Merry Christmas!!

This year has been such a blessed year for us. Some of the blessings have come in the form of new friendships and acquaintances. Some have come from finishing up another school year and starting a new one. Finding out we are expecting a new little life was a big one. Damian getting his driver's license and two part time jobs was pretty cool. Sean growing by inches at a time and finally getting taller than Mom ranked pretty high on his list. But this all seems to pale in comparison to today's blessing.

Today we celebrate the birth of Christ and all that means to us and our lives. This little baby who would one day die for our sins and save us from eternal suffering is the best gift any of us can receive. Our prayer for each of you today is that the Christ child's sacrifice would be your ultimate blessing too.

Merry Christmas from all of us.

Snow Day

We live in Minnesota because we love the changes of the season. This year we have been so blessed to have a great fall and now a very beautiful winter. Here are some images from our yard earlier this afternoon. Many blessings on your day!

The boys today

Here are a couple of photos I took of the boys today. It was such nice light outside the windows so I couldn't resist. They are growing up way too fast. It is hard to believe they are 12 and 17 already.

First snowfall of the season

I couldn't believe it when I heard the words, "look outside, it's snowing." But sure enough it was. It is big flakes and so pretty.

Fall colors

Just one from the other night as the sun was setting. The colors in our yard have just popped. It is glorious.

It's a...

Here are the latest pictures of baby. It was so awesome to get to see little one moving around and doing what babies do. These were taking during my 21st week. We only have 17 weeks until we can meet baby face to face.

Lawn Olympics 2008

Eight games in one evening would determine who would come out on top of this year's Lawn Olympics. The air was warm and thick as the games began and you could hear laughter from one end of the lawn to the other. Below is the slide show with all the action.

Congratulations to all who won and all who dared to play! We look forward to the next staff event.

Crazy love

I know most of you know this information by now. It hasn't been a secret we have been trying to keep, but it has been hard to get on the computer and do much recently.

This morning I had a follow up doctor's appointment to see how things are progressing and to check in to see if we had any questions. All of them were answered when I got the chance to see these...





It was so amazing to see little arms and legs moving and kicking. To see the facial features of our newest blessing.

For the record, we are expecting the arrival of this little one sometime the beginning of February 2009. Everyone around here is excited and still trying to adjust to the change about to happen.

It honestly seems like a dream at this point. So seeing our little "Roo" made things feel a little more real. With Damian just celebrating his 17th birthday this week and Sean celebrating his 12th next week, things are definitely going to be different. Now we wait on the Lord to finish the work he has begun and we look forward to sharing more with you in the days to come.

Blessings,
Shelly

Lake of the Woods

We finally got to go on a family trip this summer. On the morning of our anniversary we packed the van and headed north. And when I say north I mean north. As far north as you can drive a car in Minnesota. We had reservations for four nights/five days at Zippel Bay Resort on Lake of the Woods.

We stayed in a three bedroom log cabin while we were there and Damian and Scott went out on a charter boat fishing for two days. They came home with their limit of fish and Sean and I came home relaxed and refreshed from just hanging out. On Tuesday we all went over to Zipplel Bay State Park and dipped our toes in the lake. We also got to see Canada from across the water. That is the closest I have been to being out of the country. So close, yet so far away!

Below is a slide show with images of our trip. Hope you enjoy.

Life has been a little crazy

OK. I confess I have neglected to make any posts to our site in a little while. Life, well life took us on some crazy turns this last six weeks and I haven't had time to get on and tell you all about them. Plus, one of those crazy turns has left me feeling a little ill every time I go to work on the computer so it has been a challenge to even keep up with emails.

Now that I have thrown out a few excuses with no real reasons I will say I have missed letting you all know what is happening in our world.

My goal is to get on here at least once a day for the next few days to get some updates on our latest happenings. So, check back daily and see what we have been up to.

Blessings!
Shell

Maybe it's a coincidence

Today was one of those days where you have to wonder about the coincidence with events and the date.

We were just about to leave for the afternoon and decided it would be a good thing to kennel Autumn while we were gone. I heard the boys outside calling and calling for her. Pretty soon Damian comes in and informs me that she is stuck under the deck. I didn't quiet believe him until I stepped outside the door and heard her whimpering under my feet.



The hero in our two boys kicked in and before I knew it I had both of them under the deck trying to get her to come to them. No such luck. Sean finally wiggles his way to her and gets her collar and leash on her so he could help guide her back out. He worked at it for a good ten minutes before I declared this wasn't working and grabbed the saw to cut her out.

After a few SOS prayers, I hesitantly put the saw to the deck knowing the damage I was about to do.



As I started to cut the first board I hear Sean yelling, "Stop! Stop! She is digging herself out."



Was I relieved I didn't get any further before she decided this was her best option! To keep her motivated to get out I would run the saw just above the boards behind her and she was out in less than five minutes. Sean on the hand took another five because he had to creep on his belly the whole way.





Once Autumn had cleared the deck she headed directly to her kennel for a little chill out time.



I don't know who was more thankful, her or us.

Well, hope your Friday the 13th is a little less adventurous than ours.

Stormy night

The clouds looked amazing tonight as a severe thunderstorm passed by just to our north. The pictures don't do the amazing contrast of the clouds justice but I thought I would share a few images anyways.

End of the school year

It has been a very fruitful year of schooling for us. The boys are growing and learning at a great pace. We have come to realize just how quickly they are going to be on their own. To celebrate the end of our school year I caught them in action one last time.

57 Chevy

Also part of the Awake the Lakes activities was an afternoon concert played by our favorite local band 57 Chevy. We enjoyed the music and I got to have some fun playing around taking pictures. These guys rock! Check them out.

Riding for a cause

As part of the Alexandria Awake the Lakes activities there was the annual Ride around the lakes for Habitat for Humanity. You could feel your heart rumble as the bikers past by. Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

Wii must be desperate to get "Fit"

It is now 12:26am and I am sitting here at my computer the proud owner of a new Wii Fit.



The boys and I (Shelly) had our first adventure in being the first to get a new product. It was a riot! After two hours of waiting in the store it paid off and they walked out having a "fit."



The funniest part about this whole adventure is the fact the boys are too tired to check it out and they headed strait to bed. I should too because they will be up with the sun to try it out. We'll keep you posted as to how it works out.

Fishing Time

We decided to take off this past weekend for a little R&R and to see if we can catch some fish.



We ended up doing a lot of napping because the wind was causing some huge white caps on the lake.





Damian did get a little taste of fishing right off the bridge next to the trailer.



Even Grandpa and Grandma came up to join us for a few hours.



All in all it was a great weekend to slow down and do some family bonding. In the end there is no place like home though and it was so good to missed while we were gone.

Say what you need to say...

I have been sitting here listening to John Mayer's song "Say" over and over for the past half hour. I do silly things like that every once and a while. The words just keep haunting me as I think about all the times I have not said what I needed to say. Maybe it was out of fear, or maybe it was just because I was too prideful to humbly admit I was wrong. Whatever the reasons are, they are words left unspoken.

We have been reading a book called "One Month to Live" over the past few months. This book and this song really have touched my life. They remind me of how we get so busy in life at times that we forget to live. What I mean by that is, we forget to enjoy the blessings of our family and friends. We don't take time to appreciate the beauty surrounding us every day. So many times we pause and ask God to come into our lives when He has been there all along; just waiting for us to slow down long enough to notice.

I keep asking myself, "what is it I need to say today?" Then I hear this small voice inside of me telling me I don't need to say anything. All I need to do today is quiet myself long enough to hear what God wants to say.

Maybe your life has been a whirlwind lately, you may be having the best time of your life or you may facing the most challenging time you have ever had to face. I don't know what circumstances you are in as you read this, but I encourage you today to sit and listen as you whisper this prayer with me to God..."Say what you need to say".

You never know what you might hear.

Blessings,
Shelly

Worth a 1,000 Words

Sometimes a picture is worth a 1,000 words.

Be a safe & courteous driver

I saw this sign a few weeks ago when I was dropping Damian off for his first day of Driver's Training. It is a good reminder to the students to be safe and courteous on the roads. Now, I realize how much more safe and courteous I pray others on the road are too; because today it became official, our oldest son can drive.

It all started a few weeks back when Damian began attending Driver's Ed training here in town. Before we knew what was happening he was jumping in the car with his official "blue card".



He had to wait almost a week, but on Monday he took his written test and passed. Today we went to the DMV and got his official learner's permit. This resulted in Damian driving me home from the edge of town. He was nervous; I was thrilled! He is one step closer to having the independence he deserves.



Way to go Damian!! We are so proud of you.