Dan came home from work a little early on December 23. Soon after he got home, we packed the van and headed north to Hodges, SC to spend the weekend with Dan's family at his sister Miriam's house. We got up there around midnight eastern time. After unpacking and then visiting a little we were ready to hit the beds! It is about a 7 hour drive from our house to theirs.

Thursday morning (Christmas Eve day) we had a lovely breakfast with Tim and Miriam and also with Esther and her new friend, Peter. :) Late morning Dan's parents showed up and we spent the rest of the day just enjoying each others company.

The kids and Miriam outside playing with Ginger.

The guys got in a little (or a lot *smile*) of PS football.

Danny loved it and the first night, since he was sleeping on the sofa in the living room, he stayed up quite late playing it!
Christmas Eve night, Tim's went to a late service at their church. Dan's parents went to Tim's parents house to sleep, so just our family stayed at the house.

Christmas morning we all enjoyed some coffee to get us going. :)


We were invited to Tim's sister, Joyce's house for a BIG breakfast. Her husband, Jose, cooked us a yummy breakfast of eggs, sausage, pancakes, bacon, rolls and more.

Jose is standing(under the light) and his wife, Joyce is sitting to his right. The girl in the white is their daughter, Katie and her boyfriend, Brent is to her left. The guy the whole way to the right with the gray shirt is their son, Brandon. The man in the red shirt is Tim's dad, Bob. The other guy in the red plaid is Billy, the mentally handicapped guy that Dan's parents keep.

Visiting after breakfast....

Brandon loves kids and Danny always enjoys spending time with him! They were playing Wii together. The kids stayed there all morning and Jose and Joyce brought them along to the dinner at Tim's parents house.

The Montalvo's dog, Tsukey :)

Tim & Miriam~ the parent's-to-be come May!! :)

So late afternoon, we headed over to Tim's dad and step-mom's house for dinner. They went all out!! We were well fed Christmas day!!

Pictured from left and clockwise- Dan, his Dad, Jose', Ruth (Tim's step-mom) and then two friends of Bob & Ruth (don't remember names!)

Miriam and a cheesy Tamara~

Danny with his gift from Bob & Ruth (I didn't expect them to give us all gifts!! :O)

Opening gifts~


Bob, Mom and I played a game of Scrabble. Mom won!
After we got back to Tim's, we did the family gift exchange. The kids got some nice gifts from their aunts and uncles....lots of new games for our family to play!! :)

We took one gift along for the kids....
Danny was excited to get another BibleMan DVD, a Jimmie Johnson hat, some books and a sweatshirt.....

Tamara was excited that we got her the Webkinz pink cockatoo she really wanted...we found them on sale for $5 at Hallmark!! :O

She also loved her Breyer "horspital" set! :)


Just chitchatting late into the night!! :)

Saturday we did some cleaning up....the house can get so messy with lots of people there! :)

For lunch, Miriam made a birthday cake for Esther (12-30) and Tamara (1-02). Then they gave some birthday gifts, too. Tamara got a cute drawstring purse filled with "goodies" from Esther, that she got in Mexico.

Esther gave her a box of Bendaroos. They are fun!!

Esther with her b-day gift from Miriam! :D

Tim's had previous plans to see some friends Saturday night and Esther was headed home, as well as Dan's parents, so we got in touch with our friends, Jeremy & Carolyn Weaver and stopped in for a couple hours to visit with them! It was so good to catch up on their lives and be encouraged by them! :)

When we got home, we ate some sandwiches and then pulled out the new game, Bunco, that Sam & Katrina gave us. (Sam's were in IN with Katrina's family) It was lots of fun!!

~Ginger~

A little more PS football before bed..... :)

After Tim's got back, we sat up late visiting, knowing we would be heading out early the next morning!

It was great spending time with Dan's family~ Thanks to Tim and Mim for making it possible for us to do that!!

A Big Happy Birthday to our sweet daughter/our "baby"!

Yesterday was Tamara's 9th birthday. I seriously remember her being a baby, like it was just yesterday!! It's getting scary how fast time is flying. But I am so thankful that my children are healthy and growing. This stage is a fun one....independent but not TOO independent! :) Know what I mean?

I was scheduled to be induced with this pregnancy, because they were afraid I was going to have another BIG baby like Danny (10 lb). When the Dr. asked me which day the following week I would like to be induced, I chose Monday. I figured we'd get it over the first day of the week. Well, he denied us that privilege.....because it was New Years Day!! :) So, on January 2, 2001, we went in to the hospital around 6 AM and till they got me hooked up to PIT it was nearly 9 AM. Tamara was born around 2 that afternoon. She was only 7 lb. 12 oz. Not nearly so big as Danny! Whew!! :)

Tamara's hospital picture

3 months old

6 months old

1 year old

2 years

3 years

4 years

5 years

6 years

7 years

8 years

Happy 9th Birthday Tamara!!

Last evening the children from church put on a play, "The Visit of Jesus"-the story of Conrad the Cobbler. A big thanks to Carol Yoder for arranging the play, and to Ruth Drawbond and her kids for all their help! This was the first time since we moved down here that they did anything like this and the kids absolutely loved it!!

Conrad the Cobbler (Jake Weaver)

Helping the little boy (Jay Yoder) who had no shoes....

The poor old lady (Carmen Miller) with a load of sticks on her back.

After the story, the did the birth of Jesus as well.

Here come Mary (Maria Weaver) and Joseph (Luke Weaver) on the donkey (Ben Yoder).

Mary & Joseph arrived at an Inn to find a place for Mary to have her baby....the Innkeeper (Danny) didn't seem to promising...but then he led them to the stable out back~

:)

The shepherds and their sheep came up front (it was too dark, I couldn't get a good pic, plus they all had their backs to me) The angel (Tamara) appeared to them to tell them a baby had been born....

Then more angels joined her :) (Ayla Yoder, Robin Redmond, Tamara and Carmen Miller)

Mary & Joseph with baby Jesus

One of the cute little sheep (Ian Miller)!! :D

Stephen Redmond and Ian Miller

The whole cast....reciting Luke 2
(I think one sheep is hiding in the back...as well as the donkey :) and I don't see Angel Robin!!)

Thanks again to Carol for taking the time to work with the children, design the props and put on this play! You ALL did a great job!! :)


We also had the privilege of hearing Mike N Jo Martin share about Haiti. They are home for a few weeks.
That was all followed by a yummy Christmas snack time and fellowship! :)

We are getting ready to head to SC for a few days this week to spend Christmas with Dan's family. Looking forward to it! Hope you all have a blessed Christmas week!! Remember to celebrate the One who is the Reason for this season!! Happy Birthday Jesus!! :) :) :) We love you!



~Merry Christmas All~

From the time our children were babies, I took them to have their pictures done at Sears every year. I loved their SmileSaver plan and most of the time was very pleased with the outcome. I also sank alot of money into the pictures too!! :) When we moved to FL, there was no Sears close by so I took them to Walmart. The pics were hit and miss, so the last 3 years I took them myself. Sure is a whole lot cheaper! :)

Well, since Danny just had a birthday and Tamara will in a little over 2 weeks, I decided it was soon time to be thinking about their yearly pics. This morning I woke up and noticed that the weather was supposed to be cloudy with rain only showing up late in the day. (Perfect picture taking weather) So I woke the children up and told them to get dressed for pictures!! ;) Actually, I didn't quite do it that quickly! :) But we had some other errands to run, too, so we got ready and were out of the house soon after 9.

We made one stop, took a number of pictures and then were done. I knew I had got some that I was pleased with and so I laid aside the temptation to stop other places, got our business done in town and went back home. :) Good me! :) (I think the kids were very happy as well!! ;))

So here are a few of the pictures we got..... which do you like best??

#1.

#2.
#3.
#4.
#5.
#6.
Tamara
#1.
#2.
#3.
#4.
#5.
#6.

I thought it should be easy to pick one, but then I edited some, so I had to decide which I liked best of each pose....sepia, black n white, glow, low saturation, etc. Why do I have to make it so hard?? :P

I got the kitchen all cleaned up after we got home, and then after lunch we started baking cookies. We made Peanut Butter Blossoms, shaped sugar cookies and choc. mint chip. Tomorrow we will make another 3-4 kinds! :) (Yesterday I made those little ones with the peanut butter cups in the middle...forget the name). I did take some pics, but just realized I didn't put them on the computer, so maybe after tomorrow I can post some of all the baking~

While I was baking today, I had Christmas music playing. One CD I pulled out was the Gospel Express "He is Lord" Christmas CD. It is a '95 album and boy did it bring back memories. For a little bit I found myself back in my parents home on Greenville Rd....in Mom's big kitchen....baking cookies at Christmas time. Wow, a wave of homesickness came over me!! :( But I am thankful for all the things that shaped my life and got me ready for where I am today!! I think I could say that one song on that CD is probably my most favorite "non-traditional" Christmas song. I tried to find the song online, but no luck, so I am going to type out the lyrics for you! Enjoy and be blessed!!

~~Salvations Story~~


God searched earth and heaven, for one to stand the test,
One without blemish, One on whom all sin would rest.
Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, and God knew it must be Him,
So begins Salvation's story in the town of Bethlehem.

And the angels were rejoicing on that day when Christ was born,
They hovered all around him, that early Christmas morn.
Mary layed Him in a manger, in a stable so serene,
And the angels closely watched the newborn King.

Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man,
He healed the sick and He raised the dead as He preached throughout the land.
But the priests and the Pharisees vowed that Jesus they would kill,
And bruised and battered, He carried a cross up Calvary's Hill.

And the angels were crying for they did not understand,
Why Jesus had to die there on the cross as other men.
They wanted to come and take Him home, but Jesus did not ask them to....
So He died there on the cross for me and you.

Don't despair and be not afraid, for this story is not through,
He conquered the grave, defeated death, and claimed the keys to hell too.
He arose triumphant, the Son of God and King of Kings
And He's coming back to take us home and there His praises EVER SING!!!!

And the angels were rejoicing on that day when Christ arose,
For now they understood just why Jesus was chose!
No one else could do what he has done, to give His life so willingly,
Oh What LOVE my Saviour has for you and me!!