Tuesday, December 30, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!


Santa and I had a GREAT time.

Cousin Cyrus & I love singing Christmas Carols

I love ripping paper!

Kate with Grammy & Papaw Briscoe

Cousin Tate, Mateya & Tregan were so much fun.
Sorry it has taken so long to write! We made the trip to Virginia to be with our Briscoe family this year and we finally slowed down enough to add to the blog. Our family had a wonderful time in Virginia while celebrating Christmas in Indy before and after with the Cole and Toombs family. Ice storms and thunderstorms aside, it was a wonderful celebration with all our family and we thank everyone for all the wonderful memories!! Kate enjoyed ripping paper this year, probably more than finding out what gift was inside. She also was very peticular about throwing away every piece of gift wrap before she would open another gift! Kate made the memorable trip to the mall to have her picture made with Santa, and as we suspected, what an experience!! We will forever cherish the picture of her on Santa's lap. The funny part was as soon as we took her off his lap she started waving bye bye to him as fast as her little hand would wave! Kate had fun with all her cousins during the holiday, and Kate loved following Tregan around as he played basketball. Tate, Mateya, and Tregan kept Kate tired for Mom and Dad which meant she slept very well at naps and bedtime. We attended wonderful Church services and enjoyed celebrating the REAL meaning of the season. We thank the Lord for sending his Son that we might have life! Thanks again to everyone who made this Christmas season so special. Kate now refers to Santa as "HO-HO" and loves touching his white beard (at least grammy's fake santa!). We wish everyone a very blessed New Year in 2009! More Christmas pictures to come!
Ok, Jamie's turn to write!
I had to share the story of our eventful trip down to Roanoke. We drove into a bad ice storm after we crossed the Ohio border on Saturday evening before Christmas. We passed eight cars in the ditch, and many semi trucks were creeping with their hazards flashing. We decided that we would drive to Dayton and try to stop. Chad decided we could just "stop by" our friends, The Kelley's house in Dayton and ask if we could stay the night. I was worried about how Kate would sleep since we were not traveling with a pack-n-play for her to sleep in. We also were not sure if our friends would have a full house of their own family for the holidays. We were welcomed with open arms to stay the night and Mrs. Kelley mentioned that there was a crib set up in the guest room! God knew the need for Kate and mom and dad to get a good night's rest, and He provided a wonderful place to stay the night. We joked with the Kelley's and said they didn't know they were going to have baby Jesus knock on their door looking for a place to stay! Thank you Lord for providing the Kelley's, and thank you Kelley's for your wonderful hospitality! The beauty of God's provision even to the tiniest detail of a crib in the Kelley's guest room makes me certain of God's faithfulness and caring about even our smallest concerns.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Visitors from Sweden!

Our Swedish visitors

Anna & Emelie with Kate & Mom

Kate took Emelie & Anna out to eat.

Kate loves her big Swedish brother Henric
We were blessed this past week to have visitors from Sweden come and stay with us. Henric, the Swedish Golf player who is studying at Grace College had his sister and her friend come to stay for 4 days. They arrived last week and spent 5 days in New York and then came out to Winona Lake to visit Henric. We had a wonderful time visiting and shopping during their visit with us. Henric finished up the semester and they are heading back to Sweden tomorrow. They are spending two days in Chicago before they head back. It was fun for Kate to practice her Swedish and fun for us to have visitors. We thank the Lord for bringing Henric to Grace, Kate has enjoyed finding an older brother! Emelie and Anna, we appreciate you coming to stay with us and we pray you all have a wonderful GOD JUL (Merry Christmas in Swedish)! We are heading to Indy this weekend and then on to Roanoke, VA to be with Chad's family for Christmas this year. We look forward to Kate sleeping through the nite as we travel. Talk to you soon!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Family Brunch in Indy


Kate & Cyrus in their Santa PJ's

I love opening presents!

Toombs family Christmas picture

All the cousins together--what a BLAST!

Kate actually slept part of the way back to Warsaw

Kate took Mom and Dad down to Indy on Saturday for the Toombs Christmas Brunch on Sunday. We had a great time staying with Uncle David, Aunt Megan and Cousin Cyrus. Thank you for opening your home and allowing us to stay. Kate enjoyed playing with her Cousin Cyrus and all his FUN toys. Kate and Cyrus are at the fun age of following one another, watching one another, but not sharing with one another...yet!ha.. Thanks David and Megan for a wonderful evening. We were at Lance and Kristie Ertel's home for the brunch and all the food was great. It was a blessing to have all the family together and see all the grandkids together. We watched the Colts win and headed back to the snowy, cold north. We are looking forward to heading south for Christmas this year... Virginia see you soon!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!


Oh! I love Thanksgiving!

I love family pictures.

G-Mom had her hands full on Turkey Day.

Cousin Cyrus & Kate played all day.

Cousin Cyrus does not want to be kissin cousins

We had a wonderful time in Indianapolis with all our family. Kate enjoyed all the turkey, mashed potatoes and of course the dessert! Thanks to G-Mom and G-Dad, Granpa & Granma Cole and all the family for a wonderful time together. It was fun to see cousin Cyrus and Kate together, Kate always wants to kiss cousin Cyrus and he is not into kissing girls...yet!ha! Kate loved having the opportunity to climb stairs over the weekend. I think she would still be crawling up and down the stairs if we would have let her stay. Thanks to all the family for all the wonderful fellowship and food. We thank God for our family!