Memories of Old and New

I love traditions. I do wonder sometimes if my love of tradition comes from my not liking change though. Christmas is filled with many traditions for many families. Over the years we have had to make some changes with our traditions to better fit our family size and what was happening in our lives at that time. One tradition we have let pass is a live Christmas tree, though we have many great memories of hunting for the perfect tree over time it has worked better to pull the one we have out of the attic. Actually now we put up two trees so we can enjoy all the ornaments we have accumulated through the years. As our children move out of our home our tree will be pretty bare as many of the ornaments belong to them. That is a tradition we have kept; each year each of the kids receive an ornament that has (hopefully) something to do with the past year and shared memories.

For fun we got into our old pictures and though some of my children will groan at these pictures it has been a lot of fun to look back over where the Lord has brought us. So I hope you all enjoy these pictures, if for no other reason than the changing hairstyles.

Our first Christmas as parents in our first house.

We remained the three of us for the next Christmas in our second house.



Joel was just a couple of weeks old here as Allison celebrated being a big sister.

Our third home and still my favorite, though it came with a lot of hard work.

Jeremiah joined us for 11 months and we watched him grow and develop.

(I've misplaced some pictures) Our family added Natalie.

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Ken and I are getting older and not always as willing to be in the picture.

Daniel joined our family the next year.

This isn't exactly a Christmas picture but we did have a great time at

Brookfield Zoo in the winter.

(Not sure if they still have them but in the winter there were free days.)

I threw this one in because I just love the look on Natalie's face!

Daniel was a snowman in his school program.

One of the wonderful blessings received when we moved into our current home was wonderful neighbors - several of them. One family in particular has joined us on Christmas Eve for several years. Our children took it upon themselves to act out the story of Christ's birth. Some years were more serious than others but they were always a delight and wonderful memories.

Molly and Brandon became a part of our family the next year,

things were really hopping now!

Here is a picture at Grandma's house with my sister Jennifer sneaking into the picture.

Another year of the Christmas story. More 'characters' contributed this time.

Another year patiently waiting at the top of the stairs. Though we don't
"do Santa" we do make the kids wait until everyone is ready to go downstairs.

Nathan was still at Eagle's Nest the next year so we felt that part of us was missing this particular Christmas. He would be home the coming June.
Family minus one.

Celebrating last year with Ken's mom.

We enjoyed a quick photoshoot in the park this past Sunday as it was snowing.

There were cold people but lots of smiles. Another memory made.

Merry Christmas 2009!


For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

Outside the Box

I struggle with wanting to save the neat things that the kids have worked so hard on and not having enough storage space to save each and every little thing they make. I have a good-sized plastic tub for each of the kids. In those tubs we save things that represent milestones in their lives. For instance swimming lesson report cards, ticket stubs to a special concert or event, programs from the latest piano recital, or a special card they received.

It is fun to look back at things they have made and done. I hope that when they have their own kids they will enjoy sharing these momentos with them. In the mean time there are certain things that you can't store in a box. So here are a few I thought I would share..

Molly's turkey could probably fit in her box but he'd be smashed after a while.

Of course Brandon's spelling words written on the white board wouldn't fit in his box.

Joel's Great Wall of China definitely didn't fit in his box and would have been a shame to not be remembered as it took Joel quite a while to get it just right.

An Eygptian pyramid didn't fit in Natalie's box.

Could have put this picture in a box but it looks better on Joel's wall.

Joel won Third Place in a local photography contest with this picture from his trip to

South Africa.

It wouldn't be a good idea to put the meal Daniel made for his Food Consumer Science class in a box. But we did enjoy eating it.

So while it is good to have the boxes to store those special things in not everything fits in the box. That's where the camera comes in handy, because while these projects don't fit in the box, the pictures could!

(On a totally different level: I have some thoughts swimming in my head lately to blog about but I need to find the time to sit down and put them all down.)