We are still here!

I have been out of the blog world for almost a year! I was checking a friend's blog tonight and noticed that she had a link to my blog, and I realized that I have not posted in a long time. If you are reading this right now, you did not give up on me (or you have blogroll and it automatically sent you an email).

Here are a few pics from this school year. We have been incredibly blessed with the opportunity for our boys to attend Children's Discovery Center at First Baptist Irving. It is a Montessori school with a 33 year track record in Irving. This is its first year to be located at First Irving, and I am so grateful. Both of my boys, preschooler and kindergartener are less than a football field from me all day long. I can sneak a peek of them throughout the day or help in their classroom during my lunch. It has made having a Kindergartener so much easier this year. Not only that, but the boys LOVE going to school. They are sad when it is an "S" day (Saturday or Sunday) because they don't get to go to school. That is a good problem to have!

Gabe got to take his class bear, Ranger bear, home for the weekend. Peter set up the tent in our backyard for them to camp out...it lasted a few hours until a storm rolled in.

















On the weekend that Josh got to bring his class bear, Puffy, home, his school had a Fun Run. Puffy made it to the starting line and then had to take a seat so Josh could run the race. Josh did a great job and finished his mile in 8 min 42 seconds. He came in first for all of the preschool and kindergarteners in his school. We were so proud of his hard work of training and finishing the race!





























































The boys enjoyed a day at the Pumpkin Patch with their CDC friends!































































The boys dressed up for CDC's Fall Festival...my superheroes were actually in the mood to pose!

Glory to God in the Highest

Merry Christmas! We pray that this Christmas is a wonderful time of reflecting on the incredible sacrifice Jesus made for us when He wrapped himself in flesh and took on the form of a man... "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

It has been so nice spending extra time with our family this week. On Thursday afternoon we tackled making cinnamon rolls from scratch. It is quite a long process, but Pioneer Woman's cookbook walked us through it! It was great how much the boys wanted to help. We were baking them for Christmas morning breakfast, but of course we have had a few already!


Tonight after Christmas Eve service at First Baptist Euless, we came home and let the boys open one present...pajamas and slippers. Here they are with their new loot!

Visit with Santa

We took a trip to Grapevine (Christmas Capital of Texas, or so they claim) on Saturday. Peter's mom was in town, so we did a little shopping and enjoyed the decorations on Main Street. We walked in one store and Santa Claus was sitting there! Joshua was very excited to see him...let's just say that Gabe was not so excited. Santa asked Josh what his name is, how old he is, and what he wants for Christmas. My shy son, who does not usually give strangers the time of day, answered all of those questions confidently!

"I am four years old."

"Hmmm. I would like a pogo stick...a sleigh like yours...and a Christmas tree in my room." Santa gave Joshua a sleigh bell on a ribbon, and told him he can hang it on his Christmas tree in his room when he gets it.

And a final picture with Santa. We did not get any pictures with Gabe and Santa...he did not even want to go in the store!

Gabe-isms

It is obviously time for a new post...my how this last year has flown by! I'm not going to try to recap 2010 on the blog, but I did want to post a few things about what the boys have been up to as we are getting ready for Christmas. This post is titled "Gabe-isms" because Gabe seems to have a way with words lately!

Since August, the boys began asking to play with a plush nativity scene and all of the people are finger puppets. They really enjoyed it last Christmas, but it has since been put in a box somewhere in the attic. They have continued asking for it several times a week, in which we respond, after Thanksgiving when we get our decorations down from the attic. The cute part is that Gabe asks for "the activity scene when baby Jesus was boring." Josh is probably the one who taught him "activity scene" but he is now able to say "nativity scene." We are hoping that Gabe learns this year that the nativity was anything but boring!

On Wednesday night we got all of the Christmas boxes down from the attic and Peter & I were so excited for the boys to find the nativity scene. I mean, with all of the anticipation built up since August, they should be ecstatic to finally have it in their hands! Here is a pic of them following Peter up into the attic.

And the moment we've all been waiting for...

See the nativity scene in the top left corner of the box? Yes, that is Joshua reaching for something else in that same box. They did not care at all that they were finally getting to see and play with the nativity scene! (Note: they have since played with it)

2nd Gabe-ism: When talking about the Christmas story last week, we were prodding the boys to tell us the parts of the story that they remember. We asked, "Who were Jesus' parents?" to which Gabe replied "Mary and Jo-fish"...followed by lots of giggles from Joshua and all the adults in the room.

3rd Gabe-ism: We were unwrapping ornaments to put on the tree and Gabe pulled out this ornament...Gabe said, "Dad, can you fix my 'cracker nut' please?"

And a few things about Josh...He has become quite meticulous in some things, like hanging ornaments. He loved it this year! Notice the high concentration of ornaments in that one area.

I walked in the kitchen to find Joshua had neatly organized all of the magnets on the refrigerator by color! Love it!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Gabriel!

Happy birthday, to my sweet, baby boy! We can't believe you are already 2 years old. It seems like yesterday we were checking into the hospital at this time to wait for the c-section. You have always had a fun personality that attracts the stares and laughter of those around you. That has been multiplied in the last several months as you have learned that you can make silly faces or that you can dance a jig in the living room, and people laugh at you. Whatever you do, you are having fun!

Recently you have decided that sleeping in your crib is not so much fun and you prefer to sleep in bed with your big brother. It is very sweet that you love him so much and want to be with him at all hours of the day and night!

You are a smart boy and you love to talk! You repeat as much as you can from what you hear around you. You can count to five, know your colors (most of the time), and are very good at matching games. It is so fun to see each development you make!

You are a joy to our family, and we cannot imagine our family without you! Thank you for being our sweet, cuddly boy!

Love,

Daddy and Mommy

Note from Joe's Parents

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. " 2 Corinthians 4:18

Continue to keep updated on the search for Joe at http://www.findjoehouston.blogspot.com/. Joe's parents are such a shining light in the darkness, as they are clearly putting their trust and hope in the Lord during this incredibly difficult time. On Tuesday, Joe's parents wrote this letter for the blog and I wanted to post it here as well:

Personal letter from Joe's parents, John and Glyndell Houston
Hi, I'm Joe's mom, and I speak for his dad as well. We wanted to share with you that our son, Joe, is not eternally lost, just physically lost. He gave His life to Jesus Christ and is living eternally with Him whether physically still on this earth or not. He is safe, secure, loved and kept by the hand of God Himself. It is our wish that anyone reading this blog or connected with this journey in any way have that same assurance from Christ that when you die you will be absent from your body, but eternally present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8If you cannot say this about your life and you haven't given your heart to Jesus Christ, please call one of us and talk to us. We will be overjoyed to discuss this with you. Contact Amy on this blog and she will help us get in contact with you. Jesus is pursuing His lost child even more than we are pursuing our lost child. Please take time to consider this for yourself. Read 2 Corinthians 4.

Love and prayers,
Glyndell & John Houston

Lt. John Joseph Houston

Today is the 10th day in the search for our friend, Joe Houston, a Navy pilot. He and his co-pilot, Bret Miller, were on a training mission off the coast of Corpus Christi last Wednesday. Bret's body was found last Friday in the water, and a memorial service was held for him yesterday. Pray in faith today, knowing that God can perform a miracle and reveal Joe alive today. There have been many pockets of fresh water and wildlife found on San Jose Island, where they believe he may be. The civilian searchers will be covering the last 7 square miles of island today, and particularly an area where they believe he may be. Follow this link to the search blog, http://www.findjoehouston.blogspot.com/ where you can stay updated with search information and prayer needs.

Please be in prayer for Joey's parents, brother, son, and Jenn Todoroff, Joe's fiance. It has been an incredibly hard week and a half, but the Lord has sustained them. I have been amazed at the grace He has given them, and they are giving Him all the glory. It is a beautiful story of how God gives us grace in our weakness, and strength when we are in the midst of trials.