Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We stayed home this year which is nice since we don't have to travel but sad at the same time because we miss our families. We had a good time though and got to spend some time with friends in the afternoon. We are blessed to have so many good friends here, to have a roof over our heads, food on our table and Christ's love for us. This crazy season always seems to suck me in until I take the time to step back and realize that none of the craziness matters~Jesus' birth is what really matters and that is enough for us through anything that may happen!

I think Byron gets as excited as Mackenzie!

Good 'ol fake fireplace on the TV. Cracks me up.

Mackenzie was concerned that we weren't finding anything for Byron under the tree. Could it be because of all the stuff for her?? :)

Trying to reach the gifts in the back without getting poked by the tree!

Christmas Eve

I almost forgot to take a couple of pictures on Christmas Eve. This was after we got home from church.

Mackenzie is getting pretty good at taking pictures! Nice face though! The second one was worse so I won't show it!

Kenzie and her daddy

Since then....

Here are a few pictures of what things look like at the cabin now!

Joining dad for lunch

Bedroom #1 now part of bedroom #2

New closet in bedroom

Kitchen

Byron in the shadows

Mackenzie offering her advice

Mackenzie can't get close enough to Byron these days. She doesn't see him as much since he's been working so hard. But we try to get over there, if it's not too cold, to visit and see how things are going. Staying out of the way is the hard part!

Almost forgot!

So I almost forgot to elaborate on what Byron's little "project" was while Mackenzie and I were gone to PA. He got to start working on the cabin that we bought! This is something that Byron has wanted to do for a very long time and now he finally has the chance. So here are some pictures although they may not be in a very good order but I'll try to explain!

Front door facing east


South facing side from the driveway

Living Room

Living room

Living Room facing towards kitchen

Living Room facing two bedrooms

Bedroom #1

Bedroom #2 (door to bathroom)

Kitchen facing to living room

Kitchen facing to back door

Kitchen

Back of house and "main" entrance through the kitchen

North facing side

Trimming the Tree

We got our tree a little late this year but at least we managed to get it up! Mackenzie did the first round of decorating since we were initially missing the box with the lights and a bunch of ornamnents. I think she did a pretty good job!

Dress Up Clothes

Mackenzie got some dress up clothes for her birthday and she loves them! There are days she will have a nap in them, color, in them, jump on the bed in them! It almost come down to bribery when we have to leave the house or go to bed because she never wants to take them off!

Other pictures from PA

Mackenzie loved this scarecrow sitting on Gram and Pap's porch.


Our friend Emma Slingerland. This was our first chance to meet her and she is as sweet as I imagined, unlike her dad!! Just kidding Matt. Love you too!

Mom and Kenzie

Fun with cousin Raidan

Gram and I had a day with Raidan and Mackenzie so we took them to these really neat indoor play castle. It was inside a beautiful old church and entertained the two of them for quite a while. There were a number of different things to do and different areas to play in. It was pretty fun and Gram and I didn't have to do much more than sit back and watch!

They had those fun mirrors like they have at the carnival. Got a good picture of Raidan with his big head. We all laughed a lot!

What a cute picture of Mackenzie and Raidan. The hardest part was getting the two of them to stand still for more then 5 seconds!

Birthday Party #2

Mackenzie and I flew to Pennsylvania on Thanksgiving day to spend some time with Byron's family. Byron had a project to work on at home (which I'll get to in another post) and they got incredibly busy at work, which is a good thing after a slow summer. So he stayed home. We had a great time, including a second birthday party! Mackenzie basically got spoiled with more gifts than she needed but it was so fun. And we managed to get almost everything packed into our suitcases on the way home!

Raidan, Tyler, Mackenzie and Brea

These two became fast friends in a matter of minutes! It was really cute!