Mama's Favorite CHRISTmas Gift

I (Jennifer) want to make a public declaration of my thanks to God for blessing me with a daughter far beyond what I have labored for or deserve.  This is the opening page of a beautiful journal Hannah purchased for me as a CHRISTmas gift.  It is by far my favorite and the most precious gift I received.  Thank you, Hannah, for honoring and loving me and for honoring and loving Jesus so much more.  I look expectantly to the coming year to see what He has in store for each of us individually and as a family.  The Lord is with us wherever we go.  : ) 

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

   Dear Jonathan,

   Wow!  How fast you have grown up! 

   I still remember when you couldn't even sit up or get things for yourself.  All of that has changed now.  You're building incredible LEGO creations, are an expert at drying dishes and can write - just to name a few!

   You are a precious gift from God and we all love you dearly!  May God bless you in this coming year.  I pray that you may grow up to be a strong man of God and bring glory to He who alone is worthy.

   I love you, my dear littlest brother!

   HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

   Hannah for your family

Frost

Psalm 147:15-17

He sends out His command to the earth;

His word runs very swiftly.

 He gives snow like wool;

He scatters the frost like ashes;

 He casts out His hail like morsels;

Who can stand before His cold?

Mama's Most Memorable Birthday

To Mama's VERY special friend (you know who you are!) who gave her the most memorable birthday celebration ever a few years ago.  It was an absolutely unforgettable experience with the smoke alarm going off, tiny holes burned in the tablecloth, a permanent burn in the wood floor, all the children sent to the basement due to the unpleasant sulfur smell, etc., etc.!!!!!!!  How did you manage to remain so cool as to get this picture anyway?!  : )  To the rest of you, do not try this at your home (sparklers as candles equivalent to the number of your years - especially after 40!)

To My Wife

   This is a declaration of the Lord's kindness to me. Not only has he called me into his wonderful salvation and grace and given me a great, wonderful, perfect, and beautiful King (Jesus Christ). Adding to that, he has seen fit to give me a Proverbs 31 woman. Where would I be without my wife, my dearest friend and my help meet? I cannot bear the thought. Those who know me may think that I'm a godly man, a good husband and father, however, it is the glory of Christ in my wife that has given me this appearance. She is my gift from The Lord. He has gone before me and been my rear guard and has covered all my transgressions. Thank you my God and Savior for my glorious wife, Your Spirit of power at work in her, and her desire to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ to me and my children.Praise to you my God!!!!!


Young men, may the Lord bless you with a godly wife as he has blessed me!

Proverbs 31:10-31

Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
“ Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Love,
Craig

Happy Birthday Mama!

Dearest Mama,

   Happy birthday! :)

   What a WONDERFUL wife and mother you are.  We all love you VERY dearly and I personally don't know what I would do without you.

   God's grace and love are evident in your life and I am so thankful to have a mother who is such a beautiful  example of what a godly woman should be.  God has been so good to grant me the extreme privilege of calling you my "Mama".

   Much Love, in CHRIST,

   Hannah

Merry CHRISTmas!!!!!

John 1:1-18

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”

 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Isaiah 53

 Who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness;

And when we see Him,

There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

 He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

 Surely He has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

 But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

 All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

 He was taken from prison and from judgment,

And who will declare His generation?

For He was cut off from the land of the living;

For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

 And they made His grave with the wicked—

But with the rich at His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

 He shall see the labor of His soul,and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,

For He shall bear their iniquities.

 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,

And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,

Because He poured out His soul unto death,

And He was numbered with the transgressors,

And He bore the sin of many,

And made intercession for the transgressors.

Random Food, Friends, and Church Family



I Thessalonians 4:17

1 Thessalonians 4:17

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

The Life of Christian

Here are a few (and a few more!) photos of Christian over the course of his life.  I can't tell you what a blessing he is to our family.  I hope that you enjoy these pictures and can get a small glimpse of what the life of Christian has been like.

As you can see, we've loved him since the day he was born!

The newly-made big brother helps out with his dear baby brother.

Doesn't he look SO happy?!?

Uh-oh! He shouldn't be playing with that book. :)

But doesn't he look so innocent! :)

He had the funniest smile!

He can also make the funniest faces!

We were at Backbone state park in Iowa and Papa was telling us about owls. 

Christian got scared as he was going to bed and started asking questions like:

Do owls have swords?

Do owls have hands?

Can they open doors?

What do they eat?

We still remember that night every time we look at this picture!

This is another of our favorite photos of Christian.

Christian was having a lot of fun playing in the dirt - as you can see! :)

Poor Christian went fishing with Papa the day after he got a

 haircut and got sunburned on the top of his head!

Christian is our "little warrior man"

He used to play knights or cowboys every day.  His favorite cowboy is Roy Rogers but he used to call him "Rogers - Rogers" before he could pronounce his whole name!

A summertime dinner - WATERMELON!

Christian was no Spartan! - He was definitely a talker!

At the pumpkin patch.

Christian used to have long, bright red hair!

CHARGE!

Papa caught a northern pike that was almost as long as Christian was tall!

Summer fun in the pool!

Cutie!

Our little patriot!

The boys were making really big bubbles and I suppose that, by the looks on their faces, they must have blown an exceptionally large one!

We went to a Twins game and I guess that this is how Christian felt about it ! :)

The big boys went duck hunting and when they came back, Christian got to hold the bird!

As you can see, my brothers do some strange things! :)

The statue of...culinary?

OK, that's not a real shark! :)

Two of his favorite things - baseball and guns!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Christian.

We were trying to get a picture of all 5 of us kids

lined up on the slide - this is the end result! :)

Jail ...

... birds! :)

Nelson's Ice Cream!

We were at Galveston (TX) and Christian was feeding the seagulls. 

He was really enjoying his time by the looks of it!

Best Buddies!

Camper life - that was their movie night position!

Big red and little red!

A rainy day in TX.

A morning of weeding the garden in MN after returning from TX. 

Boys and four-wheelers, the perfect combination - by the way,

I like four wheelers too!

Bunny Ears! :)

Camo kids.

He has the sweetest smile!

Another rainy day in TX! :)

The official self-installed lifeguards at Galveston! :)

Christian and Rosie.

Aren't they good lookin' soldiers !?!

My brother's personal encounter with a very "fierce" lion!

The weeding crew.

They act like twins - always doing everything together!