Tree Day

My sister has eagerly anticipated the Advent Season and "Tree Day" this year. I must admit that her excitement has rubbed off on me too. Tree Day is not a day that is on our calendars but it's a day we count the number of sleeps until it's here. We get bundled up, go to the nearest tree lot, and choose the tree to fit our home. Then it doesn't mater how young or old you are but the time it takes to let the tree defrost and open up seems to take a LONG time.

In our home, Marco always fits the tree in the stand and does the lights so they are just right. Then we decorate the tree together with old, new, and treasured ornaments. This year, Ellie sat next to us gazing at the lights as we decorated. It's like our second-first Christmas!

Sunshine

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy, when skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

Twenty One

Today Ellie is 3 weeks old. As I was thinking back on the last 21 days, I started making a list about some of the things I love about her.

1. the way she fits on my chest

2. how she loves to snuggle

3. the way she rests her hands underneath her chin to let me know she's asleep

4. the way she sighs with contentment when her tummy is full and her bum is clean :)

5. her dark brown eyes and the way she looks up at me when I'm holding her in my arms

6. her ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes

7. her dark brown hair

8. the way she smells after a bath

9. the way she buries herself in the fuzzy, warm bath towel because she doesn't like being naked :)

10. how calm and peaceful she is

11. the indescribeable joy she brings to our family

12. the way she turns when she hears her Daddy's voice

13. whispering how much I love her

14. her yawn

15. her beauty

16. her many faces, especially when she scrunches up her little nose and eyebrows

17. the humming and little noises I hear as I walk by her cradle

18. she is our "El", "love", "pumpkin", "sunshine"...

19. that she is an answer to our prayers and she came at just the right time

20. that when I look at her I am reminded of our awesome Creator

21. "I will give thanks to You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14

Ellie Renae

Our Ellie ("light") Renae ("reborn") is 10 days old today.  She came into the world on October 27th at 4:03 am and weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz.  The last week and a bit we have been resting at home and enjoying the love that has been showered on us by grandparents, brothers, sisters, a great-grandmother, and friends. We are truly blessed! We have also been doing a lot of cuddling, especially in Daddy's safe and strong arms. The last two days our little family has gone for a drive into Red Deer.  The time together has been so special!

From Cookies to A Bun In the Oven

It's been a long time since my last post and a lot has changed for us! Thank you to all you faithful readers who have kept on checking for the last 9 months. Marco and I are eagerly anticipating the birth day of our baby and it could be any day now. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures that my talented sister Erika took on Thanksgiving Monday. I'm so glad I said "Yes" to being in front of the camera because we had such a wonderful time together and the pictures are beautiful!

Quote of the week

Here is a story that made me smile this week:

One boy in my class brought cookies that looked just like this on Thursday. He really wanted to share them with his friends for Valentine's Day. After passing them out, one boy took a bite and said, "These are the best cookies I've had in years!"

Isn't it great to be 7!

Philippians 1:9-11

May your love increase to affect every action you take...

Listen to the "Abound" sermon by Rob Bell at Mars Hill to learn more. Let me know what you think.

To Grandma's House We Go...

Here are a few pictures of our trip to visit my Grandma in Coronation at the end of December.

It was a beautiful drive. The horror-frost on the trees was breath-taking.

The trip was relaxing. We took our time getting there and enjoyed drinking a travel mug of coffee, listening to Stuart McLean on CBC, and stopping to take pictures. Thanks for going with us Erika and Arden :).

Christmas In Our New Home

It was such a blessing this year to spend Christmas in our new home although we did miss being with our family. I am already looking forward to next year when we will be a little closer to each other.

In front of our fireplace Christmas Eve

We enjoyed many cups of coffee and a "sit down" breakfast together over the holidays instead of a quick bowl of cereal before dashing off to work :).

We made turkey dinner on Christmas Day. So good..