Leaving on a jet plane...

I have been told by more than a few that I don't blog regularly enough.  Sad to say, I wish I could do it more as well.  The house we've been renting from the seminary doesn't have internet access in the building per-say.  We could go out on the front porch and try to leech off one of the neighbors, but the high a few days ago was zero... that hasn't been happening for me lately.  Also, we've been dashing across the country doing last minute legal matters and saying goodbye to people.  We traveled to Pennsylvania to see the our former homegroup leaders (man the kids have grown!) and then to New York City (it was so close anyways) to surprise some friends for a few hours, then headed to Illinois.  We made it just in time for a brutal ice storm too!  (Yeah for being so lucky!!!)  We said goodbye to our own homegroup as well as our small group and church family there in Bourbonnais.  We haven't sold the house yet, but there is much interest, so hopefully, that will change.  Then, it was back to Missouri to pick up my parents and brother Daniel and off to Hutchinson, Kansas for Christmas with my sister and her family.  The babies had a great time... doubt we will have too many more Christmas mornings with the cousins together like that.  Anyways, Emme and I fly out Thursday morning to meet up with Todd in Orlando, Florida.  He had to drive since we couldn't fit the few things we still own in the car with Emme's carseat and me, besides, we were done with the car and the prospect of another 20 or so hours... let's just say we gladly accepted the flight plans instead.  This will probably be the last posting from here in the States for a while.  We have prayer cards, so if you want one, leave a comment or email me and I'll get that sent off to you.  We're excited that the day has finally arrived to be done traveling and living with other people's belonging out of our suitcases, but we're sad to say so many goodbyes.  Leaving you with some Christmas cheer to take you on into your New Year.  Have a good one everybody!

Baking... and other 'girlie' things

There are certain rights of passage.  Every boy should have at least one trip to the emergency room, have a broken bone, or need stitches at some point in their life.  Every girl should have some encounter with a pretty dress (either wanting or wearing one)... My daughter has gone through one of those rights of passage.  The missionary interns were getting together for dinner and I was in charge of dessert.  I decided to make my brownies with cookie dough topping (it's egg free so no worries!).  So, I bought all the ingredients, hiked up the street to a neighbor's house to borrow beaters (you can't whip butter and sugar together with a fork... which is literally all we had) and got to work.  It was a ton of fun, although Em seemed more excited about the chocolate chips than anything else.  We didn't have room in the kitchen so we made our mess in the dining room.  Daddy was THRILLED when he came home!!!  Yeah for Mommy-Daughter time!