christmas

as always, christmas is a blessing to our family. not only do we get to celebrate the birth of the One who came to save us, but we get to spend time all of our family.

since taylor and levi were little, we decided to give them three gifts on christmas, that's how many Jesus received so why should they get anymore? after all, it's His birthday. the kids have always been more than satisfied with that and it sets limits on us. we have to really think about what to buy. no more impulsive shopping on our part. taylor and levi are more than happy with that and have learned not to expect any more than that.

when levi was about 3, i was explaining this to him, as we drove down the street. i reminded him about the story of the birth and related it to the three gifts he would receive. at that age, we went over it a few times so there wouldn't be any disappointment. when we got to the three gifts that Jesus received, levi was ok with the first two, but when i said the third one, levi was upset. he said, "myrrh?! why didn't jesus get a bike."

here are a few pictures of our blessed day.

taylor and levi

my crazy mom and nutty aunt lula

my little, no, my younger brother josh

taylor

my sweet niece, cheyenne

my nephew, matthew...sorry, er...matt

and us

we pray you had a wonderful christmas and have a blessed new year~

shhhhh

keeping christmas secrets?

a visit to the happiest place on earth

we had fun looking into the ginormous christmas tree balls on main street.

the tree is so big, the kids barely reach the bottom of it!

taylor and levi loved the tea cups. matt and i didn't join them, aging has caused our tummies to react to spinning. blech! matt and i watched them while secretly searching for the snacks and coffee cart! yummo~

space mountain at night. we enjoyed this ride twice (and the matterhorn four times!) it is nice going with the kids now that they are older. we were there before 10am and left at midnight! what a fun day!

it was nice to meet up with the bruns in the evening and ride the roller coasters again with them. taylor and levi just love brett and lauren. we think their parents are pretty cool too!

anniversary in dana point

what can i say...i love my coffee!

i have three words for you...amazing anniversary!

For our 15th, matt completely surprised me, he made arrangements for the kids to stay with a friend. he packed and delivered their things, moved a doctor appointment to avoid conflict, arranged for me to take a day off work, booked a hotel and made dinner reservations all without my knowledge or help. he so sweetly attempted to pack my things too. we'll just give him an a+ for the effort. we had a great time!

my buddy zack

i couldn't resist...

what were those darn settings?

i snapped this picture of my neighbor in our kitchen a few days ago, played around with it and emailed the shot to his mom. she loved it and asked me to do the same thing with her older son... if only i knew what my settings were on the camera. if i come up with anything close, i'll post it, but don't hold your breath. the sun is at a good spot, maybe i'll get something now?

15 years ago...

our wedding day... november 6, 1993

it seems like a lifetime ago that we followed our hearts and God's will and took those steps down the aisle. we were so young, sarah, barely 19 and matt, just days from turning 23.

and now...

we've made it 15 years!