Merry Christmas!

The Word became flesh and dwelt amoung us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Merry Christmas!

An Early Christmas

We had Christmas with my family this past weekend because we are in California for "real" Christmas. Everyone came through the icy snow. We feasted on Chili and garlic bread and peppermint ice cream sundaes. As the snow flurried outside, we had a flurry of presnt opening inside. A fun time was had by all, of course. Mimi and Bubba with their FIVE grandchildren!

The whole Family! Thadd, Silas, Marilee, Bubba, Jeff, Clara, Christy, Jack, Mimi, Ethan, Laura, Jill, Mark and Beckham.

Just a little Christmas moment. (I secretly wish I had a Christmas dress like Clara's. Alas, I will probably wear jeans and be wishing I was in a poofy dress to twirl in!)

Dreaming of a White Christmas with the Greens

I used to pray for snow when I was a little girl. Especially for Christmas. Not anymore! I cannot believe how much it snowed in December. We were basically snowed in for weeks. Here's how we played and tried to enjoy it!

A blue snow bunny.

A pink snow bunny. This was only the beginning of the snow. We got LOTS more over the week before Christmas.

One of the first snow days-too cold to make a snowman but we tried. Clara said its a girl and before we put the eyes on she said, "mama, she can't see." Later,"she needs hands." So we put mittens on her.

Our second snowlady. Complete with curly blonde ribbon-hair.

Happy Birthday Jacky Boy!

The Awesome Birthday Dude! We love you Jacky Boy! Happy First Birthday!

It's Jack's first birthday and what a year it has been! The theme of his life so far seems to be "expect the unexpected and be blessed!"

Before our 20 wk ultrasound, I was positive he was a girl-then saw clearly he was a BOY! My labor and birth with him was not what I planned at all, an unexpected and fast homebirth. Then my midwife weighed him and he was 9lbs 6 oz. and I thought, "Wow! This kid means business-he's not messing around." There was never anything small or tiny about Jack. When he was a newborn, I didn't look at him and think, "He's so tiny." I thought, "He's so substantial."

He was born yelling and has only gotten louder these past 12 months. He makes his presence known. At the same time, he is pretty content and a good sport, fitting right into our family and loving his spot as a little brother. He is also really passionate though and not afraid to tell us what he needs. He eats up our attention and will often preform daring-dos until Mama, Dada and Clara all tell him how cool he is.

He is a great wrestler and climber. He growls and grunts and yells a lot-not exactly verbal-just tough-guy sounds. He is such a sweet boy though and will sigh and give hugs a lot. I cherish these little hugs and pats.

Having a son is such a challenge-it's like creating a bond that is intended for separation. My prayer for Jack is that he will someday leave this family as a strong, man of God, dependent on Christ only. While I want Jack to find strength in our family unit, I want him to leave someday with confidence in Christ and wisdom to lead his own family. So for my short time of training and loving him, I'll treasure his little hugs, absorb all his loud noises and clean up his endless messes, answer constant questions, place bandaids on his knees, and pray daily for his heart. I'll be grateful for these unexpected blessings that are my son, Jack Timothy Green.

A few minutes old

One Hour Old
One Week Old

One year! Love those blue eyes.

Pretty happy with himself for sitting in a bowl after he emptied a drawed in the kitchen.
One his way to walking-may go straight to running

Complete

A tiny little life was made Complete in Christ this week and is now with Jesus. Thinking about my sister's lost baby has been sad and hopeful at the same time. Here are the beautiful verses that brought my brave sister peace this week. I've been meditating on them also.

Philippians 1:3,6
"I thank my God in all my rememberance of you. . . . And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

We love you sweet baby and will always miss you and hold you in our hearts. We'll be there soon to worship Jesus with you. Love, Auntie Christy

Lights of Christmas

We had a great time this year at the "Lights of Christmas" at Warm Beach Conference center. It was a COLD night but we were prepared and bundled up. There are more than a million lights and it's really beautiful. Jack officially has a "first phrase" and used it as we walked around and looked at the lights. "Oh Wow!" he kept saying. It's more like, "ohwowowowow" when he says it.Highlights were the donuts, of course, and Bruce the Spruce, a talking Christmas tree. Clara reminds me everyday now that we'll go see Bruce again next year.
Jack setting the example for his older sister who did NOT want to sit on Santa's lap. Jack was a good sport!

The reason we come! Fresh Hot Donuts!

Bruce the Spruce! He is SOOOO Funny!

A Good Man

I cried in church on Sunday. Not sad tears. Just overwhelmingly happy and grateful tears of joy. We're going through the Song of Solomon at church. (You should check it out!) The closing week was about godly parenting, especially focused on Fathers and Daughters. I felt so blessed to be sitting with my parents in church and reflect on the wonderful life God blessed me with through them. On this Sunday, I was expecially thankful for my dad., Tim Myre.

My dad has four daughters and I'm the oldest. The sermon said that first born daughters tend to see their dad in the best light possible-they don't see any flaw in him. This is true. I do think my dad is the most wonderful man and I married someone who I think is a lot like my dad in many, but not all, ways. I think what makes me love my dad so much is that he doesn't try to hide his flaws. He is always changing and growing and asking for help. Over my 29 years of life, I've seen him change into an even better man every year.

As a father, he truly guarded my and my sisters' hearts. We knew we were loved and treasured by our daddy. He taught us to repsect ourselves and that respecting a man was the first step towards loving him. When it came to boys, he was always quizzing us, and questioning and getting involved. This also meant, among other interventions, he interviewed any boys who were interested in us. Like a sit-down, one on one, interview with serious questions. "What is the first thing that you noticed about my daughter?" This scared the wimpy guys away. The ones left standing, are still standing.

Dad was very present in our home. I have clear memories of him always coming home for dinner, even when he was working two jobs so my mom could stay home with us girls. The best part of the day for me was 3:30pm when his red Ford truck, white Chevy truck or red Ford mustang would come driving around the corner to our house. (those are some of the cars he drove over the years. More recently, my sister Jill(senior in HS has not been thrilled to see his rusty white toyota truck pick her up from Bellevue Christian High School. But that's another story.) He was also there for morning devotions together. He drove us countless places: piano lessons, soccer practice, youth group. I seriously wonder if any person has driven his teenager to Overlake Christian Church more times than Tim Myre. He also wrote us letters. Lots of letters. in his wonderful crazy handwriting. I have stacks of his letters I saved over the years. They always share a little of himeself and speak into my life at that time of my life. He seemed to always know the perfect thing to say when I was feeling lost. He is a selfless man, willing to serve others and especially to serve my mom.

I think one of the most valuable things my dad did for his daughters growing up was to love our mom well. I thank him for this every Father's Day. I can't really express how valuable it is for a girl to watch her dad cherish her mom. My dad loves my mom so much. He builds her up, compliments her clothes, protects her, and serves her. He also takes her on a date every Thursday night for as long as I can remember.

My dad took time to capture our hearts and point us to the Glory of God. His eyes are always fixed on Heaven like he can't wait to get there and see Jesus' face and sing forever. My dad gets excited about the Book of the Revelation and verses about the Rider on a white horse. He will also play songs in the car like "agnus Dei" and raise his hands out the window singing to God.

Some fun stuff about my dad:

• He loves to sing as loud as possible. "Belt it!" he always says to us. He loves to write poems and put them to music and sing them at birthday parties and such.
• He will search on you tube for songs he likes and then play them over and over. Clara loves to sing and dance with Bubba when she goes to their house.
• My dad will also repeat certain movie lines over and over until they become familiar family expressions. "You call this a storm?!" (Forrest Gump) "My lip's bleedin, Burt!" (It's a Wonderful Life) "We don't need no stinkin badges."(I actually don't know what this is from.)
• Dad LOVES popcorn-with butter and salt but also loves caramel corn.
• He can fix pratically anything that has a motor.
• He brings the toys and games to any family event. The Hendersons know what I mean!(see previous blogs about Survivor Hood Canal, hydro races, fishing derbys etc.)

Some things that remind me of my dad:

• slot cars
• train sets
• minibikes, go carts
• waterskiing
• lawn mowers
• caramel corn
• I John 5:13
• spark plugs
• dirty fingernails
• The Beattles Twist and Shout
• Guitars
• Eric Clapton
• Pick up trucks
• Red Mustangs
• Die Hard
• wool socks
• outboard motors
• aluminum boats
• angel food cake
• cottage cheese and jam

One more thing my dad always did when we were little girls is dance with us at every wedding our family ever went to. All of us. Four daughters. He'd dance with each one of us. So one of my favorite moments of my life was dancing with my dad at my OWN wedding. It was like a dream come true.

I love you so much dad. Thank you for reflecting to image of God to me. XOXO

Jack's Turn

My little buddy man is too awesome for words. He is 10 1/2 months. He is super friendly and smiles at everyone and will give you a big hug if you ask. He even makes a little "aawww" sound and pats me during a hug. He has a really sweet disposition and just fits right in with our family. He is very passionate though and when he needs/wants something he is not afraid to tell us. I continue to be awed by the stark differences between a girl and a boy. Clara will sit quietly in her little soft Anywhere chair and read books and Jack feels the need to conquer the chair by knocking it over, crawling on top of it, etc. He always has some bash or bruise or black eye that I have no idea where it came from. He is an excellent eater, sleeper, pooper, hugger, waver, polo shirt wearer, wrestler, hammerer, yeller, grunter, climber, stander, cruiser, and most recently thrower!

I wonder where she gets it?

Here is Clara taking her doll, Samantha (handed down from Mama) for a walk. This kid cracks me up! Also, super nostalgic moment for me to see my daughter playing with the doll that I loved as a little girl. Samantha is wearing the beautiful green cape and hat that my Tutu made for me so many Christmases ago. While, I know Clara is not just a "little me", I know that her life will reflect mine and this keeps me on my toes. I want my life to reflect Jesus to her so that it is Him she is drawn to first. What an honor and a challenge to be a mother!

Belated Bachelorette Party!!!

Okay, so five years ago when Jeff and I got married, I didn't have a bachelorette party. No reason, really, it just kind of got skipped. This week, my sisters totally surprised me with my very own Bachelorette party-five years late! I was shocked when Marilee and Laura showed up with two of my very dear friends, Heather and Rachael and announced it was officially my "Last Night Out"! They really went all out to make me feel honored and loved. I am still reflecting on the signifigance of a bachelorette party as a married woman with two kids.

The theme of the night was five. Five girls, five stops, five years of marriage celebrated. Everything was planned to the "t" and I was blindfolded between stops. Each of my friends gave me a sweet card telling five things they appreciate about me and some "unmentionables" just like a real bachelorette. (What am I talking about? This was MY real bachelorette!) At each stop they also presented me with a gift and card from my Groom. Yes, Jeff was in on it too. We might have had a drink at each stop too-it was a bachelorette party after all! Our final stop was the Melting Pot with wine and cheese and chocolate fondue. So delicious! I could have stayed there forever licking the dark chocolate fodue out of the pot except that I couldn't wait to get home to Jeff!

The amazing thing about the night was feeling like my girlfriends were holding up my marriage with me. I felt so supported and encouraged. It's hard to be married and it's hard to be a respectful, loving, helpmate to Jeff. But God has blessed me with wonderful friends that pray for me and Jeff, encourage me as a wife and point me back to dependence on Christ alone.

Jeff was incredible too. He wrote beautiful cards to me about five things he loves about me. I can't explain how much it meant to me to read what he wrote. He also got me cool gifts that went with each category. The categories were Friend, Mother, Homemaker, Helper and Lover.

I am still at a loss for words about how much this night meant to me. Thank you Marilee, Laura, Heather and Rachael for loving me and uplifting me with this party. I felt so honored. Thank you Jeff for the thoughtful, meaningful gifts, the notes and for being my amazing husband for five years. I love you.

I Chronicles 29:11-12

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all."

I Chronicles 29:11-12

Sarah and Joe

On Halloween, I decided I was not going another year with no costume. So I started scurrying around trying to put together a costume. A jacket, a flag pin. . . some rimless glasses and here is what I came up with. What do you think?!!

Jeff was a great sport, buzzed his hair super short and went as Joe the Plumber. We had so much fun and were laughing all night.

Trick or Treat

Here is our little ladybug and creep crawly spider! Clara loved her costume and Jack actually scared me a few times as he looked exactly like a GIANT spider crawling across the floor. We didn't trick or treat much but just hung out at Mimi and Bubba's house with the fam and answered the door to pass out candy. Mimi and Bubba are in the last picture with their five grandchildren. Pictures of Jeff and my costumes to come in another blog. . . .

Halloween Party!

Clara and Jack had a Halloween party with their friends. It was so cute to see all those toddlers and babies dressed up in their awesome costumes. The kids bobbed for apples, fished for candy bars, played popcorn relay and had an award/fashion show for their costumes. They also consumed a fair amount of candy and pumpkin cookies. It was a little challenge to get a picture of the whole group but it sure was funny!

At our party, there were two horses, two ladybugs, a rooster, a skunk and a spider, a flower fairy, a pretty princess, a pink kitty, Minnie Mouse, a yellow duck, Batman, and a pea in a pod. It was so much fun and I think we might have to make it an annual event. Thanks for coming everyone! All your kids are SO CUTE!!!

most of the group. Baby Beckham is getting a little love tap from Avery the Duck.

I think this is actually everyone except Batman.

Bella the Kitty and Silas (our cousin) the Skunk!
Handing out the Costume Awards and prizes.

the popcorn game.Racing to fill the bowls with popcorn

Bobbing for Apples

Clara getting excited about the candy corn.

Clara and her friend Avery.