We are still amazed...

We are still amazed every day at how God just leads and guides us, opens and closes doors, protects us (I am firmly convinced that our two boys have more guardian angels per boy than most families have and need combined!) and proves His love to us each and every day.

The first is how He takes care of our family. In watching Brian's career and the path (sometimes many paths) he has had to take and endure, it is amazing to be able to see God's leading through it all - even if it is after the fact. A couple of weeks ago Pastor Poorman (Pastor Mark to many of you) preached on how God takes care of us even when we get upset about it. He talked about how he and his wife and the music pastor and his wife went to the music conference at the first of the month, and because they couldn't get into the restaurant they wanted to they had to go somewhere else, but lost time. He mentioned how he was frustrated because they had lost time, and then as they got back on the road there were delays, but when he started doing the calculations, he realized that he could have potentially been in either of the accidents. Well, Brian has worked some long and crazy hours, moved from that job to his current position where he had to work those hours again, but then to find out that most of the staff from his last job has left. In his current position he is in a department that needs four people, but has really only had three since he started. In the past two weeks the director of his department retired and his manager is going to a new company, so now the department went from being one person short to just one person. Well, we weren't too excited about this, because it will probably mean even longer hours during his filing time (he averages about 80 hours a week during those weeks) but he talked to the individual that they all report to, and there potential for a promotion now. We will just have to pray and see.

The reason this is so interesting to us is because Brian also gets calls from recruiters on a daily basis, and sometimes he will just politely dismiss the individual and sometimes he will listen. Well, last November he got a call from a company that really wanted him, and it looked like a great opportunity. There was one catch to it - the company was not in Minnesota. It would have required a move on our part. At first we were discouraged because we knew the town that the company is in, and we knew that the local church and school there is not very good. Thank God for the internet! We started looking around the area thinking that, well, Brian already seems to end up driving long distances whereever he works, so maybe we can find something and split the difference. Here is where we got excited. You see, the company is in Elkhart, Indiana. We know the churches in South Bend, and they are good churches, but we both have reservations about them. So we managed to find this First Baptist Church in Mishawaka, Indiana, which was a little closer to Elkhart. We went to the website and it looked ok, but what was really interesting is when we clicked on the staff page - who should be staring us in the face but Paul Ice! And the picture next to him was Pete Jones. That was very interesting for both of us. Well, through all of it, God closed that door to open the potential door where we are now, but it is interesting to see how God works and moves. Yes Paul, that is why Brian sent you that semi-weird email a few months back. We almost became neighbors to you.

We are also very amazed at how God protects us. I am starting to believe that both of my boys' roles here on earth right now is to be doorstops. I cannot begin to tell you how many times Brian and I have accidentally had the door stop short on us, only to hear the "build up" before the scream - and any of you parents know exactly what I mean there. When you hear the thump, and then nothing for about 30 seconds or so, but you can tell that the air pressure is dropping int he room? Follow that by the really loud sound! Jefferson has also taken more dives and headers off our furniture right now than we care to count, but he is at that stage where he does not want to be helped. Still really doesn't want to walk by himself, but heaven forbid if you try to help him down when he has his mind set on it.

Anyway, sorry for the rant, but this is just something I wanted to share.

Minnesota Reminder

Well, we finally got snow that I think is going to stay this time. It started last night during church, and by this morning when Brian got up to go to work, there was maybe an inch on the ground. The difference this time from a month ago is that the temperature has dropped considerably. With the windchill it is finally below zero.

The boys are finally pretty much healthy, and for that we are very grateful. Every Christmas we seem to be attacked by illness, and this year definitely did not disappoint! Brian started with a quick bout of the flu, then the boys just got hit hard with all kinds of stuff: flu, fever, chills, pink eye, etc. Then of course, being home with them, I get to share in all of it. Talk about so much fun. Then, because of the long hours he had to work during December and the first two weeks of January, Brian had another fun round of what we think is the flu, but because of specific deadlines at work, he went in every day anyway. Now I think it is finally down to just me having a cough. Does anyone else go through this every year, or is it just us?

Jefferson is so close to walking all the time now that we just can't wait. He will walk while holding something, and is willing to take a few steps if going to myself or Brian, but otherwise he still likes the faster mode of transportation - crawling. It is quite funny to walk into a room though, and see Jefferson just standing in the middle as if to say "I have conquered all!" Oh, the boys are so much fun at this age!

Christmas is finally over!

I am just amazed at how much Christmas has grown since I was a little boy! I can remember having Christmas eve with my parents, opening gifts, etc., and then maybe getting together one or two other times with people. Now we seem to have a Christmas thing every other day (or so it seems) from the first week of December until mid-January. That is ok though, because it is a fun time to get togther with friends and family.

Of course, now that I have kids, it is so much fun to see them with their Grandpas and Grandmas. Earlier I wrote about Christmas with Jody's parents. Over New Year's Weekend we celebrated Christmas with my parents. It was an enjoyable time. The boys had fun, Jefferson got his first "official haircut" and Jackson got a little kids piano with a microphone, and both boys just LOVE that thing!

The funniest thing I can think of from that weekend is when we got there on Thursday night. The boys got to see my dad for a few minutes, but then my dad got called to work, so the boys just started pulling out toys to play with (mind you, this is at about 10PM at night!). Then all of a sudden Jackson starts to want to cuddle with my mom, hugging her, kissing her, etc. Grandma was enjoying it and thinking that it was all fun until JT then backed up a little bit, and with a very eager but sincere look on his face asked my mom straightforward "grandma, do you have any presents hidden for me here?" I guess they learn at an early age.

Anyway, here is a picture of the boys with my parents:

With great-grandma:

With the piano:

Jefferson before and after haircut:


And the boys ready for church:

The Rivalry Continued...

Well, last night we had the opportunity to play basketball against our biggest rivals - Rosemount. It turned out to be a great night for Warrior Basketball, as the Varsity Girls won their game 46 - 44 and the Varsity Boys won 74 - 61.

On a family note, I will be posting more Christmas pictures from our Christmas with Brian's parents over the new years weekend as well.