Giving Thanks

So many, many things to be thankful for this year.  If you have read Brent's blog lately then you know that we are trying to look at being thankful from a little bit different perspective.  (pewtopractice.wordpress.com) I think the thing that has resonated the most with me is that God gives you all that you need.  That includes the hard things....get in a wreck on the way to work?  You needed it.  Only get three hours sleep last night?  That was all you needed.  If you really had needed more, God would have provided it.  Have a head cold?  You need it.  Have crazy, disobedient children?  You need them.  God gives you all that you need to be conformed into the image of His Son.  So whatever you have, you have it because you need it.  Whatever you do not have, you do not need.  God knows more than I do whatI need...and I am very thankful for that this year.  God freely gave us His Son to die in our place....so how could He not give us all else that we need?  (Roman 8:32)

So this year we celebrated with my side of the family first.  Mom and Dad took us to Galveston...one of my favorite places on Earth!  How I missed the salty sea air and the sparkling ocean waves!  It was so refreshing to stand on the shore and take it all in.

The boys had a blast....too much, perhaps.  We had to go buy them some new clothes at the store afterward, but I think it was all worth it!  I kind of wanted to go splashing in with them!

Showing off our new Star Wars shirts!

Then to the gift shop....always a fun stop.  You never know what you are going to find!

Feeding the birds from the Ferry boat.  It was Jane's first boat ride!

 On Thanksgiving Day we went over to my Aunt Diane and Uncle Larry's house.  My cousin Sara and her crew were there too.  Here is Sara and the adorable hat that she made for Jane...so sweet!

 Nursing and eating my turkey lunch.  :)

 It was such a beautiful day outside...perfect for playing!  Elijah, Peter, Justin, and Moriah found the sand box.  :)

 Then it was on to the Osterberg's house.  Another great time of eating and giving thanks.

 Jane was not wanting for attention.  :)  Everyone is just in love with her sweet smile.

Jane got a bath - squeaky clean!

On black Friday I went shopping with Nancy and Courtney and we met the guys for lunch at James Coney Island...mmmm.

Fun with Jane

My little sweetie!  We are loving every minute of our sweet girl.  She went to the doc for her check up and he said she weighs 11 pounds and 4 oz....right in the middle of the growth chart.  She's perfect!  :)  These are just some cute pics I took while getting ready for bed last night.

 Haha!  I thought it would be funny to take a pic of what she sees us doing....no wonder it makes her crack up!  We look pretty goofy...

And THIS is Peter at about the same age, 11 weeks.  Wow, they look a lot alike!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween and Reformation Day!  We had a great time this year with all the festivities.  It is a big season coming up for Jane....first Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all in a row!  :)

 Peter started out dressed as Indiana Jones/Cowboy....

 ...and Justin wanted to be Spiderman.

 Earlier in the day we took Peter on a date to see Real Steel with us while a babysitter watched the littles....the movie was totally awesome!  Peter got the robot from the movie as a prize from Mama and Daddy for working so hard at t-ball this season.

 We got together with our close friends, the Lambs.  Cooper was Iron Man, Jaxon was Batman, Peter changed into Black Spiderman and Justin was Spiderman.  I love all the super heros, boys are so much fun!!

 We went to a Trunk or Treat at a church down the road.

 After that, we did take the kids door to door for candy, just down our street to the neighbors that we know.

 Then it was back to the house for pumpkin carving!!  Laura made yummy candied apples and sugar cookies to munch on while we worked.

 We passed out candy and gospel tracts to the trick or treaters that came by.

 The families and their pumpkins....I love it!

 I love the outside shot of the pumpkins too...they all came out so well!  Left to right: Cooper, Jaxon, Brent, Keri, Peter, Justin and Jane.  :)

After the kids went to bed we separated out all the candy that they couldn't eat....and uh...had a few samples.  :)