'Tis the Season!

First things first...Congrats to my Dad for all of his faithful years at ExxonMobile and his retirement that is coming at the end of December.  We had a little surprise party for him when he and Mom came up last weekend.  :)  

 Also, we had out Candle Light Service at church.  Justin sang with his class...

 ...and Peter sang with his.  I was so proud of both of them.  They stood tall, sang well, and even flashed me a few smiles.

 This was the first year they were allowed to hold their own candles.  They loved it.

 Later in the week poor Justin came down with strep throat and Jane got a double ear infection.  Poor babies!  We are so thankful that the Lord kept the rest of us well.  I did get a bad head cold, but that was nothing compared to the Little Ones.  We all felt a little better so we went down to see the big Christmas tree Down Town.  It was actually pretty warm...the first year we didn't even need jackets!

 Before we leave for Houston, we always have our own little Christmas.  We read the Christmas Story from the Bible, open presents, sing, and then drive around to look at Christmas lights.

 I just love to watch the kids open presents.  They have the best reactions.  :)

 We found Legolas action figures for the boys.  I fully intend on getting in on some of the epic battles that are sure to follow.

We love because God loved us.  We can give because God gave to us.  His only Son.  The perfect gift.  The only gift we ever truly need.

Osterbergs on Ice

We knew the weather was supposed to be bad, so we got all cozy on Thursday night.  And sure enough, we woke up to SNOW on Friday!! Well, it was almost snow.  Mostly ice.  But it was white.

 Justin just knew that because there was snow that meant it was Christmas.  :)

This picture cracks me up!  Peter was inside rooting for his brother who was outside, on the porch, in a chair, trying to knock down icicles with a broom.  I managed a picture as I ran outside to stop him from falling and knocking out his teeth.  Sheesh.  

 But they got some...and they were yummy.  We were in the house all day on Friday.  We tried to go and get out and it was very dangerous.  Nothing was open and all the roads were very icy.

 SO we came home and watched a movie instead.

Saturday was a little harder.  I wasn't able to go to the store and stock up on groceries before the storm hit.  So our cabinets were very bare.  Brent had to walk to the corner gas station for chips, soda, lunch meat and pancake mix.

 Sunday, Day 3, we even canceled church.  So the kids and I got up and made some homemade donuts for the neighbors.

 We made some cards and Christmas ornaments too.

 Then we slipped and slid all the way across the street and over each way.  The snow looks very pretty but let me tell you...it was hard a concrete and very cold.  It was quite the adventure to deliver our hot breakfast.

 Our neighbor's bush was totally frozen over!

 We made it back home for 'church'.  Brent and I led worship and we had a devotion from the Jesus Storybook Bible.

 After lunch (lunch meat sandwiches and Ramen) we walked to the end of our street to sled down the little hill on Chickfila boxes.  So fun!

 My Texas snowball.  I guess not EVERYTHING is bigger here.

 Our snowman!  We made him and loved him for about 4 minutes....

 ...Until the kids stepped on him.  :)

 We ended out Sunday with a snow ball fight. Daddy got the shovel to have more power.  Doesn't seem quite fair....  :)

 I was finally able to get to the store on Monday and everything was so bare!  Here is where the eggs should have been!  Wow.  So even getting to the store did not get us everything.

What an adventure!  We are so thankful to the Lord that He sustained us and protected us during this potentially dangerous time.  What a picture of our sin being washed as white as snow!  And what a picture of rebirth and regeneration as we watched the beautiful sun come out and bring back the grass.

Fall

This has been one of the prettiest falls in Fort Worth.  We are so blessed to live by so many trees!  I just had to share some pictures of what is right outside our backdoor.  

 We took the bike trail from a few posts ago again, but this time we went the other way.  There is a beautiful water fall about three miles away.  We stopped for a short walk and a snack.

 Peter is such a little daredevil!  That is him, way up there in the blue shirt.  :)

 You can take a path down to the bottom of the waterfall and walk across on the stepping stones.  Such a pretty little hideout tucked away along the trail.

 I just love our drive down Burton Hill to get to our house.  The trees hang over the street and make a lovely canopy that occasionally lets the sun peak through.

 We walk down to the river on foot a lot too.  The kids love to get out of the wagon and strollers here to run and explore.

 I am such a sucker for sun-through-the-trees pictures!  :)

 A cute little bench along the path.  We have taken a few pictures here.  I think the red tree makes this picture extra special.

 We also went to the duck pond.  Wow!  Talk about changing trees!  All the trees around the pond were a blazing gold!

 I just love this little man and how he looks up with that sweet face to tell me the 100th fact about Skylanders or The Hulk.  :)

 Jane definitely has the "epic gaze" down.  Such a little drama queen already.  I love it.

 Justin was so excited to find this big rock on the play place.  He called it the "Lion King Rock".  Justin LOVES Simba.  He spent quite a bit of his time up there.

 For Thanksgiving we made a Thankful Tree.  The leaves all have something written on it that the kids are thankful for ( in their own words!) and the turkeys are a cute little Pinterest craft I found using math facts.  We had such a blessed time crafting together.

One more beautiful picture of the trees...this time from the Botanic Gardens.  Wow, such a pretty time to live in Texas and celebrate our Lord's artwork!