Christmas, New Years And Some Updates

Hello everyone, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! I know it is very overdue in coming but you will see why...

We had a nice Christmas here as a family. Christmas Eve was spent getting last minute things done and making a nice family dinner. We had an early dinner and then drove to Ottawa to go to Mass and a Christmas Eve party at the residence were Scott lives. We also picked up a friend that Scott had met at school. Her name is Anastassia. She is at school for piano performance. She is a lovely girl, we got along very well. She was not able to go home until New Years so we had her at our home for Christmas. It was nice to get to know her. We had to leave the party early to get to our church for midnight Mass. It was a busy evening! Very fun though...

Christmas day we slept in a bit.... then had Nana and Papa over for a Christmas brunch. After we had eaten we opened gifts and had a relaxing afternoon. In the evening we had dinner at Nana and Papa's house. A classic Christmas dinner, turkey and stuffing with cranberry sauce...

December 27th we drove down to Guelph to have a family dinner with Mom's three brothers and their family's. Nana and Papa drove down for that as well. December 28th and 29th was spent visiting more relatives in Dorchester and London. We stopped off in Erin (north of Brampton) to see long time friends on the way home for a short visit. That was our Christmas! A full and fun time...

Anastassia with us three kids by the tree after getting home from midnight Mass.

You are probably all wondering where the Christmas pictures are... my camera broke about six weeks ago. Dad and I brought it into the store where I had bought it only two years ago. They said that to fix it the cost would be over $150 dollars. I think I will end up buying a new camera. I really miss taking pictures!

Our computer is in the shop too... haha, all of our technology is usually down at the same time. So there is going to be a low amount of blogging for the next month or so. It had broken before Christmas but there is a long wait to get it looked at. Shawn kindly lent me his laptop to use.

Our days have been filled with the joy of having a baby in the house. Alexia is a sweetie that is for sure... she keeps us busy!

Last night Mom and Dad taught us how to play "euchre". We are trying it out again tonight. I think Shawn and I should be able to pick it up pretty quickly... we hope so anyway.

Have a wonderful week everyone ~ God Bless.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3.16

More Then Just A Facebook Friend

Post written by Chris at "A Cloudy Mirror"

I'm sure this has never happened to you before.

You meet someone at a party or some other event and when you get home, you have a friend request on Facebook from this random person with whom you had a five minute conversation. Do you accept or reject the request? Thankfully, there's always the third option. You can ignore the request entirely and hope the person forgets about you. Not that I've ever done that before…

Now if you're anything like me, there are probably a few people on your "friends" list that you hardly see. Maybe you don't even talk to them at all. You'll check out some of their photos and comment on their status updates, but you don't really have an active friendship. You may know a lot about them, but you don't really know them. At the heart level, you have no idea what's going on inside.

If there's one thing that we as humans crave the most, it's relationship. Part of the reason why Facebook is so appealing is because we all want to be connected. We want to know what's happening in people's lives. Social networking has enabled us to stay in touch with hundreds of people with only a few clicks of the mouse. But to what extent can it really help develop authentic relationships?

For the longest time, that's the way it was between me and God. He was just a Facebook friend. I first accepted his friend request when I was only five or six. Then I began following his updates. I read all about the amazing things he had done through people like Joseph, Moses, and David. I talked to God occasionally, but I really didn't get to know him all that well. I knew a lot about him, but I didn't know him. I didn't know his heart.

Over the last eight months, I've come to know God so much more intimately. As he's revealed his Father heart, I've begun to understand the width, depth, and height of his love. It's not about what I can do for him, but about what He has done for me through his son Jesus. I don't need to perform for God because he already accepts me. And I don't need to worry about the crap that life throws at me because I know that Father will take care of me.

God doesn't just want you to know stuff about him… but to truly know him. To know how much he loves you. He wants to be more than just a Facebook friend.

Christmas Is Coming!

It's a snowy wet day outside and the trees are weighed down heavily by icicles. Inside it is nice and warm by the wood stove as I type. I have missed blogging lately! As our family computer is still "out of order", Dad kindly lent me his laptop.

Dad bought some pretty blue Christmas lights to put along the front of our house! We haven't had lights for a few years... we are enjoying their friendly glow.

I have been doing the in class portion of my Drivers Ed since last week. I will be done on Wednesday. After Christmas I will be doing the in car portion. I am enjoying it, there are a lot of things that are good to know.

I have been learning Christmas music the last few weeks on the piano! "Angels We Have Heard On High" and a new one that my teacher Emily gave me, it's called "Christmas Is A Time To Love". It's very pretty. Shawn is learning it on the guitar to play with me too.

Baking will start this week (Lord willing!), I am hoping to make the family favorites as well as a new recipe or two. I have set up the wrapping center to start wrapping this week as well.

Have a wonderful 3rd week of Advent everyone!

I am typing this from the local library. Our internet and family computer are not working at the moment... hopefully I will be able to do some more blogging soon.

Have a great week everyone!

A man and his wife were awakened at 3:00 am by pounding on the door. The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger is standing in the pouring rain asking for a push. "Not a chance", says the husband, "it's 3:00 in the morning!" He slams the door and returns to bed. "Who was that?" asked his wife. Just some drunk guy asking for a push and I'm not helping him, its pouring rain" he answers. "Don't you remember last month we broke down, and those guys helped us?" I think you should help him. God loves drunk people too. The man gets up and calls out into the dark, "Hey are you still out there? "Yeesss," comes back an answer. "Do you still need a push?" he asks. "Yes, please!" comes a reply. "Where are you?" asks the husband. "Over here on the swing set," replied the drunk.

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Singing The Hallelujah Chorus!

Alexia

Six little ducks

That I once knew

Fat ones, skinny ones,

Fair ones, too

But the one little duck

With the feather on his back

He led the others

With a quack, quack, quack

Quack, quack, quack,

Quack, quack, quack

He led the others

With a quack, quack, quack.

Down to the river

They would go

Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble,

To and fro

But the one little duck

With the feather on his back

He led the others

With a quack, quack, quack

Quack, quack, quack,

Quack, quack, quack

He led the others

With a quack, quack, quack.



Back from the river

They would come

Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble,

Ho, hum, hum

But the one little duck

With the feather on his back

He led the others

With a quack, quack, quack

Quack, quack, quack,

Quack, quack, quack

He led the others

With a quack, quack, quack.




Into the water they would dive

Over and under the other five

But the one little duck

With the feather on his back

He led the others

With a quack, quack, quack.




Home from the river they would g0

Wibble wobble, wibble wobble,

Ho hum hum

But the one little duck

With the feather on his back

He led the others

With a quack, quack, quack.

Our time with Alexia is going well, she is so cute and fun to be with. She is also a very busy little person which is why my blog has become so silent! She loves ducks which is why Mom and I picked this fun song to include with her pictures. Have a wonderful week everyone! God Bless.

Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Luke 18:15-17

A Weekend Away/ Hunting

Mom and I went away for a ladies retreat this past weekend in Quebec. We had a lovely relaxing time together. The theme of the weekend was, "I have called you by name, you are Mine!"

- Isaiah 43:1

Shawn and Dad hunted very faithfully the whole two weeks of the season and on Saturday Shawn got a nice doe! Thanks Shawn, it will be good eating this winter. I couldn't help putting up this picture of Bambi...

Have a wonderful week everyone! Baby Alexia is getting a picture post soon.

- And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Romans 8:28

Happy Birthday Mom!

I love you, Mom! Thank-you for always being here for Dad and us kids. I hope you have a lovely day.

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.

1 Thessalonians 3:12