New Year's Eve

We spent the earlier part of New Year's Eve at the Wims with the whole fam. The families who brought us food that evening also brought a "party package" which was a really neat idea--hats, glow sticks, confetti poppers--we all had fun with it! Brad came outside and helped put the glow sticks together and helped the kiddos do the confetti poppers--the whole family (adults included) was having a good time, acting goofy. I always hate a little bit to see the year end--I don't want to get older another year, and watch the kids get even bigger--but I am excited about 2009 because I know that God is working in Brad, and I am ready to see His miracle!

Brad Update

We continue to pray fervently for Brad's healing. He has steadily made small steps towards improvement over the past few days, including not needing as much medication, lower flow oxygen, getting lots of rest at night. Medically, he is already defying the odds, especially considering how dire the situation was on Sunday. We thank God for answered prayers, and continue to believe that Brad will be healed and restored. Please continue to pray for God's miracle, as well as strength and courage for Brad to continue to fight this disease.

Christmas with the Aven's

My parents were gracious enough to come here for Christmas this year, and stayed a few days. We enjoyed such things as putting together a gingerbread house, looking at Christmas lights, and even drove to Alvin-area for a Christmas festival that included a small train ride, visiting with Santa, and bounce castles! Callie and Jack had fun with their gifts, particularly the stick horses that actually neigh (for some reason I didn't get pics of those), and Callie loves her new dress-up clothes, some of which are handmade by Gran-Gran. Although I missed being at "home" for Christmas, it was nice to avoid the traveling hustle and bustle around the Holidays!

Christmas with the Hanna's/Wims/Bosse's

We were set to travel to Kerrville for Christmas with Bryan's family this year, but in light of circumstances with Brad, decided to move it here a week earlier. Despite Brad having received such bad news the week before, the day went well--more memories were made, laughter was heard, kids were loud. We did the traditional cookie decorating in the afternoon; you'll notice Jack is wearing his Rudolph nose given him when he visited Santa the day before--he loved wearing that thing! We opened presents in the evening, and actually had some order to the process this time! Kaelyn was hamming it up, burying her head in her new backpack, and loving the show she was giving! We are fortunate to have a friend from church who is getting into photography, and she graciously came for a large portion of the day and took tons of both candid and posed pictures of the family. Maybe I can post some of those later--they'll definately be better than mine!

Pictures With Santa

Just before Christmas, we went with the Wims to get some pictures with Santa at the mall. I always like this particular Santa, as he is so real-appearing, quiet, kind. This year, Jack would only speak to this Santa--he usually freaks out--still--with the whole Santa suit thing. A friend from church who works in the marketing dept of the mall hooked us up--gave us all Rudolph noses, front of the line, and more--thank you Cristy!

Callie's Christmas Program

Callie's little Christmas program was really cute. Unfortunately, a lot of my pictures turned out pretty blurry. She didn't have her own part, rather the classes each sang some songs with cute hand motions. The theme was Christmas Around the World, and Callie's class did Jamaica. She contributed a Jamaican Christmas Fruit Cake (with only a little help from Grammy!) for the food sampling.

Mommy's Birthday

My birthday was recently (no one needs to know how many!), and while it was during a tough time with the Hanna/Wims family, my kiddos still made it special. I got a giant piece of my favorite cake--Johnny Carino's chocolate cake, and they sang to me--doesn't get sweeter than that!! We also went out to eat with all of the family at Papasitos, and I got to wear the big sombrero while the staff sang to me--that was interesting! Thank God for family.

Backtracking--Snow Day

Back before Christmas, we had a wierd winter snow storm--actually had 2-3 inches of snow that stuck all night long and was beautiful! Callie and I enjoyed playing out in it until 10 pm--on a school night! It was so neat. Jack was not fond of it--too cold and wet for his wimpy self!!