We went back to MN in January for a wedding and meeting the newest nephew/cousin.  Which meant we also got in some sweet ice activities!  Rahab enjoyed walking on the ice with her boots.  Esther and Jadon got out the skates.  It was the first time skating for Jadon!  He did amazing!  So proud of him, videos below :).  Greg and I had our first experience curling!  Wow there is way more to that sport then I ever realized!  If you ever get a chance to play you should do it!  All of these actives took place on Uncle Tim and Aunt Kaley’s pond!  Super cool!

-Chris

Esther celebrated her birthday 4 times this year!  All the cakes/desserts were different too!

It started on the 20th with the Ireland Grandparents & Uncle Brad, Aunty Megan & Owen.  She ate ice-cream at every meal!

Then we were off to MN for wedding, meeting the newest cousin and celebrating Esther’s 9th birthday!   She wanted to sled on her actually birthday so we gathered the extended family and found the biggest hill around!

After sledding, we headed to the Wharram’s for a pizza party with the Barrus’ Grandparents, Uncle Mike, Aunt Tricia, Aunt Nancy, Uncle Tim, Lucas, and of course the Wharram family!  (Way to much pizza!  So glad Uncle Mike didn’t let that go to waste 🙂

Later on Esther’s Birthday we went to celebrate a marriage.  The bride is a childhood friend of mine!  So thankful Esther didn’t mind attending a wedding on her birthday!

After the wedding we took Esther to her favorite restaurant, Olive Garden!  She loves the Zuppa soup there!

The next day we headed over to Uncle Tim and Aunt Kaley’s house.  She got to hold Nolan and loved every minute of it!  They bought her a cake and had a lot of fun with the candles!

My first born daughter, I can’t believe you turned 9.  You have learned so much these 9 years.  I love watching you create art, play the piano, swim, kayak, gymnastic, and most importantly grow in your love for Jesus.  I’m proud to be called your Mom and honored God would allow me to be your Mother.  Love you and can’t wait to see what the future has in store for you!

-Love Mom

 

Greg and I cruised for a purpose! We left the kids with the grandparents and sailed away for the week. What a treasured week it was for the both of us. This cruise took away normal daily distractions of life. No cell phones, Internet, work, kids, meal prep, and house distractions. Although, we did HAVE to watch the Vikings lose, a heart wrenching loss, to the Sea Hawks. I’m still sad here, people! Anyways the point was we took time to work on our marriage. Keeping up with the oil changes in life trying to avoid the head gasket blow!

We enjoyed all the wonderful things about the cruise. The amazing port stops, great food, top-notch house keeping, and just good old plain relaxing! What made this cruise experience set apart from others was the conference we attended on board. We had amazing speakers who spoke truth with laughter in our lives. We could laugh together about how complicated I am as a woman and how simple, kid like Greg is as a man. We both learned things on how to serve each other as a couple. I have an amazing husband and this purpose vacation really highlighted that fact. I’m excited to enjoy another 12 ½+ years of marriage! I love enjoying life with my husband! God created us to be companions in this life together and I want to enjoy all the moments. The good, the bad, the great and the hard.

Cruise details: January 9th to January 16th, 2016 out of the Port Canaveral, Florida

Norwegian Spirit Ship

Port stops:  Key West, Florida; George Town, Cayman Islands; Ocho Rios, Jamaica;  Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas (we were not able to port here due to weather)

-Chris