Our Christmas Letter!

Three Trick or Treaters! Anakin, Dr. Lawrence, and Boy Wonder!

Merry Christmas, Darien!

Well, it's hard to believe that this year has again flown by the way our folks always said they would with little ones. The days are long and the years too short. I am amazed at God's goodness and feel so blessed with our three healthy and beautiful children! The year has been filled with homework and playdates and a baby that nursed almost a year longer than my plan. God has certainly been at work allowing me the many challenges of parenting and yet the many joys of being a friend and finding that as one of the greatest ministries I could ever chose for myself. We are endlessly training our children to fight against feeling entitled to things that others in this community have and we work diligently to create a life that reflects inner peace.

AJ has taken a preference to being called Alyssa in school these last two years and yet to our friends,' the Bailey family where each member has a "J" names (Jesse, Jennifer...etc), she is "JAEL" only! So, as in keeping with the Lawrence traditions, our daughter has a dozen little names...as do the boys! Anyway, AJ has read over 80 chapter books in this past year, 50 of them in just the past 2.5 months! She continues to dance with Daughters of Destiny at our church and performed a lovely number as a angel to the song "Who Could Imagine a King", sung by Whitney Houston on The Preacher's Wife soundtrack. She enjoys playdates with friends and neighbors. She had a tremendously fun summer at the pool again! She delights us with her desire to learn more about God (loves to be read to from her Study Bible) and she is working hard to remember daily chores and what it means to contribute to helping around the house. She always looks for opportunities to bless me by cleaning up when not asked. She loves her new room and is excellent at keeping it very tidy!

Keenan-- oh Keenan...the little bundle of joy that has grown into such a big boy! He still melts my heart every time I gaze into those big blue eyes. He drives me crazy most days, but thank GOD that he is just so charming! He struggles to get along with Darien most days but the love between them is evident even so. He loves school...and the same little girl since first day of school last year Amanda! He loves Super Hero shows...all of them...The Batman, Batman Brave and the Bold, Superhero Squad, The X-men, GI Joe, and Transformers! If ever there was a #1 superhero fan, it is our boy Keenan! He has this precious little blue baby blanket that is super soft that he loves to pretend is his Batman cape! Accompanying his cape obsession, is his love of making pretend weapons--you can find him sporting some kind of plastic utensil he has fashioned as a sword or, of course, his famed light sabres. Darien and Alyssa play along with him too. Could we have afforded all the costumes, we would have made a stunning Stars Wars clan at Halloween. As it was, Keenan was the handsomest little Anakin Skywalker out there! Just can't say enough about how blessed we are with him...just hope we can make it through the year of FOUR....aka- the year of establishing BOUNDARIES...cause man he likes to push us!

Darien, our sweet, almost 2-year old won't let momma out of his sights without a pretty big fuss. God just knew I needed one more doting boy to fill my little love tank. Church and getting out as a couple are difficult tasks for us right now because of Darien's needs but we know he will be able to work through what I title as Intense Separation Anxiety soon...(please Lord, soon!) Needless to say, Darien keeps us busy. So what if our home is not as clean as it once was. One of these days, everyone will be in school and I can take up my obsessive cleaning habits again. For now, we obsess over Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Special Agent Oso, playdates with his many friends and the book Llama lama red pajama...which at one point I think I read to him 20 times in one day! Age appropriate toys are a thing of the past. Light sabres and golf clubs are the toys of choice. We are all lucky if we don't get out foreheads bashed in at least once a day before I confiscate the toys I thought I had hidden well enough! Had to go with this blog background because he is obsessed with Santa right now and is so funny when he imitates "HO, HO, HO!" I will have to get a video of that to post soon!

So, what have Don and I been up to? Well, a client here and there for me-more would be nice, but just not always enough hours in the day. My work is always rewarding and fulfilling when I get an opportunity and I am thankful the God sends me such wonderful folks to work with. I am still involved in a playgroup for Darien and participate in some MOPS events as well. I have lots of great friends out here but just never the time to really get the amount of girls night out time I would really like. And Don...well, he's the Super Employee, Teacher, Student (still plugging away at the Doctoral Program), Husband and Father of the year. Don't really know how he does it all but we are making efforts to strike a balance of some sort. I imagine right when we finally feel that we have a handle on it, something else will be added or changed! Blessed are the Adapatable is the new Beattitude in our home--because we have surely done our fair share of major changes, moves, and tranisitions in our almost ten years of marriage! That's right, this May 27, 2010...we will reach our 10 year Anniversary mark! Thanks to those who have prayed us thru the "for better, or for worse!"

OK, so I know I have taken enough of your time, but I came across this Christmas Devotional by oneof my favorite spiritual leaders. I'd like to end close our letter with some insight from his book, Follow the Star.

I found it interesting to think about the Bethlehem star in this way as Jakes puts so eloquently. He recounts a story of when he was a small boy in his mother's Kindergarten class and he asked why God made stars and she wisely replied that "He knew it would get dark sometimes and when it did, you would need a night-light."

There have been too many times in life when I have needed a night-light and though real stars may not have five points (like the ones we help our children draw and put atop our tree) these five names in the scripture below have helped me see the light on a dark night.

The Bethlehem star can point us to these five names describing Jesus in Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

"I hope you'll take a moment this Christmas to gaze upon Jesus and let yourself be filled with wonder. I hope you'll seek the advice of the Counselor and experience the power of the Mighty God. I hope you'll know Him intimately as your Everlasting Father and that His reign of Peace will rest upon you and your household this holiday season. If it gets dark at any time throughout the coming year, remember that God always turns the night-light for His children!"

Yes, Darien looks like Keenan but he looks like his Daddy so much too!

AJ's first day of 3rd grade with an attempt at straight hair on a way too hot August day!

Keenan's first day of preschool...year #2

Chillaxing...as AJ calls it!