Well, we have had a busy couple of months. Our Ecuador family left on Dec. 10. It was hard to say good-bye. When they arrived home, Santiago (Ariana's dad) recevied Christ as his Savior! He said, "My heart is at peace." Ariana and her dad both received new hearts!! We praise the Lord for
that! What an awesome experience we had with them.
We introduced Ariana to paint! The kids each painted their own Christmas ornament.
Avery and Ariana were like sisters together. They loved to each take their
own bean bags and jump into them from the stairs, and Ariana tried to do Avery's hair while Avery watched t.v. I introduced Alexandra and Eunice into the world of scrapbooking! They loved it!! I think they had one whole suitcase full of scrapbooking stuff by the time they left.
The night before they left they played hockey in the kitchen with race car tracks and the top of an ice cream cone (one of Avery's kitchen toys) for a ball. They had a blast!! The kids also gave us one last concert with Logan on the banjo, the girls on the drums, and Tyson reading the Christmas story.
All three of our kids were in the Christmas program at church. They each sang two songs with their Sunday School classes in front of the church. They all did a great job!
My high school girls small group had a christmas party. We had them meet at my house with a small gift to exchange and $10. We didn't tell them
where we were going. We took them to Savers (it's like a Goodwill) and told them they had to purchase the most hideous christmas sweater or outfit they could find and then we put them on and went to Shari's for dessert and to exchange gifts. It was so much fun! They loved it!We spent Christmas in Iowa with Darin's family this year. It was great. The kids loved being with their older cousins. Before we left Darin made our annual swedish pancakes we eat every year. Yum!
We are looking forward to a new year and all that God has in store for our family. We have much to be thankful for!
