2008 - Our year in pictures

2008 - A look back

January

We celebrated 8 sweet years of marriage together

We found out we're having a boy! David is going to be a big brother!

February

We took a trip to Willow Valley Resort with Mimi and swam the entire time! Dave and I both grew up going there, so hopefully, we can make this a yearly tradition.

Sarah turned 30 and Dave surprised her with a 30th birthday party.

March

Dave and I took a "babymoon" getaway to Florida and enjoyed the sun, sand, and water! It was so lovely to be together, just the two of us

April

Spring is here!

We took our first beach trip of the year with unseasonably warm weather! David had such fun playing in the sand!

We took David to the Brandywine Zoo and we walked along the river with all of the cherry blossoms in full bloom.

May

We were busy with many doctor's appointments and preparing Owen's room and counting down the weeks!

We took a trip with Sarah's family to the Inner Harbor over Memorial Day and went on a boat ride and to the aquarium and had dinner outside in the harbor.

We went to Ocean City, NJ and the boardwalk, our "home" beach.

June

We took David to the Philadelphia Zoo and he loved watching all of the animals, especially the lions and tigers!

Owen was born! Our sweet boy was born on June 26th at 3:27 AM, weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. He is pure joy.

July

We settled into life as a family of four and David especially loved getting to be a big brother.

Our friends, the Jacksons, welcomed their daughter, Abigail Jane!

August

We celebrated Kaylynn's 3rd birthday

We went to the beach with Mommom and Poppop for Labor Day weekend and made so many special memories together

September

We celebrated David's 3rd birthday with not one, but three parties! Not sure if we can continue that ever year... We have loved every minute of our sweet boy's three years

Our first vacation with Owen! We went to the Outer Banks again with our friends, the Jackson family and the VanBerkom family. Beautiful weather and great memories.

October

The Phillies won the world series!!!

David went trick or treating with his best friend, Isaac and Owen and Abby came along too.

We took trips to visit Linvilla Orchards with Mommom and Poppop and Milburn Orchards with Mimi and got to see lots of pumpkins!

David started "school". He is one creative little boy and it's been fun to see his imagination and creativity come to life. I can't wait to see him grow up, Lord willing.

November

We made November our "thankfulness" month as a family and it was fun making all sorts of fall and Thanksgiving crafts with "thankful" themes.

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families

We continued our tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree and Sarah's family came along. This was the most fun we've had yet, because David really enjoyed every minute of it from cutting down the tree to putting it up and decorating it.

December

We made so many memories this year to celebrate Christmas! We took a trip up to PA to see the Christmas train display with our friends, the Jackson's and the Goodsell's.

We went to our old church's Christmas eve service and saw all of our dear friends

We made a gingerbread train together and did so much baking and cooking

We celebrated Christmas with our dear families.

And, we found out we'll be welcoming a nephew in a few short months!

As we look back on 2008, we are overwhelmed with gratitude to our Lord. God has been so good to us and has blessed us with each other, our sweet boys, our families, our friends, our health and most of all, our Savior. Each morning we wake up and know His mercies and faithfulness. Whatever the future brings, we know that His grace will be sufficient and that He will be with us.

E - A - G - L - E - S...EAGLES!

6 Months Ago...

And today...

Six months of cuddles, smiles, giggles, coos, baby kisses, and love.

Our Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

As I sit and meditate in the stillness with the twinkling lights and candles lit, I am amazed at what our Savior did for us so long ago. Our Lord became human flesh...weak, sorrowful, pitiful human flesh...where "he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows". He was born in a lowly stable, laid in a manger! It's beyond my finite mind to grasp the depth of His love! The incarnation is truly wondrous.

May the joy and wonder of Christmas be with you and your family tonight and always!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

We look back with gratitude and joy to that memorable night, when the angels appeared over the Plains of Bethlehem, proclaiming that the promised Child was born, the promised Savior was given; that through Him, while glory was secured to God in the highest, peace was proclaimed on earth, and good-will to the children of men. We adore the amazing condescension which brought the Lord of life and of glory from His Throne in Heaven to that manger of humiliation; “God over all,” dwelling in union with an infant of days!

John Macduff

Bedtime Stories

What a wonderful time we had tonight at our old church's Christmas Eve service. It was such a treat to see so many old and dear friends! We also enjoyed spending time with Dave's aunts and uncles and cousins and Tom, Dan, Mike, Terri, Kaylynn and Dad too (although by that time David was pretty wired!). We love to be with our family.

Tonight we had special Christmas bedtime stories. We read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and the Christmas story of Jesus' birth. David asked us to read them each twice. Then it was off to bed to await Christmas morning and presents!

Our Gingerbread Train

This was harder than we thought! We all had a great time doing it! David and Dave liked to eat the candy as they were decorating it... :)

Merry Christmas Eve!

I love Christmas Eve. (I think I like it even better than Christmas Day!) We get to see Dave's mom's side of the family every Christmas Eve which is so nice, because we don't get to see them very often. And this year, we are going to go to a Christmas Eve candlelight service too. Dave and I have a tradition of reading the Christmas story and another short story by Tolstoy, "Papa Panov's Christmas" at night and we always watch my all-time favorite Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." We'll read the Christmas story to David and Owen and also, "Twas the Night Before Christmas." We will sing some Christmas carols and have egg nog and cookies. (Next year I will have my piano and we'll be able to do it around the piano!!!)

Yesterday, David and I made jello jigglers and cut them out into Christmas shapes. David loved it! He thought it was so funny that the jello wiggled!

For several weeks now, we've had a gingerbread train kit that we've been saving to do on Christmas Eve with Daddy. We are so excited! David keeps asking me when we are going to make the train! :) We finally get to make it!

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve with your loved ones!

Our Owen's first Christmas Eve!

Decorating Our Gingerbread Family and Christmas Trees

Today, we decorated our gingerbread family and the Christmas trees that we made last night. David was concentrating really hard! :)

Our Christmas Service

Our church had our Christmas service this morning. It was a special time with candlelight, a wonderful message about our Savior's birth, special music, and the highlight for us was the little ones all sang "Joy to the World." Over the last couple of weeks, the children have been practicing the song, and we weren't sure how David was going to do as he was among the youngest (ages 3 and up). We practiced all week long and he learned all of the words, but he was a little shy of singing in front of other people. So, we weren't getting our hopes up too high. He did wonderfully! He was right in front and he sang all of the words. We were sooo proud of him! It was so precious and we were able to get it on video, so we'll have the memory forever. He did so great! I could even hear his voice. It was so sweet and all of the children were adorable! We love our sweet little boy...he has such a soft and affectionate heart. It was a wonderful Christmas gift to hear him sing. Here are some of the highlights:

My boys

The two cutest babies...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Making ornaments

Baking cookies and making gingerbread men