Home for the Holidays Amanda and I made it to my parents' home in NJ for Christmas weekend to spend some time with my family this year. We drove through the night after work on Friday to make in at 4:30am and collapse onto the couch for a couple of hours before breakfast. My two brothers Eric and Adam were both there with their wives, Megan and Kristi. It was great to see them, since Adam and Kristi were back East for the first time since moving to LA this past summer. We were glad to see Eric and Megan too, since they just moved to Boston last month. We spent Christmas Day with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Royce and got to catch up with some old friends in the neighborhood as well. It was fun just to relax with the family and play some games, do puzzles, and watch TV together. God has been so good to bless us with family, friends, good health - all reminders of his great kindness to his creation. Happy Holidays!

Labels: family, vacation

  ¶ 11:08 AM 2 Comments

  Christmas Eve in Manhattan I love big cities. Since G's family lives so close to New York City, we took advantage of going to Manhattan while we were visiting them in New Jersey for Christmas. We had a wonderful time. Our friends, Don and Katrina Hines, also spent Christmas weekend in the City, so we hit a lot of the sights with them. We started out by attending Dr. Timothy Keller's church for the morning service. After that we hit Time Square, and yes, they already have a count down to New Years going. When we were there it had 182 hours left in counting. We stopped at most of the big name shops and did a bit of window shopping (Lord & Taylor and Saks). Their displays were amazing, but so were their prices. I saw a hat for over $900! G said I couldn't have it :( To get around more efficiently we rode the subway. The tree at Rockefeller center was absolutely massive and St. Patrick's Cathedral was decked out for the season with festive wreaths on every pillar. We finished out our day at F.A.O. Schwarts. It is a huge toy store (from Home Alone 2). There were life-size figurines made of Legos, and I gave the Santa one a kiss. :)

Labels: friends, vacation

  ¶ 10:24 AM 1 Comments

  Photo Christmas Cards
We just wanted to say thank you so much for all the photo Christmas cards we received this holiday season. We LOVE them!!! We have them displayed in our kitchen for all to see. They are a daily reminder of the wonderful friends and family that the Lord has brought into our lives. Keep them coming:) Merry Christmas [Photos clockwise from top: the Ward family (Joseph, Autumn, Cindy's Mother, Chad, Sarah, Anna, Cindy, Buddy, Kimberly, & Tate), Amanda & Carrie Jo Jordan, Taylor & Jesse (Children of Faith Ann Jennings), the Hunter family (Madeline, Jason, Ava, Jennifer, & Savanah), the Baylor's (Julie & Tim), the Jennings family (Matthew, Anthony, & Laura), the Lees (Kristi & Adam), the Lees (Eric & Megan), the Osborne family (Julie, Karalyn, Abby, Mike, & Hannah), the Wichert's (Beth & Jeremy), Carson & Kate (Children of Jonathan & Janet Moore), the Maxwell family ( Max, Norva, Patti, & Andrew), the Hines' (Katrina & Don)]  ¶ 3:04 PM 1 Comments

  Visit with Adam and Kristi Garrett's brother Adam and his wife Kristi are back on the east coast for Christmas, their first time since moving to southern California last June. We were a little worried that we wouldn't be able to see them since G couldn't get any time off of work right before Christmas; but it worked out in the end. Garrett was able to get off Wednesday, and Adam and Kristi stopped for the night on their way from NC to NJ. We had a great time at Panera, driving around looking at crazy people's Christmas lights (INSANE!!!!), and playing Settlers of Catan. G put his skills to use and made some espresso drinks for everyone. We also introduced them to "The Office". Adam and Kristi agree - they need to watch a couple more episodes before it will be funny. In the morning we cooked some breakfast for them in exchange for a much-needed haircut for G. We had such a great time with them, and just wish we could see them more often. We love you guys!!!

Labels: family, holidays

  ¶ 11:18 AM 3 Comments

  Ice Capades This past weekend G and I got to spend some time with Don and Katrina Hines. It was so nice to see them again. Even though we both live in the same town, it is difficult to carve out some time to hang out together, especially with Don and G both in school. After talking about it for a while, we finally made it happen. We got together for some pizza and ice skating. It was a blast. G and Don are quite the skaters. So Katrina and I had to show them up on the ice with our fantastic ice angels. Just for the record, the fall count for the evening was zero. We all managed to stay on our feet the whole time.

Labels: friends, recreation

  ¶ 12:28 PM 5 Comments