Our Visit With "Aunt Holly"

Well, she's not really their "Aunt", but Holly was my best friend in Middle School, High School, College Roommate, Maid of Honor... and so much more than all of that.  She's a friend who would love me - no matter what - I am certain of that.

My kids LOVE when she is here!  She doesn't have any children of her own yet, so she shows up energized and ready to wrestle, read, snuggle, watch movies, and just BE with us.  We had a wonderful 5 hour visit with her last Saturday.

Thank you, Holly, for taking the time out of your weekend to be with us!

One thing we did when she was here was assemble our Christmas Adventure Box.

This will be the first year we do this as a family, and we're all very excited.  Basically, it's a devotional each day during December to keep our hearts and minds focused on the true reason of the season.  Check out the link if you're interested.

Anyway, we got the box all assembled and set the finished product up on the bookcase to the right of our fireplace.  We moved on with our day and Holly enjoyed more playtime with the kids.

The were all hanging on her, and I yelled - "Hey, let's get a picture."  We immediately viewed it to ensure it was good, and I saw a bright light shining on something on the bookcase.

Accident?  I don't believe so.  I think that Jesus was pretty proud of our Christmas Adventure Box and made that very clear by shining his light of approval right on it!

How neat and encouraging.

Click on the picture and let me know what you think.  :)

BIG Ian...

was our neighbor in Whispering Meadows - and we've missed him terribly.  In fact, that was probably the hardest thing about moving...

We have BIG Ian, Uncle Ian (who is in Heaven) and Baby Ian. 

Because he doesn't have any kids of his own, ours get lots of love and attention when he comes over.  He snuggles, rocks, picks on and plays with our babies.  Halle was enjoying a snuggle with Big Ian on this particular night.

Thank you, Ian, for being our friend - and for loving our children the way you do.  You are very special to our family.  Oh, and he's our financial adviser too! :)  and one of Josh's tennis partners.

We love having you as our friend.  And can't wait until you have babies of your own...  Come on!!

A Road Trip...

to Shipshewana - was a wonderful way to celebrate my Mom's birthday!

At the beginning of September, I took my Mom and dear friend, Heidi, to Shipshewana for a girl's day out and mini road trip.

It was a fabulous time of laughing, shopping, eating, talking and just being - away for the day - with 2 of my best friends.

I have to say my favorite stop was the bulk store we hit when we first arrived into town - E & S Sales.

And every store after that, we enjoyed hitting the clearance "walls" or "sections"  :)

Talk about some major shopping therapy - oh yeah, it was a blast!

Thank you, Mom and Heidi, for joining me on the little getaway.  I love you both - all the way to the moon and back.

We talked about going 1 more time before the holidays arrive.  It was so much fun!