CHRISTMAS TRAVELS AND GATHERINGS

OUR RECENT ITINERARY (along with our beloved relatives)

December 12 travel to Nails in Indianapolis

December 13 travel to Amy and Nate's in State College, PA

December 17 travel to Kelly's (Kim's Sister) in Yorktown Heights, NY
leaving Adam in New Jersey to photograph ducks

December 19 travel to Nails in Indianapolis (the best free Bed & Breakfast in the world)

December 20 travel home (this was the eve of the BIG CONVERGENCE, we arrived home at midnight, Amy and Nate dropped off Adam at 4:30 AM, and Julie and Jon (Kim's sister and her husband) arrived at 8:30 AM from Atlanta, GA

December 25 Julie and Jon returned to Atlanta, GA

December 28 travel to Devil's Den State Park to join Keith's sisters Donna, Margie, and Rhonda from Dallas, TX and Keith's brother and his family from Houston, TX

January 1 Everyone returns home, and life resumes its normalcy (except for beginning the next play, THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER)

WE ARRIVE AT AMY AND NATE'S . . .

. . . . and immediately start singing. We really enjoy making music as a family, (or just a joyful noise!)


I just love all those male voices.

MORNING GLORY!!

"What?"

"Oh yes, it is a Good Morning!"

MORNING AT AMY'S

"Hey guys, time to get up!!"


"Groan, grumble, snuffle, grumble."

Yum, pancakes!

. . .and oranges. (my mother only got an orange at Christmas. We are so blessed with abundance. Thank you LORD for oranges!)

. . .AND THEN THE GAMES BEGAN

We had to try our new Apples to Apples first. It was as fun as the Martins said it would be.

Just getting started.

Joy can't decide whether to match "Delightful" with "My first kiss" or "body odor".

Nate in deep concentration.

WINTER CREATIVITY

John, Joy, Anna, and Nathanael constructed a Gingerbread House while the rest of us made preparations for our next excursion. Hopefully, pictures from the last trip will be up soon.

The Nisbett Cottage, 7,500 grams of sugar, and a good time had by all!!

Notice the tiny footprints in the snow.

A WINTER TEA PARTY

Glory, Anna and Nathanael being hosted by Joy.

Cozy!!

WORKING ON THE ADDITION

Over the Thanksgiving Break, we put the siding on walls (HardiPlank Siding) for those who are interested. Josiah was our most faithful helper.

They let me help.

The porch is covered now!! It is so nice to sit out when it rains, although right now, I like to sit by the fire inside when it rains.

The work crew gets goofy sometimes. (It is important to wear orange during dear season, even in your own yard!)

UNRELATED PICTURES, SOMEWHAT TIED TOGETHER WITH A "ROOF" THEME

John's creative shot of the roofing nailer.

Looking west from on top of the roof.

Looking west several hours later.
"The heavens declare the Glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His Hands". Ps 19:1

Ta-Da!! The finished porch roof. Notice the nice soffits on the top floor. No more starlings in the eaves or attic!! Yeah!!

OUR NEW VAN

Our beloved 1996 Dodge Ram Van (affectionately known as the White Elephant) has reached the end of its usefulness to us, having reached 250,000 miles. Although it still has life in it, we take many LONG trips and doubt that it will be trouble free for those trips.
We are very thankful to the LORD to have found a replacement. Our new 2000 Dodge Ram Van with only 34,700 miles on it joined our family last week. We purchased it from a very nice man in Chicago who had bought a lot of government vans. www.passengervanman.com This was one of the last from the bunch Mick had, but he might get more if someone is looking. We will be traveling to Pennsylvania and New York this week, and Arkansas for New Years. We wanted to break it in right!

NATHANAEL'S MOUNTAIN FORK LIFT

Early Engineering 101

COOKIE TIME!!

Joy has begun to fill Amy's much missed role as "Mistress of the Cookies".

One of the few times the bowl doesn't have a bunch of extra fingers in it!

A Creative Cookie Composition

C.H.E.S.S. CRAFT DAY

Friday, November 30 we went to the Annual C.H.E.S.S. (Christian Home Educator's Support System) Craft Day. We appreciate the excellent job of organization that the Cureton and Embry families and many others provided. The kids had a fantastic time. A special thanks to the Riefers for the use of their camera. Some day I'll remember to bring mine!


Nathanael and John working on Gingerbread Men.
John patiently helped Nathanael with all his creations.

Joy and Anna make beautiful things!

I love the face you get when you tell a two year old to smile! Josiah was great helping Glory make her crafts. She had a fantastic time!


John and Josiah were such great help with my little ones that I found myself with nothing to do. . . SOOO, I stole a baby! Isn't he adorable! What good friends the Riefers are, they loaned us their camera, and their baby John.

I TOLD YOU HE WAS CUTE!!

John Riefer, a fine young man.