Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

On thanksgiving night, I decided that it was time to decorate our Christmas tree (I had put it up with the kid's the weekend before, but we got a bit sidetracked and never placed the ornaments on it.). Nathan's mom was gracious enough to borrow me some of her things, which made it all the more fun! I had so much fun decorating the house for Christmas and talking to my family for over two hours. I had to show you all some pictures of the finished product ;). Don't you just love Christmas!

The past two weeks at the Linc have been full of Christmas celebrations! Santa came to visit, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, we decorated Christmas cookies, made christmas ornaments, and today the kids are going to see the local lights. We've had more families give to the children then we could have possibly imagined. One family donated a pair of pants, a top, a pair of pajamas, and a toy to every child. A children's baseball team donated each child two balls. Another organization donated two large tubs full of winter coats, hats, and gloves. Plus, several families have decided to provide the children's mothers with gifts for the children to open on Christmas morning. It has been so awesome to watch as people have freely given to the kids. It is truly one of the greatest gifts to be able to see people pouring out love (a love that I believe comes from Christ) on these children day after day. This semester our volunteers have just blown me and Natalie away. They are amazing servants and I appreciate each person and family who has decided to do their small part in making a difference in the lives of this group of children.

This weekend we are having an "Old School Christmas Party" at our house with some friends. The attire is going to be old school christmas sweaters and our entertainment is going to be a real game (like the old school version where people bring random (cheap) stuff) of dirty santa. Bring on the Christmas spirit! Isn't Christmas such a wonderful time of the year!

Today is my last day of work and the Linc for 2 weeks! Thank you Jesus for my school schedule! I can rememember when I used to work in the Microbiology lab in Texas and I didn't even get Christmas off. Unfortanately, holidays did not cause people to stop being sick and so I would often work straight through the holidays. I try to reflect on those times so that I never take my days off for granted. I already have big plans for my fabulous Christmas break. First, I plan to paint one of my guest bathrooms. My lovely sister-in-law recently gave me some nice choclate brown paint and a cream paint and dark glaze for my cabinets. I am super excited about covering the blue walls that I thought I just had to have only a few short months ago. A big thanks to Nathan for being so understanding of my need to play. Secondly, we plan to take a long trip to the beach for some rest and relaxation!

There is only 1 reason why I would wear a man suit (a.k.a. Tux) ... Love for my Brother

This weekend Nathan and I traveled to Nebraska (with walking pneumonia I might add...another story in and of itself) to be a part of my oldest brothers wedding! He is the last of my siblings to get married. All 4 of us got married in the past 16 months, so we we were super excited to experience the final wedding for the Foreman family! They had a very traditional wedding in the Lutheran church in Syracuse, Nebraska. The ceremony and reception were fabulous! We had a great time hanging out with the whole family! My mom, Nathan, and I even each got a one hour massage from my aunt Deb who owns a spa in Omaha...it was wonderful! The kids were SO much fun. I miss them SO SO much! More pictures to come of us and the lovely kidos.


I am very happy that Mark and Rachelle found one another and I continue to pray for their marriage!

As some of you may have guessed, my brother asked my sister and I to be his "bestwomen". Whil a tux wouldn't be my first pick, it really didn't matter because it was his day and no one really cared what we looked like anyway! Once we got over the whole tie and vest thing, we actually had a great time in them. We laughed most of the day!

"Bestwomen"- yes, people were very confused!
Me and my brothers new baby, Colton.

This is more like us. Odd enough.

Nate was such a big helper all weekend. He is the man!

Rachelle, Mark, and my mom. Her dress was very pretty!My mom and baby Colton (we had to put his PJ's on him at the reception, he got really sleepy.)

Lots of pictures for your viewing pleasure...

On Friday, we received a cd of all of our wedding pictures, so I thought I would share a few more with you all this monday morning! It makes more sense if you look at the pictures from the bottom to the top. It is so fun to look at them all. It was a day filled with so much joy. I hope these memories always stay fresh!

*All included pictures were taken by TeraKaylen Photography at terakaylen.com...check her out! She and her husband Wes are fabulous!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! We spent Thanksgiving in Vernon, AL with Nathan's grandparents and the rest of his family. It was a wonderful thanksgiving and a great break!

This is what makes it all worth it...

Believe it or not (ha ha ha), sometimes I get tired, frustrated, anxious, disappointed, and just plain ol' burn-out. It is moments like these that make every difficult moment fall to the way side. It is times like these when all I can say is thank you Jesus! I thank God for how He lifts me up! I am so grateful for how He makes me fit his plans, even in my weakness.

Seeing Jamie smile as he played a game all by himself (he is always having to share).

I love you letters from Angel and TT.

Happy Thanksgiving card from my father-in-law.

Nathan smiling at me as he tells me he is going to "fix" some things around the house.

This Wednesday, after months of serving the kids at The Linc, two kids that I have always referred to as the "difficult kids" in my mind, won my heart. I can remember the very moment that I looked at them and thought, "Wow, you guys really are just sweet kids". It almost brought me to tears, thinking that I had NEVER seen them in this light prior to Wednesday. Thank God for how He showed me the hearts of those boys. From now on, I will always look at them differently. On Friday, I had a date with Nathan. Oh how we laughed together that night. We had SO much FUN. I am so thankful that we can laugh together! On Saturday, DJ and Jamie stayed the night with us again. They were SO good. Oh how I enjoyed tucking them in and telling them how much we love them. On Sunday, I held TT (a 5 year old girl) tightly in my arms at church. We have spent time with her and the rest of her brothers and sisters (DJ and Jamie are 2 of her brothers) for many months. She is so cute :)! Her family is going through a very rough time and I know it is very hard on her. Oh how I loved holding her tight and singing to her while my husband held my hand and rapped his other arm around sweet DJ. Thank God for placing them in our lives! Thank God for giving me a supportive husband who loves these children! This afternoon, we ate dinner at Nathan's parents house and his dad gave us all Happy Thanksgiving cards. His dad doesn't say much, so when he speaks, I listen. Oh how thankful I was when I read these words, "Nashville was from God". Tonight I talked with my mom for over an hour. She just learned how to send pictures over the internet. It was so much fun seeing pictures of her house and talking with her. It almost made me feel like I was there with her. Oh how thankful I am for the happiness I heard in her voice tonight!

We all have our good days and our bad days. While I think that staying in a state of contentment, thankfulness, and joyfullness is what makes the bad days not seem so bad, it still feels so good to have these simple reminders that make every tough moment completely worth it!

Fun Times with the Kids

Halloween at The Linc!

This past weekend we had the pleasure of having two of the Kids from church and the Linc, DJ and Jamie, stay with us. Friday was Jamie's birthday so we had a party at Chuckee Cheese with 5 of his brothers and sisters (he has a total of 9) and some friends from church. We had a blast! The kids played for hours! Saturday morning I came outside after cleaning up breakfast and found Nathan and the boys having scooter races on Jamie's new scooter (thanks Brent!). Needless to say, they talked me into racing and I lost miserably (as you can see in the third picture). Nate also built a bat out of an empty wrapping paper roll and duck tape and we played ball for almost 2 hours! It was such a fun weekend!

Jamie and DJ are currently living with Thor(one of our friends from church) along with 4 of their other siblings! Please pray for them this week! Thor is a single 30 year old Icelandic man who has never raised children. They are experiencing A LOT of challenges right now, but we know that God will provide for the kids and for Thor! We thank God for placing these kids in our lives. They remind me to be thankful each and every day! I hope you have to chance to meet them one day.

Welcome to Our World, Beautiful Arden Leigh

Nate, Arden, and proud father Geoff.
The happy VanZoeren family!

Arden Leigh! Precious Child of God!

I just couldn't resist showing you pictures of our good friends Geoff and Melinda and their beautiful baby girl, Arden Leigh. She arrived yesterday evening. Isn't she just gorgeous? We went and visited them last night in the hospital. We are SO SO excited and happy for them! They are going to be awesome parents.

What an amazing gift from God. Nate just couldn't get over how amazing babies truly are. He just kept staring at Arden and saying "isn't it crazy how...". Nate was scared to hold her at first (a fear we have discovered that many men have), but he was so excited that he took the chance and held her in his arms. We are so happy to have her (and her awesome parents) in our lives!

Blessings to the VanZoeren and Tucker families!

Our Honeymoon/ Nate turns 29 today!

Nathan and I on our honeymoon in Jamaica! More pictures to come...

Me and Nate doing a sing-along at the piano bar. Good times!

We even met some new friends, Lorna and Darren, from Kansas City (courtesy of Nathan...he is so outgoing)! One day, we all went on an alligator/waterfall excursion, which was a blast! I will have to post some pictures of the excursion next time!

Snorkeling one day! Needless to say Darren, Lorna, and I were not feeling too great on this boat trip. A little too much salt water :).

Lorna convinced us we needed these romantic honeymoon pictures. There are quite a few from this evening, but this is by far my favorite. It was cheesy, but a lot of fun!

I am sitting in my office on a Wednesday morning anticipating Nathan's arrival home this evening (he has been gone on business for a few days) and reminiscing of our wonderful trip to Jamaica! We stayed at an all inclusive resort called the Sandals Whitehouse, which is the newest Sandals resort in Jamaica. Nate and I were there for 7 wonderful days! It was the most relaxing and care-free trip we have ever experienced. We got up early every day (probably because we took at least 2 naps a day), ate a huge breakfast, laid by the beach/pool, took a little mid-morning nap, swam a bit, took the Hobey-cat out, chatted with our new found friends, ate lunch, took a boat ride/snorkeled, played some cheesy games, took another nap during the afternoon rain, got ready for dinner, at a huge dinner, went to the piano bar, drank their delicious Jamaican coffee, listened to live music, checked out the nightly entertainment, and we ended each night with a good nights rest. It was the life!We decided it was SO much different than our home life because in Jamaica all we had to do was think about what WE wanted. We weren't concerned with anyone else's needs or wants. We weren't trying to help anyone or make any plans. While this kind of lifestyle isn't reasonable or desirable for either of us, it is certainly nice to get away for awhile and only care for one another. While we would love to return to Jamaica at least twice a year (ha ha ha), we decided it may be more reasonable to simply take a day out of our week to only care for one another (a privilege we will not have once we have children...my friends remind me of this often). We truly enjoyed every minute of the trip! It was incredible. Oh the memories...

Today is Nathan's 29th birthday! He won't get home until late this evening so we plan to celebrate with friends tomorrow night and family on Saturday. Nathan rarely (okay possibly never) reads this blog, but if by chance he ever does read this...Happy Birthday to the one who makes me complete...my steady husband! Your life on this earth makes mine better and for that I am always thankful! May you (we) be blessed beyond measure in the years to come! Woot Woot!