Josh's New Glasses

Josh has officially joined the "nearsighted club" with his Nana, Mom, Aunt and cousin. Initially he was worried about having glasses because that means he's not "normal" anymore (according to him), but now he seems to be excited about it. Today will be a test as he wears them to school for the first time. I hope that he sees a big difference in how things look at school!
On a sidenote. You'll notice Josh is reading. This is the kid that really struggled last year with learning how to read and didn't understand why he needed or wanted to know how to read. He has a book open almost all the time now! Thanks to a great school and patience.

Let Me Live

I heard this song when I was a young child and it made a great impact on me. Some others may also remember it. I couldn't find any way to download it onto my blog, so you'll just have to jump over to this site. Just a warning: grab some kleenex first.

Slow Fade

I recently watched this video and thought it very moving. The Lord placed it on my heart to share. Make sure you pause my playlist before playing.

The ladies I work with

I thought you might all enjoy taking a peek at the great gals I work with. We have a meeting once/month and for our December meeting did some special Christmas things and also took a picture. We are missing two from the picture, my supervisor Sue (who was taking it) and my good friend Lori. Most of these women I have worked with for the 10+ years that I've been at the County.


Carol, Robin, Me, Cindy, Linda, Helen and Phyllis

Kuiper Family Christmas

Abby with Elaina and Evelyn just waiting...


Von and Randy with the "thankfulness" candle. We each pass around this candle and tell what we are thankful for from the previous year.



Kara and Joel



Grant





Traci, Andy and their girls opening their gifts


Look at all those gifts!



Dad and Mom Kuiper


Mike and Karen

Mitchell Family Christmas

Ever since I can remember we have gotten together with my mom's side of the family to celebrate Christmas. It's really hard to believe that Grandma Mitchell has been gone from this earth now for 12 years and Grandpa for 8. Even though they are not physically with us anymore, there are many reminders of them. The biggest one is the fact that we would not all be here without them!

This year we all met up at a Nature Center that my Aunt Ginny is a member of. It was really fun and it's always good to be with family.








Mikayla, Abby, Will and Josh with my dad watching a tortoise go for a carrot.



Luke, Angie and Cheryl also were enjoying some of the reptiles! That's my cousin Jeff and his son Nicholas in the back of the room.


Daring Josh...



No Mitchell Christmas party would be complete without at least one napper!

Sleepover

Not only is it Christmas time, but it is my sister Angie's birthday (yesterday). So, part of her birthday present this year was watching Will and Mikayla for the weekend. The kids just had a blast. We went sledding and went to Chuckie Cheese to play and Pizza Hut for supper. Good times.


Josh's fort at his school - the kids have been working on these forts for the past couple of months


Mikayla making a sledding track at Josh's school


Abby having some winter fun!


Josh won 200 tickets playing a game at Chuckie Cheese - we were all quite proud of him!




Abby loved having her older cousin Mikayla over for the weekend!


Will and Josh reading books before bed