Hit me with your best shot

This is hillarious to me. The kids fell in love with these white elephant dolls we got years ago that I pulled out to give again at another white elephant. So here's the deer dressed as a hunter singing hit me with your best shot...didn't end up getting rid of this one, yet!

Aaron's work CHRISTmas party

So we had Aaron's annual CHRISTmas party at our house and it was so much fun! Almost all the employees showed up and we just enjoyed tons of good food that everyone brought and getting to know each other. So enjoy..

Here's a fun snowman cake I made...which after all the other food we had this didn't even get touched! But it sure tasted good the next day!
Here's the staff...without their significant others...from left to right; Jason, Dave(back row), Trent(front row), Jen, Connie, Carl and Aaron. It was a ton of fun.

Here's Jen's sweet boy Richie...sooo stinkin cute!

And here's Jason's little girl Hannah...super sweet.

Here's the mom's trying to get the little ones to play together.

Kids in December

We're getting caught up...here's some fun pic's of the kiddos in December being kids.

Ok...here's Rachel and what you can't see super clear but is hillarious is she's gotten her feet in her little baby doll Lila's pants with the footies...and she's walking in them!!!

Yummmy fun. We made some ginger snap cookies and the kids had a blast helping mom.

Ready for church....love the cheesy smiles!

Nice and early in our snowman shirts/jammies

And here the kids are being so helpful with our CHRISTmas tree...mostly watching and trying to get into stuff in the garage! It was also freezing that day so they weren't outside long.

Ok...now we're on to Thanksgiving!

I am so behind on this so I will update...Thanksgiving I did not take many photos nor did I do much. At that point I'd been sick for five weeks and needless to say had no idea I had bronchitis and pneumonia...until I called the nurse on Friday of that week and she told me to get to Urgent Care as soon as I could. So I packed up and left early to get to Fort Collins before they closed.Yuck...but I did get on a good antibiodic and eventually didn't have my terrible cough...after two tries on antibiodics and could keep the same underwear on all day...yes...it happens when you have a baby weighing down your bladder and a bad cough! So here's our week in Vail with most of our family!

On our way to downtown...super cold!

Little Rachel and Avery just love hangin with each other!Malachi loved playing fish for wheels with his cousins Payton and Michael.And we got to enjoy this awesome pool at my sister Tiff's condo that is soooo kid friendly. Rachel was absolutely herself...FEARLESS...and loved the slide and water...and Malachi did fantastic!Malachi loved the part where you walked over the bubblesAnd he did pretty good on the lazy river...but it will take him a while to be totally comfortableAnd here's the kids hooked on Tinker Bell's movie that Grandma found on You Tube!Like this Thanksgiving pic...ha ha! My kids are hillarious.My sister Rachel created this great box for our dinner rolls and each family member decorated a feather with their name and made the turkey tail...it was great!And again my creative sis Rachel had all the kids make apple turkeys!Here's the cousins...from left to right...Payton, Rachel, Malachi, Reece, Michael and Avery.(missing Kailynne, Dominicque, Blake and Jeremiah from my side of our family)Payton is a love bug...he is super cuddly and kissy...just have to remind him she's his cousinAnd the one thing I did bring was pin the hat on the turkey...so cuteHere's a great pic of my sis Rach and the girls making faces!This is the whole gang on Thanksgiving...hillarious!And I was too sick to go swim on our last day but Grandma and Grandpa Bob had a blast with Rachel and Malachi...until Malachi had a major accident in his swim trunks...and got it on Grandpa Bob...NASTY! Glad I missed it.And right before we rushed to Urgent Care we got to see my brother Nate and sister'n'law Mary. It was way too short a visit! But at least Rachel got some snuggle time with Mary. I think Rachel has great intuition because Auntie Mary and her absolutely love the color PINK!

Very late birthday pictures!! Opps

Malachi is 4 and I know he'd be sad or upset that I haven't posted pictures of his special Thomas birthday! It was fantastic. It was much more laid back than Rachels and was great for him. The cake was fun but a bit rushed. At least it turned out to look like Thomas and that's all that Malachi cared about. He had a great time with his Grandma and Grandpa Bob and of course his friends. After his party we ate a small dinner and then took Malachi, Rachel, and their best friend Tanner..our neighbor...to Chucky Cheese where Tanner and his parents played their hearts out to win Malachi a great toy! And Grandma and Grandpa Bob got soar from playing all the games themselves...ha! It was a blast.

And our sweet niece Avery seemed to have a blast! Isn't she gorgeous!!!!!!

Here is Shanole and her two kiddos, Sydney and Aucklynd(A.J.) from our small group

And of course...Thomas hats and sweet Tanner Malachi's best friend.

And here's Kenna, from our small group and also goes to preschool with Malachi.

Yep that's Sydney....she's so stinkin cute!

And he got his first real Thomas for his train track!! Thank you to the Gustafsons!

And Rachel...no she's not hyper from sugar. She's just awnry like this...!

Here we go at Chucky Cheese. Aaron had so much fun playing with the kids...and competing with Tanners dad, Tyler..ha! A bit competitive.

This does not look like her favorite ride

No...Rachel loves being with Tanner but she is getting very tired and you can tell!

This is how daddy gets such a good score...yep Malachi is standing in the game!

He is an amazing God...as ALWAYS!

So I begin this story by referencing what happened almost exactly one year ago. I'm not sure if I posted much about it but I will refresh every one's memory. On Dec. 14, 2008 we were rushing out the door with Aaron's parents and the kids to church. In the rush I placed my bible and notebook on the roof as I buckled Rachel in the car and hopped in. Needless to say the bible and notebook fell off on our way to church across town. I knew it once we got to church but I decided to wait till after church to search for it. After all it's in a huge purse like leather case and even though a foot of snow was on the ground I figured I'd find it. Three days of driving that road...and a few more times the next month nothing! I felt heartbroken. The bible...well...here's that story.

   When I was 11 years old I had a pink old Bible my parents had given to me with my name on the outside and I remember sitting before the Lord and basically asking for a sign from Him. I asked that when the man the Lord had promised and created for me to marry came that he would give me a new bible the day he proposed with my name and his last name on it. Pretty specific request of the Lord but I really didn't want to marry someone that the Lord hadn't intended for me to marry and I know my God is greater than this simple request. That request and prayer was kept as a very deep secret that only about three close friends of mine knew about. When Aaron and I began to date I felt the Lord clearly showing me that he was the one....we shared so many convictions and so many of our choices were just laid before the Lord I knew he was the one. So...the night Aaron proposed to me he took me to the chapel at CSU on campus; mind you I lived in Grand Junction at the time and Aaron was still in school at Western State...so he set this whole thing up with friends of mine from college. On the outside of the chapel were white sheets covering the walls of the pergola and red ribbon hanging...red rose petals all over the ground surrounded with little tea light candles lit...and in the middle a pedestal with a bible on it and a red rose in the middle with pictures of him and I placed around the bible. We had never said "I love you" or given red roses to each other because we wanted to protect each others hearts until we were engaged...we waited to kiss till our wedding day and man...no matter how hard that was it was WORTH IT!!  So I walked up to the bible and he asked..."do you know what that is?" I said simply, "A bible".....he said look at it. I picked it up seeing the rose, the bookmark that for the first time said the word Love on it and the verses in Ephesians marked about marriage...and I closed it and saw my first name and a space for his last name to be put when we got married!!! I just stood in shock...turned and he was on his knee. Told me he loved me and wanted me to marry him. ABSOLUTELY! Of course my next questions were how did he know about the bible. He just saw my tattered old pink one and knew I needed a new one. GOD IS AWESOME....so back to my story....

    That bible was gone. I posted on Craigslist for about six or seven months and just prayed that it hadn't been shoveled into garbage piles or picked up and thrown away. I began to pray immediately that the person who found it would read it. Whether they needed it or not I prayed that the Lord would use it. I hurt for my loss but realized too that I hadn't been devoted to His Word as I should be and still know I need to be even more every day. So last week the day after Thanksgiving I checked my email...and I received something that amazed me...and hopefully you too...

Hello Aaron & Andrea

 

God is Good! In December of 2008 my wife and I saw what we thought was a purse laying in the road in the snow. So we stopped and picked it up. Well it turned out to be a bible and journal. My wife tried for a couple of months to get a hold of the church in Michigan but they never got back to her. Since then we have both said a few times we need to try to find them so we can return it. Well last week God had me up very early in the morning. While I was going through something in his word I remembered your bible witch I thought was a different version. (I have several different versions) Well it was and I spent the rest of the time in there. You mark and date things and I do the same thing. Things you had marked spoke to me. Right now my wife and I are seeking direction. We recently left a church and working with a ministry. God moved us from Wisconsin in 2005. We go to REZ at the moment but we are waiting to see if we should stay there or go somewhere else. We love the church but its to easy to stay uninvolved at a large church. Anyway, I came across a marriage announcement of a Brian and Rachel. That enabled me to find you. We thought you lived in Fort Collins. We were slow at work yesterday so I was searching on line for you. When I googled "Aaron & Andrea Grand Junction Colorado" I came across your blog. So with all that said please call us at (970)556-6256. I can be reached anytime between 6:00AM and 9:00PM.( I get up very early. Usually 4:00-4:30 somewhere.) Oh yeah one more thing. I thought this was cool. Your daughter and I share the same birthday. Of course mine was 39 years earlier. God Bless You. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. God works in such cool ways. Its amazing.

Do I need to say anything??? Nope. I have contacted Jeff and he will come by on Wednesday with my bible and notebook. It so happens that my bible fell off in front of the church they were going to at the time....right in front of JAX sporting store down the road from my house. I am blessed and really don't expect and didn't expect this much to happen for him and for me since loosing my bible. So I of course will update you if anything else happens but I think this is enough and should be enough to show how great our Lord Jesus is...PRAISE HIM!!! 

Woohooo having another BOY!

So here's our 21 week ultrasound...would have shown the action ultrasound but...our boy was NOT SHY! And I don't want to embarrass him before he's even entered this crazy world. So we are thrilled and really happy with this little boy. He is super healthy and as usual measures a few days bigger than my due date! The kids were with us and really mostly excited about hearing the heartbeat! Ha! So now comes the challenge of picking a name and the first votes from Malachi and Rachel are; from Malachi -"Tiger"...and Rachel - "Rachel"..ha ha! Love it!