Wishing you a . . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

At this time of year we like to reflect on our blessings, among which are our family and friends. We have been blessed through the years to be in the midst of amazing people, amazing examples. This year was no exception. We are grateful for the opportunities we have had to stretch ourselves, to be tried, to grow, to improve.

One of our greatest priveleges is to be parents to FIVE special children. As the years progess, we are increasingly humbled, and our respect and admiration for our own parents grows tremendously! We think they are INCREDIBLE! There is nothing more rewarding than being a mother or father. Just in case anyone was wondering, our family is now COMPLETE!! It's a wonderful feeling, and we excitedly anticipate this new chapter, RAISING a family. (although I still have pangs of saddness that the BEARING chapter is closing. --- such a happy stage of life, it's hard to move on!)

We are all well. It has been an adjustment moving to a new place, especially two days before school started. We hit the ground running, and we still havn't quite caught up! Still much to do to feel "moved in". But we like our new area, and are looking forward to putting down some roots. The kids are happy and busy. Quinn is working like crazy!! (as always) He is such a good daddy and husband. Even though we moved to the "city", you can't take the "country" out of the boy(s). Quinn and the boys still explore the outdoors and hunt and fish as much a possible.

And I feel like I should mention that our sweet baby Claire was born, June 27. She is a doll! She has BIG blue eyes and stops traffic every where we go!! She is such a happy girl, and can sure melt hearts with that smile.

We hope that this holilday season is filled with happiness and laughter. And may the new year hold blessings for you and your family.

All our love,

Quinn, Kjirsten, Liam, (Elizabeth), Caleb, Luke, and Claire

. . . @#$%&*/?!

Look what came home from school with Liam this week . . .

. . . YIKES!

This guy was appropriately named, "Harry" and has fascinated the boys in this house for the past few days. (There are cricket carcases littering the cage . . . AWESOME!) The instructions say that the more tarantulas are handled, the calmer they are. So I told Liam, "well, I guess you'd better start handling him." He smiled and said, "yup . . . do you have any gloves?"

p.s. Liam purchased this guy with his own money :)

where do I begin?

It's kind of hard to know what to start writing about . . . considering so much has happened that I want to record (remember -- JOURNAL). But I guess this isn't the place for a detailed history, so I'll just do a quick update:

We moved to Longview (East Texas) five years ago, with Quinn's job. Our family consisted of Quinn, me, Liam (4), and Elizabeth, in spirit. While in Longview we added three more children, Caleb, Luke, and Claire. Longview was a wonderful place to raise a young family -- small town feel, strong sense of community, southern values and manners, extremely nice people, AND pretty (piney woods). We made some great friends there, and we miss them. We moved (job transfer) to a great area, north of Dallas, just a few months ago. It's very different from Longview, but also has great things to offer our children and family. We really like it, and we're excited to finally put down some roots.

So, in the past few months, we had our fifth baby, sold a house, bought a house, moved, started the kids at a new schools (two days after moving), and are gradually getting to know our new area and make new friends. . . . Life is good.

new kid on the blog

I am so excited to FINALLY have a blog . . . for TWO big reasons:

1. To keep a record for my family

2. To keep in touch with family and friends

Now we'll just see this is any better than any of my other attempts at journal keeping.

Here I go!

- To introduce the kiddos:

Liam (10) Luke (3) Caleb (5)

The newcomer . . . Claire (5 months)

. . . Just a picture I found at my Mom's house.

My FIRST baby . . . already grown up. Where does the time go?

(p.s. that is a mouthpiece . . . not black tar :) hee hee