starting a new year

we were so glad we got to welcome in the new year with the haneys and other good friends at jason and liz's on new year's eve.

me and vivi

matt is watching in awe as liz is "bringin' it" to jason in wii tennis like it ain't ever been brung! (jason, this is our blog and that's our story and we're sticking to it! :))

matt's parents came up to watch the very sad ohio state game with us. here are some pictures of simulated and short-lived excitement during the game!

touchdown! we did score a few of those!

on new year's day we took stelly to chuck e cheese for the first time. that is worthy of a post all it's own so stay tuned!

christmas in ohio

it is so nice being able to see both our families when we go home for a visit. we had a wonderful christmas celebrating with them. stelly had been working on memorizing luke 2:8-14 since october and she was able to say it for the christmas services we attended with them. amazingly enough, i think she understood some of the humility of Jesus' birth b/c she felt really bad that He didn't have a crib for a bed. that thought seemed to sink in because it was something she could relate to (not b/c she didn't have a crib, but b/c a crib was pretty central in her life for 2 years!).

even though christmas is put away at our house, everyday we continue to celebrate Jesus and His power to save His people from their sins!

stelly loving spending time with ammy
appy's birthday is on christmas day so he gets double the presents!
when she got to mimi and gampa's she headed straight for the santa hat
proud buckeyes (even in spite of our loss on monday night)
mom owen always makes the most delicious food, so christmas dinner is even a step up from that (yes, it's really that good!).

christmas baking and our own little celebration

maybe we should've gotten her her an apron for Christmas! can you tell i'm a laid back mom?

stelly's such a good little helper in the kitchen (not indicated by the previous picture!). one thing she did to help w/ christmas baking was unwrap several dozen hershey's kisses for peanut butter blossoms.
in this picture she's wearing or holding almost every gift she got from us!every time i read this book to her i tell her that of course she would tell mommy what had gone on that day while i was out! (our children will not lead secret lives, right, charisse?!?!)
what a shocking surprise! matt got me a past present future ring! i was so excited to get such a beautful and thoughtful present!

i got matt these starter clubs since he's learning to golf. his hood is up so you won't "fear the fro." trust me, it's not nearly as cool as ben wallace's, although i love waking up to it every morning!