Grandmother's Visit:

As an adult I realize that these quick family visits may never stick in L's young brain. But I hope that even the fuzziest memories can be recalled years from now by viewing these precious pictures. Our visits were filled with playfulness, smiles and sweets! We learned new and exciting things: Great-Grandma N. is the proud owner of many talking/singing smiley face dolls, as well as a pretty shiny bead necklace, a bird named Tweety and a fantastic and rather extensive spoon collection. Great-Grandmom has a fascinating bed with remote that makes it go up and down and up and down... you get the picture, and lots of family photos to look at, and a drawer full of fun things to explore (the calculator was the favorite.) Over all, a quick trip up is hard but completely worth it!

Snow!

Sadly we did not get any snow in Columbia! But we went to where the snow was... Asheville! The blanket of snow covered the mountains and even accumulated around 8 inches at my mom's house. Off we went to visit the Grandmothers and play in the snow! On the drive up we read and learned about snow. As we began to see white melting patches on the side of the interstate, having never experienced snow, Levi began and kept asking, "What's that??" The excitement in our voices did not make sense until we exited the vehicle in a land fit for Frosty. Here are the first moments of exploration...

The consensus.. we like the snow! Oh, and it's cold...

First (real) Hair Cut:

We have been tossing around the idea of getting L.'s hair trimmed for a little while now. I posted about the few little chops we took a while ago and how hard it was for me. So, I'm amazed at how well I did with the actual event. I think because it was more spontaneous it was not as emotional as I thought it would be. Plus, he was looking terribly scraggly!

We ran into a quicky cuttery store front after dinner out with my sister last night. So here are the action shots of the first real hair cut! The hairdresser was very good, and L. astonished me with actually letting her do the job! I suspect the promise of a sucker and a balloon made it worth it.

Chanukah:

You might wonder why we would care about and celebrate the holiday of Chanukah as we're not Jewish. SO here's the short version: The God of the Old Testiment never changed through Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. He is still the creator, sustainer and protector of his children (e.g. Adam and Eve, Noah and the Macabees). We celebrate Chanukah because God (Yahweh) performed a miracle there... just like the rest of the OT miracles we learn about and celebrate. The miracle was when the temple was regained by the Jewish people, cleansed of pagan worship (a very vile desecration) and worship resumed there... the place that Yahweh set aside to come meet His people intimately (that's heavy, man.) There was not enough oil to keep the lamps continually burning but by faith they were lit, and they remained lit as the oil did not run out, thus the lighting of the menorah. The festivities of Chanukah may be traditional but the Feast of Dedication IS mentioned in scripture. (John 10:22) We enjoy celebrating Yahweh all through the year because it is our heritage as well.

This is our first Chanukah:

Aunt Connie's Visit:

We had a delightful time hosting Aunt Connie. She was here for a long weekend that was great. We visited the Zoo, ate, visited the zoo again and ate some more! Levi enjoyed playing and reading books and generally entertaining Connie. Here is a smattering of pictures from our time together! (Unfortunately for me, all the good pictures were on Connie's camera! We'll get them soon I hope.)

Baby #2

All is well, #2 is kicking around in there, having a grand ole' time and we're feeling great! I've had mild heartburn, a few leg cramps. but lots of energy as we entered the third trimester! Countdown here we go! (3 months left!!!)

The profile shot at 24 weeks. (I'm about 25 now...)