My favorite Christmas gift

Dear God...

Jonathan and I try our best to help our girls understand the importance of blessing our food before we partake of it. Above all, we want to teach them to be THANKFUL for the things God has blessed us with. Tonight, we were pretty proud of Abigail when she prayed this prayer (although she did throw in a few extra things...)

May we all be so THANKFUL for the most precious gift that was ever given, the birth of our Savior.

Merry Christmas friends~

Ok, you've proven yourself....

I just now checked my blog and noticed TEN comments, never in the history of this thing have I gotten TEN comments, so friends, I will continue the updating....

Ok, so Rachel had her first birthday December 6th. We had mostly a family party but we all sure packed out my house! Rachel had a great time opening all the gifts, as did Abigail. We had a hard time prying them out of Abigail's hands and kept having to tell her they were Rachel's gifts and not hers! She told us that she would "share" Rachel's gifts with her!

Diving into her own cake! Funny story...I only ordered a big cake and just thought I would cut her a little peice and let her dive in...when we picked up the cake, they threw the small cake in for free!
Off to the tub!


Opening her gifts...


I can't believe my baby is ONE!

Leave me a comment...

I know I have not updated this blog for a long time. The main reason being I just don't think many people read it. I usually upload our new pictures and videos to facebook because I know most everyone sees them there. So, if you happen to check and read this...leave me a message so I can see actually how many people read it before I quit blogging altogether...

Love to all! :)

Johanna

Long Overdue Halloween Pictures

Our family had a great time trick-or-treating Halloween night! It was so stinkin cold so we weren't out long but still got LOADS of candy!

Selfless

For 5 years, I worked as a Speech Pathologist in an elementary school. I KNOW and have seen firsthand how kids bicker, fuss and fight over place in line, who will carry the teacher's lunchbox, who gets to the class first...the list goes on and on. Nowadays, I have found myself teaching first grade choir at my church on Wednesday nights. I love staying at home, but I enjoy teaching it because it places me back with that sweet age that I love so much. After choir, I always line up the girls and take them to their GA (Girls in Action-for those who aren't Baptist) class where they learn about missions and evangelism. I have one little girl in my class who is very needy and was just adopted a few months ago, yes at age SIX. Let's call her Lucy. I have found myself drawn to her. To help her, comfort her.

As we lined up tonight to depart to GA's, Lucy kept saying "Can I please be line leader?, Can I please be line leader?" By this time there was already a line of at least 5 girls and I didn't think it was fair to allow her first place after all the others had been waiting patiently to leave. So I said, frustrated with the situation, "just stand here, we're all going to the same place. It doesn't matter where you are in line." Of course, Lucy's tears break loose. Halfway there, I gathered myself and explained to her that we really were all going to the same place and that we'd all get there at the same time, and that if she reminded me, she could be line leader next week. Still tears.

And right then, out of the mouth of the sweet girl in front of her "you can get in front of me". SELFLESSNESS. Even a six year old child comprehends this. I struggle with it. I bet most of us do. We are born loving ourselves. Its innate in us from the beginning of our existence. Its NOT about us people. Our soul existence is to glorify our Lord Jesus. That's why we're here, and I am so comforted by that. This whole experience tonight reminded me of a song we used to sing a lot at our old church in TX..

Its all about you, Jesus
And all this is for You,
For your glory and your fame,
Its not about me,
As if you should do things my way,
You alone are God and I surrender to your way.

Suze Orman (financial guru) always says.."People first, then money, then things".
I like to think of it as "Jesus first, then people, then things..."

Reason for my absence...

Sorry for the lack of activity on this thing. I want to post all about our trip to the SC State Fair, Abigail's singing debut, Rachel walking, and our trip to Charleston this weekend, but this blasted computer won't let me post any pictures or video and well, blogging is pretty boring with out them! So for now...thanks for your patience...until I talk Jonathan into reformatting the whole thing!