Merry Christmas...in February??

Here I am playing in all the WONDERFUL paper!! well, I guess I am paused for a moment while Stella checks to see if I have any teeth yet...hmmm NOPE.



Here are my cousins Naomi and Elena thoroughly enjoying the late-night gift mania!




Here is everyone who came to the 3rd annual "Bowling Extravaganza" It was lots of fun. The smiles are very large in this picture because daddy had turned the camera timer on and then ran to get into the picture. ...while running he decided to jump over a full size chair and wound up tripping and flying(yes flying) flat on his face much to the suprise amusement of everyone in the pic...somehow he still scrambled to make it into the photo though. Most of us are still laughing at his "athletic display."

You're still my hero Daddy!

First Christmas Present

My eyes lit up as I began unwrapping my very first christmas present EVER!!! I loved the paper the best. But once I saw the toy inside I thought it was pretty cool to play with too.

I sat right next to Mama Robin and played with my new stacker! Some of the pieces made lots of noise, that was the best!

Favorite Time of Day

Everyday when daddy come's home we play

games. This one is my favorite! I go from just

haning out with mommy to flying in the sky! it
makes me laugh and giggle so much! Check out
my video below.

SMILES! SMILES! SMILES!

Here are some pictures of Annalise as of late. She is smiling lots!

9 weeks

8.5 weeks

8 weeks

7 weeks

what does Cadence mean?

...sigh, finally a chance to write this up. over the course of the last month Brad and I began to feel a pressing on our hearts from the Lord that it was maybe time to have me quit working for the chiropractic office. Yes i was working from home and everything seemed to be working out well, but each week at staff meetings I was sensing more and more a need to leave. hmmm...the Lord definately works in a timely manner, at the same time we were sensing the need to leave I had an offer from a midwife to work as her office manager. This is a very part-time position 2x a week and I can bring Annalise with me! She desperately needed someone to do paperwork, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and insurance collecting. Perfect job for me! I have 2 years of experience with this at a very high-volume level having worked at the chiropractic office. Anyway, so this past Monday I resigned from the chiropractic office as an employee, patient, and friend. Sounds pretty all-inclusive you say? yes, it was. It had to be. The Lord is showing us through various conversations, reflections and prayer that there is a dark battle raging in that office and it was time for us to get out. I have a strong sense that He is choosing to protect my family from something. ... and He has very clearly provided all we need in my new job: family atmosphere, a profession I can work for and believe in, god-fearing people to work around and under. We are grateful!! There is so much more that could be written, but I am keeping this short so you all can get the jist and ask questions in person if you like.
--answer to the title: perfect timing--
Mackenzie

Road Trip

Ok, mom probably wants to blog about this, but here is the basic idea. We took a little road trip this last weekend. It was crazy busy. I played golf with my dad, grandpa, and an old friend. The four of us have played several rounds together in the past. It was fun to see them again and smack little white balls around a field. We also got to have a baby shower with the Williamson family so they could all meet Annalise. It was fun to see everyone. We were blessed beyond what we thought possible. We were given the stroller and tub-side-kneeler that we registered for, along with a set of crib sheets and changing table cover. That means that we don't need anything major for the baby. What an incredible blessing to go ten months from "How can we afford all this?" to "We have everthing we need and some things we want." God has truly blessed us beyond what we deserve. (Pause to drink tea)

We also took a little detour to KC to see Uncle Eric, Aunt Resa, and cousins Elana and Kai. That was fun too. We came back Monday afternoon to let mama rest up a bit. Enjoy all the pictures.

More on Transitioning

So I had an earlier post stating...

"I have a lot more transitioning to do, but is life just one big transition
into the presence of God? Ya, more thoughts on that later."

So now is later (ya, that grammar makes sense). Anyhow, as rare as it is for me to sit and ponder anything for an extended period of time, I have thought a lot about worship lately. I feel like God has asked me to really dig in and study worship. I know, it's not to broad of a topic really, but still, I wasn't sure where to start. You'll notice the links under our profile picture. There are a couple of links to sites that are dedicated to the study of worship. In particular, the "Worship Matters" site is really good. So all of that ties together to bring me to this point. As I've pondered all the things that we a people experience, or can experience in our lifetime, it occurs to me that everything, good and bad, does have a purpose. Due to a little thing we call providence, God uses all things to shape our hearts to respond to Him in Worship. You see, whether or not we realize it, we will all worship one day. You know, the "every knee will bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" verse somewhere in Revelation, I think? My point is that with all of things I've gone through recently, I've noticed a forced change in my heart. I am being trained to think and live less for myself and more for others. It goes against the very nature of my flesh, but it's a necessary process if I'm ever to appropriately respond to the presence of God. Could you imagine for a minute being in heaven in the presence of an almighty God and saying something like "C'mon God, tune it down a little. The brightness of you presence is hurting my eyes. I can't even see anything else in heaven." How selfish would that be?

So what if we look at life not with the perspective of one week, but with eternity goggles. I say goggles, because we don't naturally see with a perspective of eternity. You have to put on a modifier to your vision, if you will, so that you can see differently. It's just a good word picture, yo. But through those goggles, we start to see some of these "life transitions" a little differently. It really has nothing to do with how hard the new transition makes our life, but instead how we respond to it. It really reveals your character (or lack of it). Our response to life changes are a window into our inner hearts. So maybe (here's where I come full circle) "life is just one big transition into the presence of God." Pretty neat idea huh? That must mean it didn't come from me.

Let me know what you think, or if you want to expand on the idea. If you are more interested in discussing some thoughts on worship in general, let me know. I might have something for you. Talk to you again soon.

B-rad