Busy Week

I haven't blogged lately because I really haven't had many blog worthy moments. We have been super busy, without much time for thought, much less computer time. But I wanted to share a couple of pictures today, and give a shout out to my brother and sister-in-law. We missed you for Thanksgiving, and we think of you every day. Blessings to you as you continue to learn and seek God's will.

Anyway, back to my busy week. Last Wednesday we went to my grandparents house so that they could meet Kate NaNa for the first time. Naturally, she charmed their pants off, and her aunt Sally taught her a new word - Quack. It comes out a really loud MAH, but it's close enough we know what she is saying. She also learned to say "home" just perfectly.

That night we went to Tim's hometown and celebrated on Thursday with his family. The highlight of this trip is always seeing all of the neices and nephews playing together. There are seven of them now, and the tradition is that they all line up in order of age on the steps. This tradition dates back to Tim's childhood Christmases. In the photo, you can tell who the trouble makers are...
We then traveled to my hometown, where we celebrated with my Dad on Friday. By Saturday, my mom and I decided we had had enough turkey, so we went to Sonny's instead.

On Sunday, the kids and I decorated the Christmas tree...
And on Monday, we travelled back to my hometown for my Aunt Ruth's funeral. My Aunt Ruth was an amazing woman. She was godly, smart, and spunky. She spent most of her life serving the children of our church, teaching, and playing the piano. She is the one who explained salvation to me. She is the one who took me to the big stained glass window of Jesus with the children, and she told me that Jesus loved children so much! That left a huge impression on me, and I have always felt special to God because she took the time to show His love to me in real and personal ways. She will always be one of my heroes.

Today, we spent the day at the cleft clinic. The only interesting tidbit regarding that is that we hope to have the surgery to repair Kate's palate in about six weeks. Oh, and we feel very good about our surgeon.

So that is the update. Probably not interesting to most of you, but an update for the fam. Love to you all!