MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Rebekah chewed the corner off this gift!

Garden of Lights

We visited the Garden of Lights with some friends. The lights have been displayed each Christmas the last 4 years and are a wonderful way for us to remember some of the things we miss back home! Click on Alexis to see a few more photos.

Santa's Playground

A carnival came to town and we enjoyed going as a family with some friends. The kids had fun and really enjoyed the rides. Click on the pic above to see more!

OOF Christmas Party

Dan's finance office had a Christmas party last week. We are still getting used to swimsuits and hot weather for Christmas! Our kids think this is normal but Dan & I are certainly more used to snow, hats & gloves and boots! The kids received some neat water guns that recycle plastic water bottles. Click on Alexis in the pool and you'll see Joshua & Lucas with them.

Christmas Activities

Christmas cookies

We've had many fun things to do this Christmas season. Our biggest event was inviting other MKs and their moms to make Christmas cookies at our house. We had a HUGE turnout! 6 moms and 25 kids! (not including us!) It was a PARTY!!! Lots of yummy cookies to eat! There are a few more pics when you click on the cookie picture above!

Christmas program

This past weekend we had our Christmas party with the support center where Dan works. All the kids together acted out the Christmas story. Lucas was a wiseman, Alexis was a sheep and Joshua was a donkey. We don't have any pictures because Dan was busy with Rebekah and I was busy playing my flute! It was a great joy to do that again as it has been too long since I last played. We enjoyed singing many Christmas carols!

Lucas' gingerbread house

Alexis' gingerbread house

Joshua's gingerbread house

Our kids had wonderful fun at a friend's house yesterday making Gingerbread Houses! What cool creations!

Lucas' last days of school

I couldn't resist getting these great photos of Lucas in here. He had 2 programs to finish off the year: one for incoming first graders and one to celebrate his moving on to 2nd grade! Lucas was also excited to receive a new Bible for memorizing all his verses this year! Click on Lucas to see more.

Alexis' Homeschool program

Alexis also had an End-of-the-Year program with a few other homeschool children. They all sang a song and recited verses. Alexis read us a story and sang "Silent Night". It has been so fun to watch her confidence grow! She has learned so much this year! Click on her photo to see a few more pictures as well.

Rebekah at 11 months!

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Our little princess is 11 months old now! Amazing how time has gone by but we have surely enjoyed every minute! She is 26 & 1/2 inches and still weighs 14 pounds-just a little girl! We were having trouble with fresh milk but she can drink soy milk. She is pulling up on everything and crawling so fast! We really have to keep an eye out for what's on our floors! We've found some interesting things in her mouth! Thank you Grandma for praying that she will be able to spit it back out! We also love to hear her say "mama" and "dada".

Ramaphosa Project

Last Saturday we joined our church in visiting the Ramaphosa township. Lucas' Sunday School class at church had been collecting items to give to 100 children in Ramaphosa. Each bag held sloppies (aka flip flops), a toothbrush & toothpaste, a pair of underwear, a small bottle of vaseline and a small toy. Lucas put together a bag for a 4 year old boy named Lebo. Before handing out the gifts, the children and parents (mostly mothers came) watched the Jesus film in Zulu and ate a small lunch of popcorn, juice and a hot dog. Lucas and Alexis were able to recognize many of the Bible stories even though it wasn't in English. The children also enjoyed playing several group games as we waited for the movie to start. It was a great morning and a wonderful opportunity to minister to others!

Ramaphosa Project

One more day of First Grade!

Here is a quite relaxed picture of Lucas as he waits for his morning ride to school! He is up by 6:30am and his ride comes shortly after 7am so he can beat the traffic and make it to school by 7:45am. Wow! We have certainly learned to be early morning people! Yes, Lucas is almost done with first grade! What an amazing year it has been! Can't believe our little boy is growing up so quickly! He's glad for a long break before he starts 2nd grade on January 16.

Lucas-almost done with 1st grade

Alexis' Piano Recital

Alexis played in her first piano recital! We are so proud of her! She has really grown much more confident being in front of an audience. She played 2 songs by memory: For My Teacher and Sailing. She did a great job and was so cute to watch!

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Play Ball!

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Our kids at play!

Click on each snapshot of our kids to see more of what they've been doing.

Lucas at play!

Alexis at play!

Joshua at play!

Rebekah at play! (10 months old)

Alexis' 6th Birthday Party!

Alexis' 6th Birthday Party

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We enjoyed celebrating Alexis' 6th Birthday on Saturday even though her actual birthday is tomorrow the 29th. She invited 7 friends and had a wonderful time! They played fun games, had a Scavenger Hunt, decorated cookies, colored some pictures and ate yummy cupcakes! We laughed at how different and quiet this party was in comparison to Joshua's or Lucas'! We played background music because it was sooo quiet! The giggles were not long in coming however. Click on the top picture of Alexis to see some more snapshots from the party.

Joshua's 3rd Birthday Party!

Joshua's 3rd Birthday Party!

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Joshua's birthday is actually Tuesday but we had his party today. He chose a Winnie the Pooh theme and we had a lot of fun putting the cake together. I made the cake and frosting and our very good friend, Jessica, frosted it! Joshua invited his 2 best friends, Blake & Kylie (and their families). We colored a Winnie the Pooh page, decorated cookies (because Joshua LOVES cookies), played some outside games and even did a slip n' slide. It was a bit chilly and cloudy so that didn't last too long but the kids had fun if you can count all the screams and laughs that could be heard! Click on the picture of Joshua and his cake to see lots of other fun moments from the party!

2nd Trip to Buffelspoort

Well, we had so much fun the first time that we decided to go again! This time we went during the week when things were much quieter at the resort. Since the weather was warmer we were able to do more swimming outside which the kids just loved! We also took their bikes this time which was a highlight. We went on a family walk each night and tried new little roads all around the place. Just click on the picture of the kids to see a few more. I will also add that this picture was very quick and only after I cleared the ants and spider off the tree so they could sit on the branch! Oh, the wonderful outdoors!

2nd Vacation to Buffelspoort

A Trip to the Library

We love to take a trip to the library every other week. Our kids love to read books! Alexis always looks for princess books, Joshua picks anything at his eye level and Lucas chooses non-fiction or Where's Waldo books. We are so blessed to have a library we can visit! Our library also has a kitchen play area that our kids enjoy playing in after they have found their books.

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Rebekah is 9 months old!

I posted these pictures yesterday and today she started crawling! Wow!

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Enough already!

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Baby Dedication for Rebekah

We celebrated Rebekah's Baby Dedication today at our church, Edenvale Baptist. Pastor Marlene did the dedication. Rebekah was such a little princess and made the congregation laugh a few times with her squeals and funny faces. She was also trying to take her new sandals off the whole time. (She had discovered earlier that they semed to taste good.) The Bible verse they chose for her was Proverbs 4:23 - "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." We praise God for our precious little girl and are honored to raise her in the ways of the Lord!

Rebekah & us

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Sept. Family Pic