Our Christmas Tree

A few weeks ago we went on a little family adventure to cut down our Christmas Tree!  The farm we decided to go to had trees for just $15!  We had a great time going around searching for our tree.  What was great about this farm is that you could drive everywhere to find the tree you wanted, even in through the fields!   It was pretty neat to be able to drive up to the tree you wanted or at least close to it and since it was pretty cold the day we went, it was nice to be able to keep Joel warm in the car.  Here are a few pictures of our tree, before we trimmed it.  

Joel looking pretty cool in the cold!

Uncle Mitch moves to Nashville!

About a week ago Mitch (Chelsie's brother) moved to Nashville, TN for a new job!  The new job was exciting...but the moving away not so much.  My family had a dinner with Mitch to say our good wishes.  I know little-Joel-man is going to miss him.  We had a fun time that night and we are going to miss Uncle Mitch.  Here are a couple of pics we have from that evening.

Mitch, my dad and Joel

My dad, Bella, Mitch and Joel

Joel eating the BIG spoon!

Bridge, Mitch, Me and Joel

Bridge and Randall Got Mitch a stuffed cat that looks like Signal (my parents crazed, emotional cat) to take with him when he goes to Nashville.  Joel loved it and thought it was a real kitty I think!  He is crazy about animals!

Grammie (mom), Mariah and Bridge

Joel wearing Uncle Mitch's hat.  He was just about to whip it off, but we were able to get a picture first!

Uncle Mitch with Joel

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving Todd and I went to two houses!  First we went to my families in Annapolis and then we went to VA to spend the night with Todd's family.  I didn't have the camera with me when we went to VA (Todd had it with him when we went to a basketball game with his brothers and dad)  We had a great time both places.  My cousin Andrea has a 2 year old daughter, Sophia.  Joel loved watching her and she was so cute giving Joel balloons and hugs!  Here are some picture of our outings!

Visit with Great Grandma Davidson and other pics

We were able to take Joel to see his great grandma Davidson a few days ago.  He was happy to see her and Grandma wanted to give him kisses!  Here are some pictures.

Here are some random pictures of Joel and Bella! 

Alive!

Last weekend we took our middle school group from church to Alive (a middle school youth conference) the kids had a great time and so did we!  Alive was located at Ocean City and we stayed in an ocean front hotel suite!  It was freezing outside, with the chilly breeze coming off of the ocean too.  We braved the cold and took Joel onto the board walk all bundled up.

Here is Todd and Joel in our room  

Joel on the edge of the bed....

Here is Joel all bundled up in his stroller with the weather cover on!  I think he was toasty warm, except for his cheeks!  :-)

The fam on the board walk!

Joel and Daddy!

Here is Joel with some of the girls!  He was the most popular boy on the trip!

Wow the video worked!!  Joel really wanted to go swimming with the boys!

IJM

IJM stands for the International Justice Mission founded and run by Gary Haugen.  Basically what they do is try to free those in the world who are being treated with injustice.  It is an amazing mission and God has used them in so many ways.  I am reading a book called "Good News About Injustice" by Gary Haugen and I wanted to share with you a powerful part in the book.  If you have time I highly recommend you to read this book.  It is not an easy read at all, but one that needs to be read.  

"The great miracle and mystery of God is that he calls me and you to be a part of what He is doing in history.  He could, of course, with no help from us proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ with lifeless stones, feed the entire world with five loaves and two fish, heal the sick with the hem of his garment and release all the oppressed with his angels.  Instead God has chosen us--his missionaries, agricultural engineers, doctors, lawyers, lawmakers, diplomats, and all those who support, encourage and pray for them--to be his hands in doing those things in the world that are important to him. 

When Christ ascended into heaven, he left behind only two things for the fulfillment of his aspirations for the world: his Spirit and his followers.  With the Holy Spirit we have been commissioned to demonstrate Christ's love for all the world: to disciple the nations, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to heal the broken and even to rescue the oppressed.  When we sing that all children are "precious in his sight," we must not forget that he, of whom we sing, has declared himself to be the God of justice.  Scripture describes the one who follows God: 'He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.  He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.  He will rescue them from the oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.'" (Psalms 72:12-14).

There is not much more that I can say, we need to get off of our lazy American bums and see how God can use us.  Forget about all the excuses you can make, we can have excuses for everything, everyday of the week.  Have courage and embark on what ever the adventure God is calling you to and be amazed, excited, filled with more life then you can imagine.  Our life here is not to work and save for retirement and be "safe and comfy" our lives are for being God's hands and feet, being his kingdom here on Earth.  How well are we doing that?  How much are we investing in our lives here, which are fleeting, so that we can have a comfortable life, a 'good life'?  But should that, a 'good' life, really be our aspiration?  Shouldn't we be completing God's aspirations?  Shouldn't we be storing up treasures in heaven?  Shouldn't we...  

Swing!!

A few days ago we took Joel to the park near our house.  We thought they had a baby swing there, but they did not and we were sad because we really wanted Joel to be able to swing by himself!  So we decided to swing with him and then we held him as he sat on the swing himself.  It seemed to work for the most part and he had a lot of fun.  Here are some pictures of us on the swing.

After the swing we went to the bouncy chicken.  It was a little too big for him but I think he liked it anyway!

Halloween Fun

Our church does not do a substitution on the night of Halloween, they have something called the trunk-or-treat on the Sunday before.  So on Halloween we decided to dress Joel up and show him off to a few neighbors; there is nothing cuter then a baby who is dressed up as some animal!  Thanks to Aunt Bev's good eyes at her consignment sales, we were able to have a cute alligator costume that fit him perfect!  Here is Joel as an alligator and Todd and I as a mommy and a daddy!  I don't think Joel knew that his outfit was any different then his regular clothes!

As some of you know Chipotle gives out free burritos if you dress up as a burrito on Halloween.  I was trying to surprise Todd by taking him to the Chipotle with some aluminum foil and then getting our free burritos!  Well much to our dismay there were time limits on when you could go to get one free.  At the one we went to it was from 6-8 and we got there at 5:20ish.  I guess it has become more popular in the last few years.  So we decided we would go to Trader Joe's since it was close by and then go back for our free burrito.  Well when we came back, around 6ish there was a gigantic line that stretched outside the restaurant, down the sidewalk, past a few shops that were next to the Chipotle! Crazy, so needless to say we decided that it would be best to not wait in that HUGE line with a 7 month old baby!  Oh well, maybe next year!  :-D

Sugar Loaf

On one of our beautiful fall days we took a trip to sugar loaf for Joel's first 'real' hike....in a backpack carrier!  We were given the carrier by some friends whose kids are older now and they didn't need it anymore.  It was great fun and I think Joel liked being up high and on Daddy's back.  He would scream and make all kinds of noises telling us how much fun he was having!  If I can figure out how to load it I will post a video of it!

While we were going home we stopped at a little side-of-the-road gord stand.  They had all types of pumpkins and squash.  We got one little pumpkin, that we are going to maybe make something out of!  Here are some pictures of Joel with the pumpkins! 

the pick of the crop

A few weeks ago, well I guess it was more like a month, right at the end of picking season we went to an orchard!  We picked the last crop of blackberries and the first crop of apples.  I also ate an apple right off the tree, it was delicious!  Our blackberries were pretty great too even though it was hard finding some good ones. 

Here we are with our blackberry picks

I don't have a picture of it, but we made homemade blackberry jam and apple pie.  They were sooo good.  We have some jam stored in our freezer for later.

I still had a gift card from one of our baby showers back in feb!  I know so bad of me, but if it is any excuse we don't live close to the store the gift card was for so it required some planning on my part to get there!  So I decided that Joel needed a toy!  He has been sitting up by himself really well and he like to bounce.  So I thought the perfect toy would be a doorway bouncer...I think that is what they are called.  He seems to like it and he is getting better at bouncing in it too!

Cute Bear Baby

In the mornings I try to go running...hopefully at least 3 times a week!  Since it has started to get colder I haven't gone because I was afraid it would be too cold for Joel in the jogging stroller.  This week I decided to venture out and bundle Joel all nice in warm in his camo bear outfit!  He looked too cute, I had to share!!!  Here he is: 

Redskins Little Man

On sunday Joel was decked out in his Redskins gear to watch the game!!  He had a fun time watching the game with Daddy and Mommy...but had to go to bed before the game ended!  We were excitign for another Skins Victory!!  Gooooo Redskins!