Christmas 2013!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Our House to Yours!

A Special Day With Jonathan!

Jonathan is home, briefly, from Ft. Rucker, Alabama, and we were able to have a nice dinner with him on Sunday.  He requested Mexican - so has Courtney.  Apparently the South is not known for their authentic Mexican food!

We attempted to take pictures in the parking lot, which didn't make for the most beautiful background.  Also, it was incredibly sunny and we were all squinting from the glare!

Jonathan also came to our evening church service with us before he had to leave.  It was so good to see him again!  He will be getting his orders after Christmas and he is hoping to go to either Germany or Korea!  So it could be quite a while before we see him again.

'Twas the Week Before Christmas.......

We are so enjoying having Courtney home for this Christmas season!  Isn't she beautiful?

Our table is more full once again.......

The little boys are beyond excited that Courtney is home once again.

Isaac, Joshua and I went to the library today while David was at basketball practice, and the librarians let them them pick out a book from under the tree!

David is already enjoying his Christmas vacation.  He still has basketball practice now and again, but he is relaxing while playing Axis and Allies - his favorite "take-over-the-world-game"!!

Christmas cookies are in-process, and we are hoping to take some to the "extended care" patients at the hospital on Monday...........when Rachel is on duty!

It was so good to hear these girls laughing and giggling the other night as they were painting their nails!

Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas week as you remember the birth of Christ!

Daily Life...........At Our House!

Isaac is almost two weeks post-surgery and he is doing wonderfully!  After a few days of pain and swelling, he was pretty much back to his perky little self!  He still has glue across the stitches area and the doctor said that the lip would be "tight" for a bit.  But it's amazing that all the bumpy scar tissue from the original surgery is completely gone!

Isaac is always in motion...........it's a good thing we are homeschooling, because this is how he does most of his work.  Not so sure this would be good classroom posture, even for a kindergartner!

Here's Joshua......always sitting nice and straight, with his legs on the floor!

David was out chopping wood for our wood stove and decided to give Isaac a few lessons!

Speaking of David, we attended the high school's winter orchestra concert last night.  It was quite good and David looked very dashing in his suit and bow tie!  Rachel came to the concert right after she got off work at the hospital.......doesn't she look sweet in her scrubs?

David likes to have fun with the little boys.  Here he is modeling his Cubbies vest - from many years ago.  Isaac and Joshua were in hysterics!

For my parents in Florida..................we are still enjoying the Christmas train that you gave us all those years ago!  Isaac and Joshua are enthralled with it and I hear "All aboard!" throughout the day!

The kittens are doing well and are still very friendly.  Hopefully they will keep the mouse population at a minimum this winter!

Well, excitement is running high at our house, because tomorrow morning Courtney is flying in for Christmas!  Can't wait to see her and have some special family time!!

Isaac's Lip Surgery

For those of you who don't know, Isaac was born with a cleft lip and a cleft palate.  His lip was repaired in China - an "okay" job, according to the surgeon.  He had his palate repaired in 2010 and the doctor did a magnificent job on it.  Yesterday's surgery was more to tidy up the scar tissue on the lip, re-position the nostril, and bring up the right side of his upper lip.

Boy, did he have fun BEFORE surgery!  All sorts of surprises, nurses and doctors being silly with him.  It was a great time and the hospital staff went out of their way to make him comfortable with what was happening.

The surgery lasted about two hours and the surgeon said that everything went really well.  Isaac's lip is very swollen and he has quite a bit of pain, but he is tolerating it pretty well.  He slept through the night last night, which did him......and the rest of us, a world of good.  Fortunately, all the stitches are dissolvable and we go back to see the doctor in two weeks.

I'll post more follow-up pictures as the weeks progress and the healing is more dramatic.  So glad that we have this behind us..........................!!!