Kaden's First pictures.

Kaden has been loving to take pictures with our digital camera...and while we were in North Carolina, he dropped it...To make a long story short, Matt was able to fix it, but...we decided to get him his own camera for Christmas, and it's been a bit hit. Here are 3 pictures he took on Christmas Day that he wanted to put on the blog. This is "Moppy" and Kaycee. Maybe he should have his own blog? We'll see. :)

This is "Moppy" being a good sport and posing for a quick shot.

This is mommy in the kitchen, where obviously there is a lot of "natural" light. :)

the birth of Jesus...

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria). 3And everyone went to his own town to register.

4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told to them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Luke 2: 1-20.

This story has been so much more precious to me since I have birthed children of my own...We hope you were reminded this season how special life is, and how treasured you are. We hope you had a Blessed Christmas this day. May your new year be filled with Joy you cannot quite imagine! We had a relaxing day here at home, where both Matt's and my parents joined us for parts of the day. We are so thankful for each other, the four healthy, and beautiful children we have, and of course friends and family who add more spice to our daily lives! We hope and pray for another year full of love, joy, peace, happiness, good health and prosperity.
Love, Mis.

Just some shots.

One of Matt's cousins got married on the 21st. A beautiful wedding (which I have no pictures of, since Calli was along)...but did manage to get a few shots of us at the table. :) when Calli was sleeping.

Matt's brother Mark, and his girlfriend, Jamie...

And Matt's parents, Aldie and Judy...

Cousins.

We had such a special day today. My sister-in-law Naomi (married to my brother Matt), and her sister Nedra came over for a visit. Matt and Naomi are up from North Carolina, and Ian and Nedra are in from Missouri for the holidays, so it was very much fun hanging out with them catching up. I think the 14 kids between the 3 of us had a blast! What a riot...we ended the afternoon with some rich hot chocolate, that made some great looking mustaches! Looking forward to celebrating Christmas with the rest of our cousins on Monday, the 22nd!

Kaden (5), Ezra (9), Noah (7), and Judah (11)...

Zi0n (5), and Kaycee (3).

Camera chaos...

Kaden (5) poses with his 8 week old sister, Calli. Although he was hoping for a brother, Kaden has come to love his newest sister! Mommy is so thankful for that. :)

Kaycee (will be 4 in just 2 weeks), says her favorite thing to do with Calli is to hold her and burp her. Her other favorite things to do are: singing, and doing "her own hair", which can be a real stretch for mommy to take her out in public sometimes...the things you do to grow independence. :)

Kaden loves taking pictures, so here he is trying out his skills, not TOO bad. My favorite things to do with Calli right now are: too just snuggle and nurse her, and to talk to her...she talks right back and smiles...melts my heart. I continue to favor the newborn stage, when you can do nothing wrong in their eyes, all they need is you, and...they can't talk back yet. :)

One of our favorite things to do is wrestle with daddy. We took a time out to smile...well, except for Campbell that is. She is the one with the sparky, sassy attitude in this family. Not sure yet how we are doing "reigning" that in. :)

Kaden taking another shot.

and yet another...Mommy with Calli at 8 wks old. She is 11 lbs. 11oz. already.

and this was mommy trying to get a good shot Sunday morning before church. Kaycee gets to be a flower girl in Matt's cousin, Emiley's wedding, in April...so, we were trying out hair options...

and Campbell is so hard to get a good picture of...I guess it's a stage... :)

We're Sad.

Well...not only are we sad that daddy flew out early this morning, for Kansas, to hunt... Freddy, our dog, got hit by a car this afternoon in the driveway. Kaden and Kaycee and I got to say good-bye to him with Uncle Mark. Kaycee said, "bye Freddy", and petted his head. Kaden petted his head and cried, and Uncle Mark and I stood by with tears in our eyes too. :( Please pray for me to know the right thing to say, especially since Matt is not here. :( Kaden is very, very sad...He loved Freddy! So, we pray that Jesus would comfort Kaden, and we can remember the fun times we had with Freddy, and will overlook all the holes he dug, and shoes he chewed up, and people he jumped up on, and cars he chased... :) Mis.

Watercolors.

So, today I gave the kids the option of taking a walk, riding bike outside, or painting...thinking they would obviously choose to be outside, which is normally what they choose...well, not today. Bummer. So, we stayed inside and painted with watercolors. Turned out to be a fun time, just a little more messy than I was hoping. Oh well. :) Maybe I won mom of the year today!

You can see some of Kaden's work all around him.

Campbell was very into it...

Check out Campbell's masterpiece...

Kaden concentrating...

To much for Calli to take in, so she just "checked out". :)

A friend asked how a busy mother of four has time to check out blogs, and make updates etc. So, incase you are also wondering, I am finding having 4 young kids is extremely overwhelming at times, but I try to take it all in stride. What fun is life, if I am always cleaning, washing, cooking, etc. So... this is my fun attempt at keeping my sanity. :) and the only way I keep in touch with a lot of my friends right now, is thru e-mail and blogging, as sorry as that sounds. Take care. M.