ and his birth and seeking to point to that through all that we did. The star on the top of our tree was a reminder of the star that God used to show the shepherds were to find Jesus in the Manger. It was a joy to watch Owen's mind and heart slowly grasp the Christmas story - we pray that he and Baxter (and ourselves!) would embrace it by faith more and more each day!

Matt and Owen getting the tree in the stand - ready to bring it inside.



Owen hanging some ornaments - my mom made some special train and drum ornaments for the boys - thank you Grandma!



This was Baxter's view of the whole event. He was somewhat occupied with some Cheerios in his chair.



The finished product.

Phew!

Well, I am sorry to all of you faithful blog checkers. It's been a whirlwind of a month - from Thanksgiving until Christmas (and still!) we have all been sick off and on. So with that, there has not been much of any time or energy for blogging.

In the midst of it all, we had a great visit from our friends Jake and Melissa and their little boy Sam. Matt and Jake went through seminary together at RTS and Melissa and I worked close by each other for two of the three years. They are dear friends and it was a treat to catch up with them. They did a great job capturing our weekend together on their blog - Hunt's Blog