Luke and Sam

John had today off and so we went to Racine, WI to hear our dear friend Spencer DeBurgh preach. It was awesome and afterward we spent the afternoon together. The boys had time to jam together. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_mSat0qmBU

Christmas with Friends

Lis and Mr. Tobin
Amy and Carly

Lauren P, Bets, and Tanya

Todd, Sam, Spencer, Amy, and Carly

Liam, Tan, and Amy

Snow Forts!

Lis hiding inside her fort

Lauren

Lis, Luke and Lauren

Grandma and Grandpa Dirkse were here!

The kids were gifted a season of The Cosby Show from Grandma and Grandpa. This is a hit already! Thank you!
Grandpa and Emma

Grandma and some of the girls

Gingerbread house making contest

Mid December we had friends over for this annual Dirkse contest. We had 8 teams. Very Fun!

This almost won except that it needed more icing coverage. Note the red swedish fish in the river.

Mellie and Kristin partner up

Scott and Seth

John

Connoissuer:

One who understands the details, technique, or principles of an art and is competent to act as a critical judge 2: one who enjoys with discrimination and has an appreciation for subtleties.

I had no idea how much this word describes my husband. Think coffee, music, paint colors, clothes, page layout, cooking, and the list could go on. Anyone agree?

I love this about him.

The Kim's were here! Part 2

Thanksgiving with the Kim's and the Tobin's and Arianna's folks. The kids were right across the way in the foyer.
Group Pic

The Girls

Noah and Luke

We had an absolute blast with our dear friends the Kim's over Thanksgiving. They came out so Michael could take some continuing Ed courses in the windy city. Smart of them to tack on a vacation at the Dirkses! Amy whipped my home into shape with finishing big jobs that were too overwhelming for me (dusting the curtain rods ha ha ha, washing the curtains, hanging light fixtures, pictures and mirrors, hemming, sewing, buying :) etc ). We had yummy food and great conversations...just like old times. How we miss our sweet friends!

The Kim's were here! Part 1

Naomi and Lauren hi fivin
John and Naomi

Best Friends!

Chocolate at the Hershey store, downtown Chicago

Advent starts tomorrow

Each year for the last 5 years we have celebrated Advent in our family. I have come to love this time in the year as it gives me a month to meditate on the birth of my Savior as well as look expectantly toward His return. We celebrate each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas as well as everyday with the reading of one of the stories above. Jotham's Journey is our favorite but Bartholomew's Passage is pretty good as well. Our kids have grown to love these stories and I have grown to love the built in reminders their daily readings provide. Don't let Christmas 2008 slip by without slowing down to meditate on the Savior. John 1:14

We love Liam!

Liam brushing his teeth.
Trails of Liam...he was no where to be found. :)

Emma feeding him lunch. I think he had a different helper each time he ate.

All done brushing...good job Liam!

Emma giving a famous "Dirkse magic carpet ride" to Liam. He eventually got the hang of it and started loving it!

This last weekend we got to have Liam Tobin at our house for an extended visit. Andy and Arianna are friends of ours from Spokane who are now on staff with us here at Harvest. They took a couple of nights away as a last hurrah before baby #2 arrives this week! Liam, 13 months old and their firstborn, is a favorite around our home. He is a great kid, lots of energy, lots of will, but has been trained very well. He was a joy to have! Here are some pics of his time here.

a quote that made me smile

"You don't know what a mink coat does for a girl's morale".

Uncle Jonathan

Uncle Jona(pronounced Johna...I've called him that forever) came out for a visit earlier this month and we enjoyed him so much! Of course I hadn't changed my oil since our trip this summer and so he did it for me. Luke was at basketball practice during the oil change lesson but 4 curious girls stuck around to learn! :)

Team mowing between Lauren and Jonathan.

Here we are at Lake Michigan....oops his eyes are closed. We toured the north shore and then downtown Chicago.

Good times with my big brother!

He came out to see us as well as Love the Least by abort73 which Harvest Rockford hosted. Thanks to Auntie Jill, J.T., Sarah, Joey, and Jackson for letting us have him for 5 days!

Pumpkins

It was the first year ever that we were able to go to the pumpkin patch in shorts. Even in all our years in the Northwest this never happened! It is unseasonably warm for this time of year. We were in the 70's today.

Potatoes

On many occasions Luke comes home from school and makes his specialty, "tiny tots". They are a version of hashbrowns...two potatoes cut up in tiny pieces, sauteed ever so carefully with just the right seasoning and a little(ha ha ha) ketchup. He makes me smile. :)

Help!

I have tried to upload some video footage a few times lately but am having a very difficult time....any blogspot wisdom out there for me?

The other day I was in the kitchen and turned around to find this...

My creative and resourceful daughters. This is a mix of our dress up and regular clothes.
They decided to take it outside...
and walk around the yard.

I LOVE the life they bring into our home. :)

Cucumbers,pickels, and Emma

Emma's pride and joy.
A proud gardner!
Cucumbers...
plus a few extra ingredients ...
and you get Pickels!
Emma is my little green thumb. She has been playing in the dirt since she was sitting up. One of my favorite pics of Em is where she is about 6 months old and has a fistfull of dirt in her mouth. It's a pre-digital camera pic and I don't have a scanner to show you. Maybe someday. Anyhow, each year she is determined to grow anything and everything. It all depends on how much space we find for her. It's not much but she loves it. This year we grew cucumbers for the first time and we have been delighted with the results.