"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6

the week before

This past week has been busy, but fun...getting ready for Christmas! This is our first ever Christmas that we will spend in our home, on our own, without any family with us. We were sad that Shaun's parents weren't able to come out, and we are heading out to see my family on the 27th.


On Monday night I decorated a gingerbread house with the kids. I bought one of those already-assembled ones, including pre-made icing and all the candy needed. So it was actually quite simple to do. And I tried to just relax and let the kids do their thing...not worry about it looking so perfect. It turned out good, since the kids had fun. The next morning Landon cried because he wanted to eat it for breakfast. :)


Tuesday was our 8th anniversary! Shaun got me a gift certificate to a spa for a massage, which I will take advantage of after the holidays, and a new book that I can't wait to read, called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Our friend, Terri, offered to watch all three kids for us, so we took her up on the offer. We headed out to dinner at The Mahogany Grille where we had an AMAZINGLY delish dinner. Then we headed over to The Office, where we had dessert and after dinner drinks. It was a great time...and not only that, when we got home we received a call from our server (who we know from church) that our dinner was being reimbursed to our card because it had already been paid for by a friend from our church! Unbelievable - so free babysitting AND a free dinner. What a great, unexpected gift!

On Wednesday night we went out a delivered plates of Christmas cookies that I have been working on to our friends here. It was fun to drop by each house and personally deliver a small gift.

Last night we had our friend, Ellen, over for dinner. She is leaving to Italy in the new year to spend a year there writing her first novel! After she left we were up until 1am (like the latest we've been up in a LONG time) wrapping Christmas gifts!

This afternoon we are heading to a Christmas Eve service at another church, since our church doesn't have a C-mas Eve service due to meeting in a theater. When we come home we'll have dinner, open stockings, and maybe watch a movie. Tomorrow's Christmas morning...can't wait.

8 years!

seven days and counting...

Someone in our house is excited for Christmas - can you tell?

koen j - 3 months old!

Hi everyone, I'm Koen Jeffrey and I am now THREE months old!

I am now weighing in at 11 lbs 5 ounces...which means I am in the 11th percentile for my age. I have dropped from the 20th percentile, but my doctor isn't too concerned at this point because he realized my big sister and brother were small like me when they were this age. And they have turned out good so far!

The doctor did ask my Mom to cut dairy from her diet for the next 7 days. He thinks my green poops are a sign that my "gut" is bothering me, and the first thing for my Mom to try cutting is dairy.

I LOVE to smile. And I'm pretty cute too, huh?

I will pretty much smile at anyone who pays attention to me, which of course makes them smile too! My mom says I am the friendliest baby she's had yet! :) My favorite people to smile at are the girls in my family, because I think they are so beautiful.


I also love to giggle. I am quite ticklish, so anytime my clothes are changed I can't help but smile or giggle because it's just so tickly!


I have also recently found my hands. They are so delicious. I am a much happier baby now that I can put something in my mouth instead of relying on my Mom all the time! She seems quite pleased with this, although she is trying not to worry about all the germs I might contract when I get a bit older...

I am still sleeping through the night. Mom usually feeds me at 9:30 or 10pm, and then I sleep straight through until at least 7am. Some days it's 8am, and some days Mom needs to wake me up because she needs to feed me.

I think I am just the luckiest boy in the world. I have a Mommy & Daddy who love each other and love me and my brother and sister so much. I have friends who already love me. And I have family far away who love me too even though they don't get to see me very often.

I can't wait to grow up and see what's in store for me, but my Mommy wants things to slow down, just a bit...

christmas baking

My love for being in the kitchen has only grown since moving to Colorado. I think it is because I haven't had any sort of part-time job (aside from of being a full-time mommy, of course) so I have had more time to devote to cooking and baking. Honestly, it probably helps too that I am not dieting at the moment, since as soon as that happens the baking will have to subside too in order to avoid temptation! :)

Most of you know my Mom is part of a pretty famous cooking blog called Mennonite Girls Can Cook. This blog has definitely inspired me to be creative and just try things, even if I think I will fail. And, 99% of the time, they don't! Which then of course inspires me to try more!

A plate of my Christmas cookies. I still plan to make Cherry Squares too!

My version of Angel Kisses. Mom, what do you think? My cookies turned out too big and thick to stick them together like you do.

Sugar Cookies, decorated by Nat...

Landon's work of art...

Having fun being creative...

My sugar cookies...Shaun says Debbie Gibson would be proud.

new hope christmas party

Last Thursday night we had our church Christmas party at the Sky Ute Casino. It was a good time of fellowship, eating dinner (that I did not have to make!), and a night out with my husband! We are so thankful for our church. They have become our family here, and we are SO blessed.

Koe-bear was the only little person there :)

Our friends Matt & Kara...

Cody & Kelly...

Brian & Christy, and Andy & Sherie...

Cheri and Sara...

christmas decor

We have already been enjoying these decorations around the house for a couple of weeks. It's so cozy!

A few of my favorite Christmas ornaments...

JOY to the world!

Joy To the World by Nat & Land from Shaun Sawyer on Vimeo.

a story, by natalie ryan

written and illustrated by Natalie Ryan

I wrote her name and date on the back, but SHE had to write her own name. So as you can see she crossed out what I had written and then re-wrote it.

:)

oh dear.

Natalie: Mom, I wonder who I'm going to marry.
Me: Who knows?!
Natalie: But God knows.

(Yeah, let's not worry about that quite yet, okay my FOUR YEAR OLD daughter!?!)

tears

Lately, when crying with tears running down his face, Landon says, "Mommy, I have a runny nose from my eyes."

he sure loves his sister!

(Sorry, this was taken with my computer's camera which is why it is so blurry and moving around so much, and also why everything looks like a mirrored image of my actual house...but you should be able to see the HUGE smile Koen gives Natalie and even some giggles. Too cute!)

december!

Let the Christmas countdown begin!!!

To do list:

• get our Christmas letters/cards in the mail
• buy gifts...and wrap, and mail a parcel to Indonesia
• make Christmas cookies...yum!
• decorate the house and get a tree!
• try not to get too wrapped up in the "doing" of Christmas and remember why we are celebrating...