Family Sledding

December Update

Looks like we're due for a post-Christmas update. We finally got some snow mid-December here in Flagstaff. We always have winter here, but it's much different than Minnesota. We never know week to week if it's going to be cold and snowy or warm and sunny. It's kind of nice... keeps the winter less depressing. We had a week of 20's and snow, then the next week it was sunny with temps of 50-60 degrees. We still had lots of snow left for Christmas though, which was nice.

Sara turned 36 on the 18th. I took off work that day and cleaned the house and did some laundry, then we got to go out to eat that evening while someone from the church watched our kids. It was nice just having uninterrupted conversation for a few hours. We ate at Wildflower and ended up staying there for about 3 1/2 hours. Simple, but a nice time.

Christmas weekend was a busy one for me as I led three services over Saturday and Sunday then another three Christmas Eve services on Monday. I was pretty beat by the end of the night. We gave the kids instructions that night at bedtime not to come out of their rooms until 7am the next morning. They were up earlier than that but they obeyed our instructions and waited 'til 7 before coming to wake us up. We took our time with the present opening and just enjoyed a laid back family Christmas. Later that evening we went to a friends' house for dinner and games and had a great time. It's difficult to be so far away from extended family this time of year, but it's much more manageable when we have such great church family to spend the holidays with.

As usual I'm excited for the new year. I'll be spending good chunks of time this week to plan, prepare, and set goals for the new year. 2012 was a pretty good year, but I have a feeling 2013 will be even better! :-) I hope you all had a merry Christmas, and I wish you all the best in the new year!

Zac turns 36!

The kids got really excited to surprise their dad for his birthday. Aubri made a crown (a manly one if course) for him. We all blew up balloons , wrote Happy Birthday on them and then hung them from the clothesline in the backyard. Can you see what he got to do? He also had to jump 36 jumps on the trampoline. We also scored some great coupons for Olive Garden so the whole family got to go out to eat. Of course we made his favorite... banana cream pie. The kids have this funny song they sing that goes with the pie called Banana Cream Pie Man. We are so blessed to have him as the head of our family.

We love you and look forward to many more sweet years with you!