Merry Christmas from the Brooks Family. We hope that you are enjoying your Christmas, as you spend time with family and friends, eat yummy food, graciously give to those you love, and most importantly, celebrate the birth of our Savior. As we meditate on the birth of Jesus today, may we be ever mindful of the cross-- the very purpose of Christ's incarnation. God has graciously given us THE greatest gift (a gift we don't deserve) in sending His Son, "that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)""She will bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."-Matthew 1:21
Merry Christmas!
Everyone is wearing their matching PJ's by Aunt Lori (AKA- Mommy). Maybe I should have made Grandma a pair!?!?
Madeline (21 Months), Philip (almost 4), Braewyn (19 months), Hannah (4 ), and Grandma (ageless!!!).
We thoroughly enjoyed our Thanksgiving Day-- especially me, since Matthew was on Turkey duty (deep fryer). We took advantage of the good weather by playing outside. The kids played with Grandma, rode every kiddo toy we have with wheels, and Hannah even had Daddy take off her training wheels. She had a couple of successful runs and then asked him to put them back on. Fine by me!!! Yikes! The men enjoyed playing some driveway basket ball, and I hung my outdoor Christmas decorations up while Grandma entertained the little people. Dinner was yummy, as we reflected on how much we have to be thankful for. God is good!On Friday, we took it slow and celebrated Christmas in the evening. We enjoy seeing the kids open their presents, so we decided to go ahead and exchange gifts. Jonathan read the Christmas story, and we reminded the children that our gift giving is in celebration of Jesus' birth. Everyone was very excited over their new gifts and Hannah and Madeline didn't waste any time donning their new princess (Hannah) and Dora (Madeline) P.J.'s and slippers.
Warning this post contains snakes-- (but Casey, they are being held by toddlers, which thereby cancels out the yuckiness with the overwhelming cuteness!!!)
The other Brooks arrived Tuesday night. After a restless night of excited and unhappy little toddlers popping up and crying throughout the night, we had a wonderful first day together. We spent the first half of the day at the Imagination Station followed by lunch at Andy's (50's diner). Our visit to the Imagination Station was one of the most enjoyable thus far. Daddy got out several of the animals, and to our surprise, shy, demure Miss Madeline asked to hold several of the reptiles (including a big leopard gecko and a snake). It was so so funny to see her ask Jonathan to hold them. She put on a serious, proud, borderline "show off" face and mustered up her most matter-of-fact voice and said, "Ahold it Daddy. . . yes?"
Because nobody is nursing or napping in the mornings anymore (last time we were at I.S. together Braewyn and Madeline were infants), the kids were able to take their time and really enjoy the exhibits. For the grand finale Daddy set up the Star Lab-- woohoo! I was super excited--because I have very fond memories of the star lab coming to our elementary school when we lived in Japan. Once again, the Star Lab did not disappoint. The kids were a little freaked out about crawling into a dark inflated igloo, but once the stars came out, a good time was had by all!
Thanksgiving pictures are coming soon. We had a wonderful time with Jonathan's family. His Mom and his brother's family all came to our house over Thanksgiving. It was so much fun watching our girls interact with their cousins, and Grandma was thrilled to have all of her babies under one roof.
We have been under the weather this week, I hosted a women's Bible study in our home on Tuesday night, and Hannah has her 4 year old check up today-- hence the delay in posting. I hope to post before the weekend.
Merry Christmas from the Brooks Family. We hope that you are enjoying your Christmas, as you spend time with family and friends, eat yummy food, graciously give to those you love, and most importantly, celebrate the birth of our Savior. As we meditate on the birth of Jesus today, may we be ever mindful of the cross-- the very purpose of Christ's incarnation. God has graciously given us THE greatest gift (a gift we don't deserve) in sending His Son, "that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)"
shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
