Tidings of JOY!

Merry, Merry Christmas to all!  

This was obviously a very special one for us!  It was so much fun to add babies to the mix.  We allowed the babies to "help" open two of their many presents.  And then we were pretty much over that, and opened all their gifts for them.  After 4 family stops in 5 days, let's just say we may have all the Fisher Price and V-tech toys made for up to age 18 months.  

If you didn't get a card from us, it's probably because I don't have your address written down.  If you didn't get it, here it is (above).  And if you got the card, you either thought Luke's upside down photo was strange, or you figured out the 3 photos spell out "JOY."  Good times:)

Chris has been enjoying his most prized gift of the year, a Wii and Guitar Hero Aerosmith. I may not be able to talk to him or walk between him and the TV for months to come:)

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, I am reminded of the verse on our card from last year: 

John 12:46 Jesus has come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Him should stay in darkness.

May you all have a holiday season filled with light!  God bless!

On the move!

Okay, I'll add a picture or video to this post in a few days. . . . Today, for the first time, Bowen started crawling!  He's been on all fours rocking since before Thanksgiving, so we've been anticipating every day this new skill.  And I almost missed it!  I was walking back into the living room as his crawl began.  Motivated by a toy several feet away, he made his first hand-slapping, slightly uncoordinated crawl.  Luke's occupational therapist, Shawna, also witnessed it.  And I was quick enough to get some of it on video.  He had to repeat the performance (as my friend Keri said today "Dance, Monkey, dance!") for Aunt Beth (who baby-sat for a little while) and Papa.  And of course, after work, for his Daddy.  I guess it's time to quit procrastinating all the child-proofing. . . .