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. :)