Our 2008 Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!
We woke up on Christmas Sunday and there was SO much snow and it was really really windy with super cold temperatures. Church was canceled :( so we decided to celebrate Christmas early, since we will be traveling and visiting family for Christmas. We exchanged gifts with each other. Andrew surprised Kate with many fun things including a digital picture frame and she surprised him with a photobook of all the blog postings we made while in South Africa. We like pictures...can ya tell by our gifts? It was so fun to spend the whole day together and celebrate Christ's coming to the world. We also had Christmas dinner later that day and made steak for the first time in our apartment. Yumm! We can't believe that we already were celebrating our THIRD Christmas together. Time has been flying on our journey together. We are praying that you have a wonderful Christmas!

Here is our Christmas Card for 2008. We decided that since we had sent out multiple mailings this year, we would do an E-Card for Christmas. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Roxy

We had an unexpected week. We found ourselves on Monday afternoon car shopping. Sandy had died, while slipping on the ice and hitting a cub and the damages to repair where more than she was worth. Kate being off of school was a blessing first because Andrew could than use her car to get to work and secondly because she got to have a lot of time to do the homework of finding and researching a car. After looking at several cars, we test drove a car on Wednesday night and were lied to several times by the salesman and so we got up and left. We regrouped and continued looking for cars. It was important for us to find a fuel efficient car (Andrew drives 40 miles to and from work each day) and looking to the future, something we could grow into someday. Saturday, we test drove a 2004 Pontiac Vibe, and we loved it! We were able to get financing we could afford, and we drove away with Roxy that afternoon. We were so thankful for God's provision even in uncertain times.

Andrew and Kate's Christmas Tree 3.0

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

This past Saturday, December 6, Andrew and I braved a snowstorm to get our Christmas tree. We had been planning to go on this day, so we stuck to our plan and headed out to the Christmas Tree farm. Last year when we went and chopped down the tree it was pouring rain, and our frist christmas we went and got our tree when it was snowing lightly...we always make it an adventure when we go! We found the perfect little tree, a 5 foot Douglas Fur Tree, and Andrew chopped it down. It is always an adventure afterwards to figure out how to fit the tree in our little Ford Escort, but it made it in and we got it safely back to our apartment.

Since it was finals on Monday and Tuesday, I studied all weekend, and we waited til Wednesday to decorate the tree. Finals went well, but I am still waiting for my grades. So glad to finally get a little break to relax. We decorated the tree today (Wednesday). I love decorating the tree and putting all the ornaments on it; each ornament has a memory and means something special. Looking forward to making Christmas cookies and Grandpa's fudge and seeing all of our family for Christmas!