Christmas Play

The kids and I went to a local Christmas play put on at a neighboring church last night. We had a lot of fun sitting on te front row, eating an watching the production. We laughed and were able to reflect on the coming and life of Jesus that we celebrate this time of year. And, mom got to stay back and have some rest time with little Noah!

Sunday Schedules

As we've moved out to the country, we are starting to form new habits and get used to a new schedule. One thing we are getting used to is that a trip into town is not so easy as before. :) So, when we go into town for church service on Sunday, we have been using that time to do some grocery shopping for the week...

A Family Staple For Groceries

Curious George On The TV While Mom Shops

The basic idea so far: the kids and I stay in the truck and watch a movie/nap while mom gets the groceries. Seems to be working so far!

And while we were in town we were able to get our Christmas tree for this year....

Working On Decorating Last Night

It's not the most relaxing way to spend a Sunday, but it's working so far, and it's making some good memories I think.

Of course, Christmas tree decorating at the end of the night is always a great way to make memories!

Home

This is how our trip back home to Kentucky started this morning. We thought we might be in for another long trip home. While it was a long trip (about 12.5 total hours) the weather wasn't nearly as bad as the way up to New York.

For the first few hours things looked like the pic, or at least with wintry slushy conditions, but once we hit Erie and headed south things started to clear.

It's good to be home.

Praise the Lord for a great trip and great Christmas vacation with family. We loved seeing everyone, and even got to see much of our extended family too this time.

We are so blessed!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[This is Caleb's new way to say, "Cheese!"]

Over The River And Through The Woods

Here's another shot from our trip up to Grandma and Grandpa's in NY... what a great crew!

A Follman Christmas

What a wonderful afternoon...

We celebrated Christmas early this year (today) since we will be traveling over the actual holiday. We had a wonderful time of relaxing, food, presents, a movie, Scripture and love. God has truly blessed us so richly.

One of the gifts we gave this year was a handmade bunkbed for my daughter for her American Girl dolls. My wife found the instructions for building it online, and it turned out great! Both my daughter and my wife loved it, which is always a good thing :)

If you are at all interested in building this bunkbed yourself, visit ana-white.com (a great DIY site).

What's Become Tradition...

This truly is a most wonderful time of year. It's filled with wonder, magic, remembrance, family, awe, faith,  and...

...tradition.

One tradition we have unintentionally started begins each year with our church family's Christmas party. After seeing friends from our local body of believers, we will usually (three years running!) head over to a house in town that lights up their house in a fun and unique way.

They have their home and yard covered in lights, which would be pretty spectacular by themselves, but they also have their lights set to a radio station. When a song plays, the lights blink and dance to the beat of the song.

So once again, tonight, the kids all piled in our lap in the front seats of the van, and enjoyed the "light house" show.

Blessings to you and yours, and on all your traditions this Christmas season.

Beautiful God

God is so kind. He is so good to us...

As we have been working through the Thriving Family Advent calendar, put out by Focus on the Family, I have seen some good things happening with my family. What happened tonight was incredible - it was beautiful, real and powerful, and all orchestrated by God.

The Holy Spirit began working on the hearts of my oldest two children about two separate things, one regarding the Lordship of Jesus in their lives (going wherever He tells her to go, and giving her whole heart), the other on their sin.

After tears, confession, and prayer, I put two of the younger ones to bed only to come back out to see the two oldest behind the couch, Bibles opened, highlighting and talking.

They took turns reading the Word, then talked about how they could get up early each morning to pray and read.

After some more meaningful moments, they headed to bed; Mom and Dad with full hearts, thanking God and humbled by what God was doing.

I know He was doing... in spite of me, not because of me.

If anything, I was convicted of my own sin through the night.

I just feel so privileged to be a part of such a special moment in our family. These moments are soo precious, and I am so glad God allowed us in on what He is doing in their lives.

Advent - Day One

At The Chapel today, we began the Advent celebration by sharing about and lighting the Prophecy candle. I've always been in the dark about Advent, not knowing really what it meant, or its Biblical significance. I think I'm finally getting my mind around the worthwhile church tradition.

Thriving Family Magazine sent us an Advent Calendar (see pic) with this months issue, and we are going to go through the schedule they put together for each day leading up to Christmas. We did day one tonight - it was a great start.

I'll update you more as our family walks through this special "Advent" time of year together...

Goodfellas Pizzeria

Now THAT'S a slice of pizza.

We spent some time with my brother-in-law and his wife tonight in Lexington, KY. We did some Christmas shopping (in beautiful 60 degree weather mind you) and then finished the night at their place with some Goodfellas Pizza.

It was delicious!

Not only did it have the familiar diner/NY style pizza, the pizzas were massive!

The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but the slice of pizza shown is on a full size (paper) dinner plate. The size of the slice makes the plate look puny!

So, I'm stuffed and ready for bed...

Back At It

Back at it tomorrow.

It's been a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Time with family, lots of food, good rest, reflection, and time in prayer. I loved it!

We have about 4 weeks - 20 teaching days - until Christmas break.

I am excited to get back at it. God has graciously given me great energy, zeal, love and excitement to get back with the students I teach.

I also have this to bring with me from the message this morning...

Do your absolute best. Be excellent.

In ALL things.

I need your help, Lord.

And, I'm looking forward to it.

48 Hour Christmas

Christmas Day was a great opportunity to see old friends and family. We started the day worshiping God and celebrating the birth of our Savior with our former church family in Albion, NY. It was great to see old friends and familiar faces. We then continued packing for our return trip to Kentucky, then enjoyed festivities at my parents and desert with my wife's extended family. All in all, a great day with family and friends.

If it had been a normal day, we probably would have concluded the day with some more packing to leave in the morning and then some hanging out. However, we decided to give it a shot to drive through the night. So at around 10:45pm Christmas night, we left Albion, NY and headed for KY.

Needless to say, My wife and I are pretty wiped at the moment, as we took turns making the drive. The bed is sounding awfully good except for the semi-nauseous feeling I have from packing down Mountain Dew, Doritos, Reese's and Sour Patch Kids in an attempt to keep myself awake during the late our of the night. I am in definite need of a body purge (no more junk food!). So was it a good idea to drive through the night? Not so sure, but either way, we are back home.

I am hoping to post some more pics from our 10 day adventure here in the near future, so check back soon.

Hope your Christmas Day was filled with peace and joy in Christ, and great memories with those you love (and hopefully more sleep than what we got!)

Good News

It was 2,000 years ago that angels brought good news of a King, a Saviour, being born in Bethlehem. His name was to be Jesus - Emmanuel - God with us.

However you celebrate Christmas tomorrow, I pray you carry the presence of the Lord, Emmanuel, with you in all you do.

Jesus, the reason for the season; the reason for my living.

Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve Eve

Celebrating Christmas a couple days early at grandpa and grandma's house... yahooo!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My wife and I are enjoying some much appreciated R&R to celebrate 10 years of marriage together. We will also be enjoying some time with family for Chrtmas over the next little bit.

I wanted to let my readers know that for the next few days leading up to and through Christmas I'll be sharing some pics and short thoughts from our journeys and time with family with you. Please enjoy, and may God bless you as you celebrate this wonderful time of year with those you love.

By the way, the pic above is a shot of the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, taken Sunday night. Our view is absolutely gorgeous!

Social Networking Christmas

Can a video about social networking and Christmas be inspiring? Yes sir...