Christmas in the Country

Several weeks before Christmas I asked Holly if there was anything in particular that she wanted for a gift. Although I love the whole process of picking out gifts for her, I started asking this several years ago as funds got tighter so that if there was something that she needed I could be sure she got it. She usually just hints around enough to point me in a general area of interest. There have only been a few times that she told me of a big item with an exact size and color or make and model, and this year there was no hesitation in her response... she wanted to get away... together... just the four of us... if only for just one night.


Over the course of a long semester being surrounded by the same apartment walls and the crushing stress of daily demands we had both grown to need to get some fresh air in a serious way. We needed to unplug, connect with each other, and have a quiet moment in front of some fireplace somewhere and be refreshed in worshipping our King together. I was so excited about picking out just the right place and I have hardly anticipated more giving her a Christmas gift... one she could unwrap slowly over a whole day. We found the great little cabin you see throughout this post in Granbury, TX (about 30 min south of Ft. Worth) and it was just perfect.


My excitement about the trip grew and it was like the prize across the finish line I was racing through the end of the school semester to win. Holly's gift to me was that she designed and hand-made stockings for the whole family that we could bring on the trip and into the future. (You can see them in the pic below, they're awesome! Jackson's is blue, Josie's pink, Mommy's green, and oh yeah, the Tennessee one is mine!)


As we were packing up to leave on Christmas Eve for our overnight celebration, lo and behold it started to snow. I told Holly it was pretty but there was no chance of it sticking to much more than the grass and bushes because it had been 70 degrees the day before (Texas weather). Boy was I wrong! Sometimes a rainstorm is just the compliment to your gloomy mood or the sunshine of summer just fits right as you drive in your car with the radio on and window rolled down. Well, this little Texas blizzard blew up and was the most joyful and perfect compliment to our Christmas in the Country. Although this little storm trapped thousands of travelers (including Veronica - Jake's lovely lady who was flying into DFW to meet family from Abilene and ended up being trapped in Dallas away from them) and caused more than one serious fender bender, we sure enjoyed the storm's silver lining as it wrapped Holly's gift in the finest white snow.





I loved unwrapping every minute of our time together (and wrapping some of that snow up into a snowball or two!), celebrating and getting to share with our kids about the birth of our savior Jesus and the life we share through Him. It was our small little miracle that we could share a refreshing moment together and it reminded me of the grand miracle that we live an eternally refreshed life through the grace of God and our faith in Christ his Son.






The only thing missing from our Christmas was the packing up on Christmas Day and heading off to see all of our beloved family. We truly missed all of you guys and want you to know how much you each mean to us. We love you all.
I certainly hope that all of your Christmas celebrations and circumstances were as meaningful and refreshing as ours, surrounded by people you love, the small miracles of the season, and the abundant life of Christ Jesus our Lord.

God Bless you all. - Jonathan



p.s. - I think Jackson's favorite present this year was... Josie.

Playing Catch Up.

It has taken me two days to try to post these new pictures and write a little. We didn't let Jackson watch TV until he was a year but poor Josie is sitting in my lap as I write staring at the screen....the sacrifices of a second child :). I thought being the mother of 2 children would be a huge challenge so we decided to take 16 weeks off for maternity leave. It should actually be called the "2 year old leave". All of my energies have been given to Jackson lately. Josie is a pretty easy baby but Jackson woke up a few weeks ago only to remind me he is 2! Jackson is so passionate about everything...good and bad. He loves Josie to his core. He talks so sweet to her and gives her tons of hugs and kisses. His favorite time of the day is when Daddy comes through the door and they have tickle time!! Unfortunately he thinks it's hilarious to blow his nose in his fingers and then eat them. DISGUSTING! Problem is he thinks it's even funnier when you say "disgusting." Like I said...passionate. Since it's cold/flu season we finally had to reward the nose blowing with time outs. We are making progress. As a sign of thing to come, Josie already has 2 teeth. Crazy girl cut them right at 3 months! We'll keep you updated as best we can with her fast paced and warped speed. We visited home for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time. These are the pictures from the past month. Enjoy.


Decorating the tree at Gran Pats.

Some lovin' from Great Grandfather "Pop Paw"




YEEEE HAWWWW! That used to be mine!




Ohhh how we miss our Hope. She lives with my parents now so we have to get all our love in when we visit home.




Uncle Jeff and Uncle Jake...or is it Jake and Jeff? Jackson had fun teasing them by pretending to get their names mixed up. Yeah right! He is so smart he can fool any adult.

Jackson and Hope really bonded on this trip. They had so much fun playing together. Hope is even protective of him when they are outside. She always stays close. Thought this day would never come. She didn't even want to be in the same room with him when she lived with us!



Even Josie got in on the fun in the leaves!

My Aunt Lisa and her kids had some special time meeting Josie and playing with Jackson.



Mamma Z had the cookies ready to decorate....a tradition with our family.

All smiles in all pink!



Need to get the picture out of when I wore the same blue dress....



No room for a tree, but we did decorate the garland! Jackson and I had fun that day getting the apt. decorated and painted a Christmas tree picture to surprise Daddy when he arrived home.



What's decorating for Christmas without a Christmas cookie to enjoy along the way???

Some Love for Josie

Sweet Smile!
love those eyes
all dressed up...
the little side grin
she's our sweet baby!

Some Love for Jackson

Here he is a little over two months old...
... and here he is a little over two years old revisiting his old toy. Wow...
He's such a good helper... he loves to use the dustbuster.
Jackson: "There she is, the lady with the candy!" Peyton: "Lets Go!"
A typical good morning/breakfast look for tha J-Man.

Trick-or-Treat!

Hey Everyone! It's been a "frightfully" busy month here in Dallas with "super spooky" Hebrew exams and "monstrous" papers coming into view from out of the October fog, but, as you can see, we've sure found a lot of "sweet things" to keep the "battiness" away! Josie was of course our "little pumpkin" and Jackson was his daddy's boy as he donned the classic orange and white, a true Tennessee boy's uniform (while the Vols pulled out the black jerseys... which was awesome!... ugly yes, but awesome!). Josie is growing soooo fast. As you will see up close and personal in some future pics, she has started to smile... not just gassy grins but full blown, interactive, eyes locked in smiles and coos. Ahhhh, she has stolen her daddy's heart. Our little man is doing his own sort of growing. He is a little sponge, soaking up not only words, numbers, and songs, but contextualized relational concepts such as really hugging you back, telling you clearly what he wants, dancing with his mommy, and giving the instant replay and walk-through on what event, action, or boo-boo just happened (ask uncle Jake... he knows). He is such a joy to be around... yes, he's a two-year-old and he has his share of moments, but we are truly enjoying this once in a lifetime opportunity. We have to continually adapt the family routine so that it works well but we do feel balanced for now, which is a good thing. So, please enjoy these pictures that capture our Halloween fun and thanks for your prayers!

P.S.- We had a great time visiting with Gran Pat over her fall break and then with Mom Z and Papa Z over a long weekend. Thanks to the grandparents for making sure that Holly and I got some much appreciated mommy and daddy time. I think that they might remember something about how special those moments are.

Our Sweet Lil' Pumpkin

Jackson with his friends Peyton and Josie at the Halloween Parade

Jackson, Abby, and Josie checking out their candy loot.

Our Little All-American

Happy Halloween!

Fun this Fall

Josie is growing up fast...as expected. She is 7 weeks now and continues to be a great baby. She alternates between sleeping 5 - 8 hours a night. Every night is different but I'm not complaining! I'm getting some great rest and that helps everyone have better days! If Momma aint happy no one is! She just smiled "for real" for the first time this weekend. No "gassy" smiles, it was a real cheeky grin showing all the gums! She opts to smile at the 4 am feedings so no one has seen them but me....Ohhh to bad! Guess if anyone wants to get up with me they are welcome to join the show. Ha Ha.

We had a fun fall festival at school this weekend as well. Check out the picture of Jonathan! He had a blast fighting with his friends. Think it was a way for those guys to relieve a little DTS stress! Jackson had fun hangin' out with his best friend Peyton while painting some pumpkins. Later he made candy apples with his Gran Pat. I think the sprinkles were his favorite part! As you can see we are having a great fall. :)


Yes his mouth is blue, but not from the temperature! He enjoyed a blue jolly rancher for a while until I discovered it and retracted the choking hazard!!


Sticker, anyone???

We had a wonderful visit last week with Gran Pat and Uncle Jake. They came to spend some time with us and to also help out. Boy did they ever help out! We enjoyed many delicious dinners together each night and Jackson enjoyed several exciting activities as well. I even stole a few hours at the local coffee shop to finish my last blog thanks to Uncle Jake doing some babysitting!



One of Jackson's favorite activities of the week was playing on his personal bounce house (aka blow up mattress). They boys wrestled every morning....and Jackson took great naps every afternoon!




Since Gran Pat gave me a hard time about being reluctant to finger paint with Jackson (just a little scared of the potential mess I may have to clean up), I bought some paint for HER to experiment with as long as I didn't have to have clean up duty! Surprisingly, Jackson didn't make the enormous mess I had pictured in my head. Kudos to Gran Pat!