Christmas Eve with the Leaches

We had such a sweet visit with our family away from home on Christmas Eve. David and Laura had us over for a delicious breakfast, then we talked, played, opened presents, and loved on Maggie! That night we enjoyed going to our Christmas Eve service at church. It's neat to gather as a church family and remember why the incarnation is so important. Jesse preached on Philippians 2.

 Geneva loves Auntie "L"'s food!

 Poor Maggie was followed around all morning! She's such a gentle and sweet dog.

 Cuddle time with Uncle David.

 Savannah loves her LEGO castle.

 Aw, Maggie.

 The girls love going on the second floor and looking down. Kinda scary. Olaf was a huge hit.

 Cuties.

Maddie and Savannah wanted to try on their new outfits right away! 

Thanks David and Laura for such a fun morning with you. We're thankful to share life with you.

Merry Christmas!!

"Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!”

Luke 2:14

 We have been counting down to Christmas as we do advent throughout December. The girls have learned what "advent" means, and all about different aspects of the events leading up to Christ's birth. We've used Truth in the Tinsel as our guide. The girls love singing Christmas songs at bedtime, too. We've also taken some time to pray for the people that send us Christmas cards. The cards are taped up all around the doorways of our house. It's important to us that our kids don't get caught up with being greedy and the "my" mentality that materialistic Christmas can bring. We have to fight against that, since our hearts are naturally sinful, so we try to encourage our family to look to ways to glorify God and focus on others during this season. The girls have written notes, baked cookies, bought gifts, and looked for ways to serve others.

 Christmas Day we stayed home just the 5 of us. It was a quiet day (in a matter of speaking, not really quiet with these girls :). We were so thankful for the sweet family time!

 Stockings are always a hit! Even toothpaste becomes exciting!

 Or shampoo!

 Geneva was stoked about her light up wand and toddler snacks.

 We've made monkey bread, scrambled eggs, and fruit our breakfast tradition. Jesse kindly smiles as I take pictures! I want to capture the moments and share them with family that aren't here!! I also want to be able to remember what we did, since I forget so easily!!

 Here they are reading and acting out Jesus becoming a man (the Incarnation) with our nativity set.

 Savannah and Maddie picked out gifts for each other this year. They were pretty happy with what the other found for them! These were the first gifts opened. Then they stopped and played together for about an hour before we opened another gift!!

 Aunt Melissa's wrapping amazes me!

 Geneva was so thrilled to get shoes! She had to have them on right away!

 Oh yeah.

 Maddie made a special card, wrapping paper, and gift at school for Jesse and me.

 This puzzle is fun! Thanks Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Kenny!

 Frozen story time- thanks GiGi and Grandpa!

Yeah- I'm ready to roll. Aunt Dottie, you pick out the best outfits!!

 

Bike ride at Green Springs! Thanks Mimi and Papa for the helmet.

Jesse is playing with his new toy- binoculars especially for birding! Yep, he now knows a lot about birds. Kinda a cool hobby.

 Sorry! Family game time. Pretty intense.

 Ah, yes...Jesse scored this HUGE pink bear at a white elephant gift exchange. Thank you very much.

The girls do love it.

  And for dessert (in our new PJ"s- thanks GiGi and Grandpa) we made Peppermint Chip Shakes!

Thanks to our family for all the generous gifts! We love you and miss you.

Art Museum

We had a rainy Monday, so the 5 of us ventured off to the National Gallery of Art. 

 Jesse is explaining to the girls what the first Bibles looked like (like the one carried by this statue).

 The girls took some time in one of the rooms to draw their own artwork in their sketch books.

Degas's Little Dancer. 

The girls loved this one, of course!

Here's our own little dancers later that evening! 

Merry Christmas!

ICS Grandparent's Day

  Maddie was counting down the days until Grandparent's Day! She was so excited.

These cuties were ready to go see their big sister sing!

 Daddy was pointing out where Maddie was to Savannah. 

Savannah was thrilled to see her big sister sing.

 Walking up on stage!

 They all sang so well!

 

 I love how these sisters love each other.

 They were so happy to be at school together.

Miss Penny, Auntie "L", and Uncle David were all there to participate in the special morning.

Uncle David is so good with the girls!

 

Maddie and her sweet friend, Reagan.

Here's one of Maddie's writing assignments.

 After the events at school, everyone came back to the house for lunch. 

Auntie "L" took all these great pictures :)

 The girls wanted to show off their baking skills.

God has been so good to bring people in our lives here in VA that love our family so unselfishly. We have been blessed beyond what I could have imagined before we moved almost 3 years ago. Of course, we miss our family dearly that is spread all over the US, but we see God's kind hand in providing us with a church family. 

First Day of Christmas Break!

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When I woke up this morning, I heard the kids playing, and this is what I found!

Maddie is such a sweet big sister.

 We took an outing to Pentagon Row today to ice skate! It was pretty chilly, so we were layered up.

 They have little ice skate helpers :)

 Watch out, here they come!

 Daddy's second time ice skating ever.

 

Sweet nap time cuddles