Family

My brother Matt, his wife AnnMarie & their beautiful daughter Ellie joined us on Christmas day before heading off to be with AnnMarie's family.
Ellie will be 6 months next week. She's such a sweet and easy baby. I'm so happy for them!

Christmas Day

We are fortunate in that out families live close by and they enjoy one another's company. My mom loves to host Christmas and the Brindley's come over for dinner every year. We love being all together and we are thankful to not have to split our time and run all over the place. We are so very thankful!

Christmas Eve

First of all I apologize for the grainyness of my photos for the past 4 months. Our digital camera broke so I only have my 3G Iphone camera, which isn't bad, but not great either. Dave and I are getting each other a nice camera for Christmas. Our plan is to get it after Christmas on sale or on ebay when people upgrade and want to sell their old ones!
Anyway, The kids looked so cute I had to take their pictures.

Christmas with the Brindley's

 On Christmas Eve morning Dave's family came over and we celebrated Christmas with them; exchanging presents, skyping with his sister Julie & brother-in-law Pete in Colorado Springs.
The kids had a blast opening presents and playing with everything right away.
Aunt Karen made it in from Pittsburgh, which was a surprise to Lilia. She was thrilled to see her Aunt.

 Lilia played some songs for us on her new keyboard & microphone.

A visit to Morris

 I'm sure those giant eggs look familiar to you. If you've ever visited Morris Arboretum in the past couple of years, then maybe you've visited the giant bird's nest.
Maybe you've played like the squirrels way up in the trees?

We also saw the trains for the first time. The set up is absolutely incredible! The intricate details of the houses is just stunning; leaving you wondering, "How did they do that?"
They had a Thomas & Percy train that the kids loved.

Sillies & Smiles

The kids favorite part was playing in the small log cabin. Lilia was pretending this was her home; cooking for us, getting water from the pump, catching animals and preparing them for our meal.
We needed to head home, but there were so many complaints. They did not want to leave.
Oh, Alex spent the whole time collecting dried leaves and throwing them into the fireplace.

Christmas Party

One of the easiest ways to share about Jesus with International students is to have a Christmas party. This is the time of year when we celebrate Jesus' birth and why not invite our Chinese friends/students to be a part of it?
Last night we hosted a party. Dave said it would be small, 10-15 people. Well it was almost 20 students with 5 volunteers.
We played games, ate food, sang Christmas carols and heard the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible. Dave then explained our need for God as everyone listened. He then encouraged them to visit a Christmas Eve service at either of the churches that were represented last night. (One of which Dave's best friend Pete Manni will be leading worship.)
I think the kids had the best time. Lilia loved showing off her room, playing games and hanging out with the Chinese women. Alex loved being doted over and all the attention.
The kids do have a favorite student though; Walker. When the doorbell first rang Alex ran to the door and yelled, "Walker!"

Walker, Alex, & Lilia

The kids finally went to bed at 10pm! Whoa! I think we are going to make it a very chill week. I know I am exhausted!