HAPPY NEW YEAR

Wishing everyone a very

HAPPY 2009 !!!

I am on a "short" blogging break,

but promise will have lots of pictures

very soon.

Happy New Year!!!!

Love,

Kathy

Merry Christmas

In the true spirit of Christmas,

we wish you peace and joy.

Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

David, Kathy & Jake

You Gotta Love Him....

As I mentioned in my previous post, since I thought

we were going to stay home, it would be fun for

Jake to help me finish up the last bit of cookie

decorating I had to do before all of our guests begin arriving.

When I called him to help me, this is what arrived...

I'm not sure if he was Santa or a Clown or a little of both...

anyway you just have to love his sense of humor (hey he is 12).

That is one of his greatest gifts and I, for one, am so glad he

was blessed with the gift of humor.

After an hour of decorating, he was off to a friend's house

to do "guy" things (4 wheel, snowball fight, video games)

and I was left to clean up the mess he left me.

The BIG Freeze

Brrrrrrrr...baby it's cold outside!!!!

Awoke to a lovely ice storm this morning.

Schools are closed and we are just going

to hunker down in the house today and

finish frosting our sugar cookies while

waiting for Paul and family to arrive from

Shanghai...we sure do hope they get in

tonight as planned...they were hoping for

snow and I believe their wish was granted!!!

And from the sounds of it, when Lauren and

family arrive next week, they will be getting

their wish for a white Christmas as well, as

they are calling for more snow over the weekend

and into next week. Try to stay warm!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Lauren !!!!

A Great Day To Stay Inside

It's been snowing for the better part of the day

and it is beautiful. No wind at all, but it is

bitter cold, the kind that goes right through

your bones. Jacob was nice enough to start

shoveling the driveway until David got home

to take over...you can tell by the car, it's a

mess out there on the roads.

Good day to stay inside.

A Gift of Love

My 2 favorite guys recently gifted me with

these beautiful ornaments. What makes them

truly special is that they made them for me. The

pictures really don't do them justice, especially the red

one..Jacob added just enough "bling" and they

look great with the twinkling white lights on the tree.

I am so fortunate to have to these loving guys and

feel especially blessed that my almost 13 year old

still likes to sit on my lap (even if he is almost bigger than me)

and snuggle....I hope it's always that way!!!!!

4th Annual Christmas Party

Jake's Portion of the Party

We had our first Christmas Party the year we

moved to Illinois - 1) because we love to entertain and

2) we thought it would be a great way to get to

know people after just moving here.

It's always a little scary having a party and inviting people

when you don't really know them, but we decided it would

be a great way to just "jump" in. Little did we know 4 years

ago that our little party (we only had about 10 people) would

turn into an annual event growing to more than 40 people and

it's something that we not only look forward too, but it seems

so do a lot of the people we invite. Every year we try to add

several more people, especially if they are new to the area, as it's a

great way to meet a lot of people and enjoy an evening of

Christmas Cheer!!!!

The good news....I took some before shots, the bad news...I

forgot to charge the batteries for the camera and when dear

sweet hubby went to take some pictures during the evening...

well you get the picture (or lack thereof).

Anyway, we had a fun and relaxing evening with lots

of good food (thank you to everyone for bringing a dish) and

a special thanks to Cathy for brining us a coffee cake and coffee

for this morning (I'm enjoying it as I blog).

A sidenote, a BIG kudos to Jacob as he spent the better

part of Saturday getting the basement ready for his part

of the party...did I mention that Jacob also has his party

at the same time and we had 16 kids in the basement

and we only had one knocked over rootbeer.

Wishing everyone a little "JOY" this holiday season and

thanks to all our friends and family for providing us with a

little "JOY" last night. You do so warm our hearts.

Jacob's Christmas Concert

What a wonderful way to spend a snowy evening.

The Germantown Hills Music Department put on

their annual Christmas Program and it was FANTASTIC.

They have so many talented students in band and chorus.

Many of these students compete throughout the year

at various events (Jacob included) and some are even lucky

to be accepted at Bradley University in June to attend a

one week Band Camp (Jacob included-last year). Their

hard work and dedication throughout the year really show,

especially on evenings like last night.

AWESOME !!!!!