A Christmas Full of Blessings & Generosity

What a wonderful time we had celebrating our Lord's birth this year with dearly-missed friends and family in Minnesota! It was so much of a blessing and encouragement to our hearts and spirits. (The picture above is Vince's special creation. It's tradition for us to bring a birthday cake and sing "Happy Birthday Jesus" at my mom's annual Christmas party.)

This blurry picture was taken at my dad's Christmas party. On the left is my little-big brother, the middle is my older sister with my 8-month old niece Katrina (whom I hadn't had the pleasure of ever meeting until that day), Vince on the right (filling his big, hungry teenage belly!) and I think it's my stepmom in the background but am not sure:)

Here's Dad's party again. The three teenage girls are my beautiful nieces with their dad and my brother-in-law Steve (my twin sister's husband) in the middle. Dylan and Faith love hanging out with this group!

Here's Pete with his younger brother. We met him, his wife, and their son for lunch and had a great time catching up.

Here's our kids with Pete's brother's son Matthew who was born just 3 months after our Gabie. What a cutie, huh?!

And evidence of our white Christmas. We thought we would have to be in Minnesota for a white Christmas but had our Okie friends tell us about the 10" of snow that arrived on Christmas. That broke all of the old records for snowfall in December for Oklahoma. At least this way we got to have a white Christmas with so many good friends to go sledding with! This picture was at our awesome friends' the Minks' home where we stayed during our visit. Not only did they have awesome, comfortable accommodations for us, but with them and their two boys, we also had great company during our stay. (Their youngest son is the one in the background ready to whip a snowball at Pete!)

Here's what 10 kids eating Christmas dinner together looks like, although two of them wouldn't like being called kids (and one of the little ones is hiding behind someone)! This was our Christmas party with our dear friends the Padillas. They have six children with one on the way and we have our four with one on the way. Next year, there'll be 12 children around the table! Our kids have so much fun with the Padilla children. We're so glad to have met them during our time living in Zimmerman four years ago. Their friendship has been such a blessing!

Faith and the Padilla's daughter Haruka are absolutely best buds. These two princesses are two peas in a pod and treasure their time with each other every Christmas! Because they're the same age, I'm guessing we can expect Faith to start losing her teeth soon too!

Here's what we came back to in Oklahoma! If you look carefully, you can see Gabie's two little snowmen by him. Faith and Gabie said the two little ones are Peanut (our unborn baby's current name until we find out the gender) and Gabie, and the big one is Mommy. Too bad these guys are melting so fast since it's been over 32 for the last two days. Well, it was fun while it lasted!

Before I end this post, I would like to thank everyone for the incredible generosity and hospitality you have shown us this Christmas. Some of them must remain confidential, but some of them I would like to list. For those not shown for confidentiality reasons, please know how much your gifts blessed our lives! Some of the other ones are:

1. The gift of a wonderful place to stay for free. Had it not been for that, our trip to see everyone and spend Christmas with loved ones would not have been possible. Thanks again Minks family! Not only did you give us a place to stay but you gave us so much more, including, as always, spiritual encouragement and inspiration.

2. The wonderful anonymous Christmas gifts from our church down here in Oklahoma and the mystery gifts that showed up at our back door after church one Sunday. They were a blessing beyond description. Our prayer is that God will put us in a position to do the same for others in the future.

3. Kind words and encouragement from our extended family members and our church family at River of Life. What a gift those things can be for hearts that have long-awaited familiar faces. Thank you for showing us how much we mean to you.

Finally, thank you everyone for so many things, big and small. It all meant so much and will live forever in our memories. Each and every one of you gave us something whether you think so or not. You are all in our hearts, prayers, and thoughts. What a way to start a new year! Bless you all!