Jenna. Dec 16. Colby's Christmas party.

Today Colby's Kindergarten had a party. His teacher gave each of them a small milk carton or a butter box and some icing and graham crackers; it was instant "gingerbread house" - worthy. The girls got to help a little but mostly they wanted to eat all the decorations.

Then, his class had a book swap, which to Kindergarteners means you pick a number and then take the book with the coordinating number on it. I was impressed that all the kids did so well - they were so focused in getting those houses decorated!

Jenna. Dec 11. Tree!

This year is the first year we have been able to set up our artificial tree, put on the lights, and decorate it with ornaments all in one afternoon. Why? We had help! The kids loved to help with all parts of the Christmas tree making. I loved watching them.

[Kevin had the hard job of lifting the kids up to put the ornaments on.]

I love our tree. Kevin's parents gave us this tree when we got married, and they used it for some years prior. So, I really have no idea how old it is, but I'd consider it an antique. It's so pretty.

Jenna. Dec 10. thefirstchristmas.org

We made the trip to Houston's First Baptist Church tonight to see their annual Christmas celebration program. This year Alicia and Katrina were in the choir, and Alicia pulled double duty by playing percussion in the orchestra too.

Here's a pic from Kevin's iPhone. I was completely amazed at the show, and if you ever get the chance to go, or MAKE the chance to go, take it!

Jenna. Dec 9. Kennedy singing.

Today the CBS kids sang songs for the Moms. I was holding Carlee and taking this picture of Kennedy with my iPhone. Kennedy did great and sang very well. If I ever learn how to put videos on the blog, I'll show you one.

Jenna. Dec 3. Christmas countdown calendar.

We took down the Thanks calendar and put up the Christmas calendar. There's an object that goes into the pockets each day. I have a file with the story that we read every night and add just a little bit each day.. but i can't find it? I do have a paper copy, but it's not even exactly what I'd like to say.. so, do you have any help for me with the text for the story of Christmas? I could probably write something from Luke 2, but if it was already out there I'd love to find it.

Jenna. Nov 29. Bible reading.

still more on the blog. :)

Jenna. Nov 27. Last day - Magic Kingdom.

Are you tired of Disney World yet?

Jenna. Nov 9. Pretty Plates.

This morning was our monthly leadership lunch fellowship at CBS. I thought these were pretty, even though they were paper.

Jenna. Oct 31. Trunk-or-Treat.

I love our church's option for obtaining Halloween candy. We went to the Trunk-or-Treat celebration, which ended well before dark, and our kids were able to participate in a wide variety of activities without being overwhelmed with crowds.

I'm so thankful for all the people who volunteer their equipment and talents for my children's entertainment.

Jenna. Oct 28. Joseph's Coat.

Our CBS lesson this week was about Jacob's favoritism toward his son Joseph. We also could have shown some favoritism to the kids in our class today - there were only 4 present out of 12! So, Kelsey and I got to do Every activity we imagined, including tracing a 3 year-old child and drawing a multi-color coat on him.

Here's Kennedy's contribution to the coat.

Jenna. Oct 22. Water Concert.

I blogged about this concert and effort last year. Here's the link to Blood:Water mission, which tells a better story than I could try. I love this mission effort in so many ways, but I'll let you read about them.

Tonight's concert featured Derek Webb and Shane & Shane. Here's a pic of Derek Webb.

I was too busy laughing at Shane & Shane to get a pic of them this year. They were hilarious.

Jenna. Oct 7. Star.

On Thursday mornings I get to teach the 3 year-olds in Community Bible Study. [Kennedy is in my class, and Kelsey is my co-teacher but I put her in charge of crafts since that's not my forte.] One of my goals this year was to do something different each week to teach the lesson.

Today's lesson was about how God told Abraham that he would have as many children as there are stars in the sky. So, I used masking tape to make this star on the floor. We sat inside the star, we walked the lines of the star, we sang "Twinkle, twinkle, little star".... It was a fun day at Bible study.

Jenna. Sep 29. John 14:1-3.

"Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. [New Living Translation]

My grandfather believed what Jesus said in these verses and I believe with all my heart that he is walking with Jesus right now. John was his favorite book in the Bible, and our preacher did a fantastic job of preaching about Jesus losing his great friend Lazarus. Today we laid my grandfather's earthly body to rest in the ground, but we know that on Sunday night he woke up in Heaven with a new mind and a new body, neither one troubled with Alzheimer's.

Jenna. Sep 28. Obit.

My grandfather passed away Sunday night. This is his picture, and I'm linking to his obituary, which will only be visible til October 28th.

Jenna. Sep 26. Driving Miss Carlee.

Look who accompanied me to church this morning! Isn't she beautiful?

Jenna. Sep 4. Handbell Reunion.

Today we recognized Jackie Sue Stephenson [my mom] as being the handbell director at our church for the past 25 years. 36 of us who were under her direction came to ring together. We welcomed Cynthia Dobrinski as the guest director this weekend. Ms. Dobrinski is incredibly accomplished and quite the celebrity in the handbell world. Handbell ringers seem to flock to her compositions and in our church handbell group we've tended to prefer her pieces over many other composers.

So, here's the group in warmup.


And here's Ms. Dobrinski, in the flesh. She's standing next to a bell ringer, in the wooden capacity.

Jenna. Jul 23. Carlee Praying.

Jenna. Jul 7. Rainbows.

Anyone else find the symbolism in the rainbows on today, 7/7?

I took these while driving and dodging rain.

Jenna. Jun 30. Time to lay down.

Kevin and the girls were tickling each other on the couch. So much fun.

In other news, I'm doing much better from my liver biopsy. I'm still a bit sore and can't pick up Carlee yet. My gastroenterologist says I have Autoimmune Hepatitis from the Solodyn/minocycline, which means that my immune system is attacking my liver. He put me on 2 different types of steroids - Prednisone and Azathioprine - and he is checking my liver levels every month to make sure they continue to come down. The steroids have side effects of their own, including increased appetite, restlessness, and foot swelling, among others I'm sure I'll experience later.

Please continue to pray for us. Every day is different and I'm still kind of "out of it". I am just now starting to have fun with the kids this summer, because I feel much better than I have in the past month. My prayer is that I won't have to take the medications for years as my doctor thinks, but that I'd only need them for a few months instead - but whatever happens, we will trust in God's timing and provisions.

I'll write more later, and if you want the long story of what all has happened, let me know and I'll email it to you.

I just noticed what I named this post... really, it is time to "lay it all down".