Always in Need of Grace: December 2007

Cookies and Trains

We spent part of our Christmas break with my parents in Webster, Tx. The first night we were there, we went to my Dad's train club layouts. He spends time down in Texas City at the museum and builds and runs some of the train layouts upstairs. We had such a great time seeing all the hard work that Dad had put into this neat hobby. Peter loved to look at the trains-maybe he'll build his own layout one day!
Here is a pic of Dad and the layout he is working on right now...the mountains are so realistic! We are so proud of Papa Jon's talent!

Sisters got matching jackets for Christmas - how cute!

We usually go over to my Aunt Diane and Unlce Larry's house for Christmas day. We do the turkey dinner all over again. I look forward to one more turkey dinner of the year!

After dinner, it is cookie time! We put flour down on the table and get busy cutting out cookies and decorating! It is such a fun time of baking together as family!

I made a cookie for Peter's first Christmas....a little tree with a letter "P". So this was his first taste of sugar! I know, I know, bad parenting.....but look how he loved it! :)

My mom and her sister, Diane and my cousin's son, Simeon.

Sara and her other son, Elijah.

After lunch we usually take a walk to burn off all those calories! We put Moriah and Peter in a little double stroller to share the ride!

This one's for you, Doug!

We had a very blessed Christmas with the Osterberg side of our family. We got together with everyone, as usual, on Christmas Eve to talk about how mighty God has been in our lives this past year and we had great food and fellowship!

Heath, Brent and Tyler

Lindsey, Rhonwyn and Elizabeth

Gramma, Doug, Nancy and Uncle Buddy

Marty, Peter, Courtney and Keri

As a special treat, Doug took us all to the Pelican Club in Galveston for a nice dinner together as one big family....I just love to dress up! :)

One of Brent's very close friends from childhood, Rebecca Dye, works at the Aquarium in downtown Houston. She gets to work with the training of the white tigers and some of the birds and other animals. She took us "backstage" for a glimpse of some of the animals up close....very cool!

The tigers were so close....we got to feed them through the cage.....but remember to stay behind the line! (AKA the "swipe zone")

Rebecca was so knowledgable about all the animals - thank you for such a great afternoon!

Doug went fishing off his pier ("Nancy!! Get the camera!!") and caught a big ole catfish. Yea!

Nanna and Papa bought Baby Peter some Chucks to match Brent....isn't that sweet?!

Merry Christmas from the O's!

We hope that all of our readers have a very blessed Christmas. As you approach yet another holiday season, we encourage you to rejoice in how the Lord kept one of His greatest promises to us through the birth of Jesus; His only Son and our Only Hope. Let the joy in the fulfilled promise of Christ spill out into every other area of your life as you realize that ALL of the promises that God has given us in His word are just as sure to come to completion! We love you all and would love to hear how God has blessed you in this past year.

Baby's first Christmas!

Steak 'n Shake

Last week, my sister and her boyfriend, Andrew, came up to Forth Worth for a visit. Andrew is a big fan of Steak and Shake and Jessi had never been. Apparently they do not have this burger joint in College Station or Houston, so Brent and I took them out for a burger and a shake - yum!

They have paper hats for coloring and wearing while you eat. Peter is already a big fan too!

Yeah for good food and even better fellowship. We were so happy to get to see Jessica and meet Andrew - he and Brent get along very well! We loved having you guys - come back up any time!

Go Cowboys! Boo Packers! (Just kidding, Brent)

Brent's Uncle Randy took Brent and I to see the Cowboy/Packer game the Thursday after Thanksgiving. We were both so excited to see our favorite teams play against each other! The week leading up to the game was full of friendly remarks about the other person's team "going down". :) We were so excited to go to the game and get to see Brent's unlce and little cousin, Jaxon.

We got there early, so we got to see the teams warm up and do all of their pregame stuff. Romo and Favre were even seen on the 50 togther talking and shaking hands. We were pleased to see such good sportsmanship!

One of the best parts about things like this is the food! I LOVE stadium food!! Brent bought me a hot dog AND nachos - what a treat! I like a little hot dog with my ketchup, as I am sure you can see. :)

Go Cowboys!!

This was not the final score....everybody knows the Cowsboys won 37 to 27. But this pic of the score board could not go untaken. We had such a great night and enjoyed such a special treat. Thank you Uncle Randy!!! ....And thank you to Tobin who watched Baby Peter for us so we could whoop and holler freely! :)

My special birthday surprise

For my birthdays, Brent usually comes up with something very special for me. This year, my 28th, was one of the best. He started out by taking me to a fancy dinner, then told me to get in the car so he could take me to my next surprise. I guessed all the way there, but I was not at all expecting him to turn into the Gaylord Texan resort for the ice scuplture exhibit! I had wanted to go for a few years, but it never seemed to work out. I was giddy with excitement as Brent told me about the evening ahead. "The room where the sculptures are displayed," he told me with a note of excitement himself," has to be kept at 9 degrees so they don't melt....they will give us special trench coats to wear so we can stand the climate." I thought we looked very cute in our matching "eskimo coats"! (Seen above)

The ice sculptures were so cool! (no pun intended) They ranged in size, shape and color. Everything you saw and touched was made of ice - even the walls! This one of the teddy bear was huge! (But not the biggest!)

The best part was the ice Nativity scene. We were pleasantly surprised to hear them playing music about Christ (O Holy Night, What Child is This?, etc.) The sculpters did an outstanding job putting in so much detail.....they looked so real!

Brent made friends with a near-by sheep....naah!

All of the white behind us, excluding the lights of course, was ice! At first, I thought it was branches....and it was branches.....but they were branches of ice....they looked so real!

The ice cave was neat as well.....by this time I was starting to feel the cold on my cheeks and nose. At the end there was a slide made of ice that you could get yourself pushed down - weee! I wish there was more room to show you more pics....but they wouldn't all fit on the blog. Hopefully you get a pretty good idea though...

The penguins were so cute...the colored ice made you forget they were not plastic!

After the exhibit, we walked around the resort and saw all of the Christmas decorations. It was so festive with huge lighted trees, a real gingerbread house, and model trains zipping all around. Thank you, my sweetie, for making another birthday unforgetable!

Deck the halls!

The Monday after Thanksgiving we decided to get a jump on the Christmas decorations. This was Brent's first time to hang lights from the roof. Last year we just did the bushes and at the old duplex we wrapped them around the front pillars. But all in all this experience was very easy, Brent did a great job of putting up the little hooks then running the lights through. I wrapped some lights around the front pear tree too. We used only small white lights - we wanted to look "classy" not "tacky" - to use Brents' words. :)

The finished product! We live on the corner, so many people can see our lights from the street. Maybe next year I can talk Brent into a cardboard stand up of Snoopy (just kidding!).