A Mill Valley Christmas

Well just wanted to say a quick hello and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all our friends and family! We just finished moving everything (still have a bunch of unpacking left, though) into our new apartment and cleaning out the old one for inspection yesterday...whew! We were really blessed to have our friends (and old neighbors) Dave and Kerri help us with this monumental task! Our new place was looking really cute last weekend (freshly painted walls- Joe and a few of friends that helped out did a great job, and our tree is so pretty) when we had some girls from church over for a fun night of making Christmas ornaments... then we had to bring the rest of our junk over! How did we get so much stuff anyway? And our poor son's room has become the storage room...well not for long, though... We need to start getting ready!

We have so much to be thankful for though. I'm enjoying some time off- my company gave us this whole week as paid vacation time- what a blessing!!! We'll be cooking a big dinner and having some friends over on Christmas, then later in the day spending some time with a family from church. It's kind of different being here and away from our families on the holiday, but it has still been very eventful and fun. Last Saturday we went caroling in downtown Mill Valley at the Depot as part of the outreach program that Joe has been coordinating with our church. It was great! Then on Sunday we did a big cookie swap and made cookie plates for everyone to give to their neighbors and invite them to our Christmas Eve service. Looking forward to that, too- our pastor is doing a special message on the incarnation and we'll have a guest worship leader.

Well, things have been super busy (as they always seem to get this time of year), but I'm praying that this holiday would be exactly that...

hol•i•day
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English halig, holy + dæg, day;
holy day, day set aside for special religious observance

A holy day of worship. That we would take time to worship and wonder at our the grace of our God and the humilty of Jesus as he took on flesh and came to dwell with us. We pray wherever you are, that your Christmas is filled with his presence and joy!
Love,
Joe and Hannah

Shepherd's pouch...and Christmas gifts

Yesterday I listened to this video on Desiring God about what Christmas Day looked like in the Piper household as they raised their family. It gave me some really good ideas, and although I really, really like having a Christmas tree and don't plan on giving that up, I love the Shepherd's pouch idea and would like to start that as a tradition for our family.

Today there's another really good "Ask Pastor John" about keeping gift giving Christ-centered, especially with young kids. Good stuff...check it out! I've often thought about this and have heard different ideas- like 3 gifts for each child- one that's something needed & practical, one educational, and one fun gift that's something they want. Don't know if we'd ever stick to anything like that, but I guess it's never to early to start thinking about these things....

Favorite drink at Christmas time

hot chocolate...yum. a classic with limitless possibilites

apple cider or wassail...does anyone know what the difference is??? either is delish!

egg nog...don't really like it

Happiness is...

... well, not really a warm puppy. At least not the deepest, most lasting happiness.

Here are a few thoughts that I'm trying to wrap my mind (and heart) around...

"If you hope for happiness in the world, hope for it from God,
and not from the world."
David Branierd

Luke 10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Frogs, snails, puppy dog tails, blue birds, and red balloons

Well, I feel like I'm coming out of hibernation...Joe and I have been sick with a nasty cold. It was even worse this time for me... because even though I checked with the pharmacist and called the doctor's office yesterday, I didn't feel good about taking medicine. One night...think it was Friday, I took a benadryl and then worried and prayed myself to sleep, and felt much better when I felt our little guy kicking me (and letting me know he was okay in there) in the middle of the night!

Well I am really bad about posting pictures (not like my friends) but will try to post one soon of my third trimester belly...less than 10 weeks to go (Lord-willing...give or take a week or two)! And we had a great trip to Louisiana over Thanksgiving we had a really good time visiting our families and got to see a few good friends while we were there too! And we both accomplished Joe's goal of eating A LOT and getting fat...well, I think we each gained a few pounds (which he can totally get away with and which I'm supposed to be doing anyway, right?)!

We're starting to get ready for the baby (it's really time!) and we got a crib last Saturday off Craigslist...pretty exciting! And we're getting ready to paint our new place and move this weekend! I can't wait to get in there and be settled, but there's oh so much to do in between...

I have been sooo indecisive about how we should decorate the baby's room. (Pregnancy seems to have made my indecisiveness 10x worse.) Over Thanksgiving I thought we had made a final decision...I found this super cute fabric and was going to make curtains and base the colors for the room off of it.

Then I kind of had to start rethinking it, because Joe wasn't too excited about a blue bird theme (in fact he'd let me do the curtains but that's it...no more blue birds)...I guess it's not the most masculine. To be honest though, I was starting to question it before that, because I found the cutest little puppy design on Anna Maria Horner's site and wanted to use it to make some wall art. And puppies and blue birds don't exactly go together...don't want it to turn into a hunting theme! Anyway the decision got even harder today when I started thinking about a red balloon theme.
I love the film Ballon rouge- if you've never seen it you should- it's wonderful...Joe and I watched it a while back and I was thinking about our little boy the whole time, wondering what he'll be like.



Well we shall see what becomes of the nursery (Any of my friends with amazing decorating sense, your suggestions/comments are most appreciated!) My little sister suggested combining the puppy and red balloon ideas...like doing a picture of the puppy following the silhouette of a toddler crawling with a balloon in one hand. Hmmm...enough dreaming and rambling- Good night!