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Here is what our
house looks like this
Christmas. It is hard
to capture it; I'm not
so good at night
photography. But our
house looks cheerful
and I love our nativty
scene.
house looks like this
Christmas. It is hard
to capture it; I'm not
so good at night
photography. But our
house looks cheerful
and I love our nativty
scene.
Art was able to fix the kids'
swingset so now all four swings
are up and running. I caught some
shots of them swinging together
this week on a mild day.
swingset so now all four swings
are up and running. I caught some
shots of them swinging together
this week on a mild day.
My birthday was great. A couple days before our neighbors invited us over
for pizza and the kids got some new games that they love, and they gave
me some gift cards for the movies, so Art and I went and saw Bolt on my
birthday. It was cute, and it was really good to get out. I had been sick the
day before my birthday with some sort of stomach bug, and was hoping
that no one else would get it (still am). I woke up on my birthday to the
phone ringing and our neighbor's birthday song. Every birthday he calls
and sings a different birthday song for each of us and we love it. The kids
listened to this one over and over again and laughed louder every time.
Art made my birthday cake. He began on Saturday, and was very
mysterious about it all. He doesn't cook much, so I was really curious. All
the big kids helped him create his masterpiece - a huge Scrabble board!
I love playing Scrabble online with my good friend Carol, and whoever
else will play with me.
for pizza and the kids got some new games that they love, and they gave
me some gift cards for the movies, so Art and I went and saw Bolt on my
birthday. It was cute, and it was really good to get out. I had been sick the
day before my birthday with some sort of stomach bug, and was hoping
that no one else would get it (still am). I woke up on my birthday to the
phone ringing and our neighbor's birthday song. Every birthday he calls
and sings a different birthday song for each of us and we love it. The kids
listened to this one over and over again and laughed louder every time.
Art made my birthday cake. He began on Saturday, and was very
mysterious about it all. He doesn't cook much, so I was really curious. All
the big kids helped him create his masterpiece - a huge Scrabble board!
I love playing Scrabble online with my good friend Carol, and whoever
else will play with me.
Hannah made me a masterpiece for my gift.
It is a three dimensional paper sculpture of a
giraffe. It is absolutely beautiful.
It is a three dimensional paper sculpture of a
giraffe. It is absolutely beautiful.
12-23-08 Update:
It is hard to begin to try to put in words my thoughts this Christmas. We are so very thankful for so many things. Although
it has been a hard year for us, we have learned so much, and our family and friends have showered us with love
throughout this holiday season. In "It's a Wonderful Life" the angel asks if George Bailey is sick, and the answer is,
"Worse; he's discouraged." I have often thought of that line, because sometimes discouragement is the greatest
opponent of all. But like in "It's a Wonderful Life" I have been humbled and astonished at how many have reached out to
tell us that we are not alone after all, and that they do care.
And even though it has been a fearful time for me as I try to figure out how to make all the ends somehow meet, and
wonder about the future, at the same time I am so ashamed as I look around and see there are so many who are
struggling so much more with huge mountains in their lives right now, circumstances I can't even begin to imagine or
understand. We have so much to be thankful for. And as for the mountains, I think of the Hillsong song: "Savior, He can
move the mountains, Our God is mighty to save.."
Although there are many things we don't know, what the new year will bring, who will be with us, where we will be next
Christmas, we hold fast to those things that we do know for sure: that our God can move the mountains, and that He is
mighty to save. With hearts overflowing this Christmas, we bow with humble gratitude and love for the One who gave all
He had, to come to us, 2,000 years ago.
Merry Christmas to all who are reading this. At a time when so many speak of "surviving" the holidays, may we all
together celebrate the birth of Christ, and may God invade our hearts this season with peace and joy and overwhelming
thankfulness.
It is hard to begin to try to put in words my thoughts this Christmas. We are so very thankful for so many things. Although
it has been a hard year for us, we have learned so much, and our family and friends have showered us with love
throughout this holiday season. In "It's a Wonderful Life" the angel asks if George Bailey is sick, and the answer is,
"Worse; he's discouraged." I have often thought of that line, because sometimes discouragement is the greatest
opponent of all. But like in "It's a Wonderful Life" I have been humbled and astonished at how many have reached out to
tell us that we are not alone after all, and that they do care.
And even though it has been a fearful time for me as I try to figure out how to make all the ends somehow meet, and
wonder about the future, at the same time I am so ashamed as I look around and see there are so many who are
struggling so much more with huge mountains in their lives right now, circumstances I can't even begin to imagine or
understand. We have so much to be thankful for. And as for the mountains, I think of the Hillsong song: "Savior, He can
move the mountains, Our God is mighty to save.."
Although there are many things we don't know, what the new year will bring, who will be with us, where we will be next
Christmas, we hold fast to those things that we do know for sure: that our God can move the mountains, and that He is
mighty to save. With hearts overflowing this Christmas, we bow with humble gratitude and love for the One who gave all
He had, to come to us, 2,000 years ago.
Merry Christmas to all who are reading this. At a time when so many speak of "surviving" the holidays, may we all
together celebrate the birth of Christ, and may God invade our hearts this season with peace and joy and overwhelming
thankfulness.
my
handsome
boy...
handsome
boy...
| Little baby in a manger, I love you. Lying there to earth a stranger, I love you Shepherds heard the angels singing, "I love you." Wisemen saw the star and whispered, "I love you!" |
12-17-08 Update
See the cuteness of my little singers! Isaac hasn't learned the song yet, and didn't want to sing, but the other three have been
singling lots of Christmas songs, and I love it. I don't know where the song above came from, but my Mom taught it to us when
we were young, and we would sing it in Sunday School, but I don't know where it came from before that. It is one of my favorites.
Isaac had his surgery last week. The first few days were a little rough, but he is doing mighty fine now.
Yesterday we took Silas down to Charlotte to see a new surgeon about his scoliosis. Did we like this doctor? Oh my yes! We
had prayed for direction to the right doctor for Si, and I do believe that this is the one. We were very comfortable with him right
from the start. Everyone there was really on the ball and very nice. He had a great demeanor and was very gentle and nice to Si.
And he explained things so well and really seemed to know his stuff. It's a long drive, but I think it will certainly be worth it. As for
Silas's back, there is no urgency to do anything right now, and we will continue to monitor his back every four months to make
sure nothing is deteriorating too quickly. Since his curve is stable, and has been for a couple years now, and his lung capacity is
good, and none of his other organs or joints are compromised, there is no reason to rush into anything. When the surgeon feels
the time is right, we will assess the best course of action at that time, and he discussed several options. As it turns out, he was
quite familiar with all the options we had been told, including the Shilla procedure that we were told could only be done by the
surgeon in Little Rock. If we had had the funds, we would have already been to Little Rock to see about this, so it is a blessing
that we did not! This surgeon here said he could do the Shilla procedure right here if he thought it was the best course of action!
But in fact, he said that the first few patients tested well, but subsequent patients of this procedure have not tested well at all! Oh
my! We are very thankful that we did not proceed with this after all, and that we have finally found someone we like who knows
what he is doing!
There's a lot of Christmas going on around the Baker house. We visited a free live nativity this week, and the kids enjoyed that. I
will try to update every few days what is going on around here!
See the cuteness of my little singers! Isaac hasn't learned the song yet, and didn't want to sing, but the other three have been
singling lots of Christmas songs, and I love it. I don't know where the song above came from, but my Mom taught it to us when
we were young, and we would sing it in Sunday School, but I don't know where it came from before that. It is one of my favorites.
Isaac had his surgery last week. The first few days were a little rough, but he is doing mighty fine now.
Yesterday we took Silas down to Charlotte to see a new surgeon about his scoliosis. Did we like this doctor? Oh my yes! We
had prayed for direction to the right doctor for Si, and I do believe that this is the one. We were very comfortable with him right
from the start. Everyone there was really on the ball and very nice. He had a great demeanor and was very gentle and nice to Si.
And he explained things so well and really seemed to know his stuff. It's a long drive, but I think it will certainly be worth it. As for
Silas's back, there is no urgency to do anything right now, and we will continue to monitor his back every four months to make
sure nothing is deteriorating too quickly. Since his curve is stable, and has been for a couple years now, and his lung capacity is
good, and none of his other organs or joints are compromised, there is no reason to rush into anything. When the surgeon feels
the time is right, we will assess the best course of action at that time, and he discussed several options. As it turns out, he was
quite familiar with all the options we had been told, including the Shilla procedure that we were told could only be done by the
surgeon in Little Rock. If we had had the funds, we would have already been to Little Rock to see about this, so it is a blessing
that we did not! This surgeon here said he could do the Shilla procedure right here if he thought it was the best course of action!
But in fact, he said that the first few patients tested well, but subsequent patients of this procedure have not tested well at all! Oh
my! We are very thankful that we did not proceed with this after all, and that we have finally found someone we like who knows
what he is doing!
There's a lot of Christmas going on around the Baker house. We visited a free live nativity this week, and the kids enjoyed that. I
will try to update every few days what is going on around here!
