Daddy daughter dance

today was the 8th annual Daddy-Daughter dance at the cedar rapids country club. The girls had a great time! Picking out the dresses was fun...it was like prom dress shopping! Each girl tried on 4 or 5 dresses. Kaelyn fell in love with the first one she tried on, so she got that. Abby couldn't decide, she liked them all! She finally decided on a pretty yellow one.

Abby's dad brought her down from waterloo and Kaelyn chose to go with John. They got to dance, they had face painting, they got their nails painted, they got to make crowns, have cookies, and meet princesses!

brain noodles

brain noodles were a big hit! The girls were also really excited to get to sunday school so they could take their new bibles!

thanks grandpa and grandma!

chloe's 1st birthday and winter fun

chloe was a lucky girl this year, she got 2 birthdays! John wanted the party on her birthday (jan 2) and i wanted it on the 9th so all the kids could be there. so i planned 2 parties! The first party on the 2nd was at his parent's house. his grandparents and sister got to come as well. and the kids were there since their weekend plans were cx. she wasn't that interested in the presents, but very excited about the cake!

at her second birthday party we went to bishop's buffet in waterloo so brittany could come. we all had a good time, wygles and parkers and melissa and brittany came. no cake this time, but she seemed more into the presents. hard to believe she's a year old already, a little sad, and a little excited to watch her grow.

The girls reading their books before bed in their cute new matching pj's.

the kids building their snowman...Chloe was loving the snow her first time out. she especially loved sledding!

The most wonderful time of the year

this year Christmas was a blessing. With the fear of the winter storm, I thought for sure christmas would not be able to be celebrated at either of the parents' houses this year. God heard my prayers and we didn't see the storm they were predicting. We got to spend our time with family, and it was great! 2 days of family, 6 hours of opening toys and inserting batteries, then we had to leave for a wake.
My grandma passed on Tuesday before christmas. It was hard to lose her, but it also a happy time. 64 years happily married to my grandpa who passed a few years back. since his passing she suffered terribly with alzheimers. We visited her often, as she was staying in the nursing home in manchester ( where john's parents live) It was so hard watching her slip away. she was very ill and suffering the last week. I think her christmas gift was being able to spend Christmas with Grandpa at last. She was a devoted and amazing Christian woman, who is finally home. We will miss her. We all went to dumont to say goodbye. The wake on sunday, we stayed in a motel sunday night. The kids played in the pool, and had a great time. Then on to the funeral monday morning. We hadn't seen that family for a couple years, and it was nice to see them all again.

God sends us blessings in all kinds of ways, it's a great thing when your eyes are open to see them. He blessed us abundantly this year with family, with friends, with our church. he's provided us with everything we could possibly need and then some. Many wishes that your year is filled with many blessings and many precious moments with the people who mean the most to you. Every day is a gift, as well as a challenge. Can you make a difference today no matter how small? We are so blessed and looking forward to the next year! Merry CHRISTmas!

Henry Davis

last month i asked the kids if they would be willing to give up some of their christmas presents to give to kids who needed them. They said YES! I couldn't have been more proud. We donated them to the Henry Davis Foundation. Henry Davis is a man who works to give to others. He keeps only enough to get by. Every year he hosts a free meal, and free toys for those in need. This year we were blessed to be a part of it. The girls and I were in charge of wrapping the gifts to be given to the kids on christmas. People lined up at 4 am, the doors didn't open until 11. Hundreds of people came through the doors, enjoyed a meal, and got to choose one toy for each of their children. Some people got nice new toys, some got used toys, all were grateful.
One little girl stood out to me, and brought out the tears i had been holding in all day.... She was 6. by the time she got through the line, there were no new toys left. She chose a baby doll, with a stain on it's dress and dirt on it's face....She came up to me to get it wrapped and proudly announced in the most excited of voices..."This is for me!!" the tears came, though i tried not to let her see. I wanted so badly to get her name and number and show up at her door with piles of toys to make her christmas magical, but I didn't want to get in trouble. Now i think of her and her 3 sisters every night, their big smiles, their dirty clothes, and the way they took such joy in the simplest of things and i pray that they are always as happy as they were when they recieved their dolls that day. God didn't give them many material things, but he gave them hope, and he gave them joy, and he gave them a spirit that i'm sure will touch many over the years.

I'm even more excited now about spreading God's love, and giving back for all that he has blessed me with. I hope my children will also be given the gift of compassion and a desire to help those in need, because if not to do his work...why are we here?

this and that

Abby and Carter only have one week left of basketball...


Abby is doing really well, at the last game she scored 5 baskets!! Carter is trying! He made one basket last week, which was so awesome. when the ball went in, he threw his arms in the air and said "YES!!" and all the people clapped. he's getting better at dribbling too...










We had a lot of fun decorating the tree...but even more fun making cookies. we made home-made icing this year, that was an adventure! lots of sprinkles, and lots of smiles later we have enough cookies to last us for weeks (though i doubt they'll last that long!)

we have finally finished delivering the rest of fall product for girlscouts....now cookie sales start in january, i'm not excited! being a leader is stressful! sorting 200 nut/candy products was no fun task, i'm dreading the 900 boxes of cookies i'm going to have to sort when the troop is done selling, i have no idea where i'm going to put them all!

The girls got to sing at church yesturday, it was so cute! they sang silent night and joy to the world and a couple others. Kaelyn looked very shy up there, but Abby was all smiles, she's a lot better at being the center of attention!

Exciting news....Carter is potty trained!!!!!! i can't believe how hard that was. he has been accident free for 3 weeks now. he's very excited about being a big boy, and he tells everyone he sees that he now goes "_oop" on the potty! 3 down 1 to go!

Chloe started walking!! She took a few steps by halloween, but as of a few weeks ago, she's pretty much walking everywhere!! i'm excited, but sad. she's my last one, i'd kinda like her to stay a baby forever :(

happy halloween

it was a cold one this year! The kids had a good time anyway...and collected bags of candy! chloe didn't participate, she fell asleep right before we left so she stayed home with grandpa and grandma meyer.