Christmastime

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year - beautiful decorations, dark nights lit up with colorful lights, delicious treats, and precious time with family. Most importantly, it is a time to pause and give heartfelt reflection on the greatest gift of all time, Jesus Christ, and sing songs of praise of our great God of love and the baby Savior sent into our world to bring healing, restoration and peace.

The Grotto

Little two-and-a-half-year-old Zoë had a very special Christmas this year, and we all enjoyed watching her delight in decorating the tree, lighting the Advent candle and reading the Bible stories to go with our Jesse Tree ornaments, playing the songs on her musical "Santa's Marching Band", singing angels and snowman over and over and over again, and having special times with Lola, Grandpa, Uncle Corby and Aunt Mary and Uncle Judah.

 We made two trips to the Festival of Lights at the Grotto - once with Lola, Judah and Nancy, and another time with Grandpa and Corby and Mary. The lights were beautiful and we enjoyed some lovely singing. In between we made a trip to ZooLights with just the 3 (4!) of us and had a great time...until a certain someone who refused her nap got very cranky and fell asleep at 6:15 in the backpack. ;)

Zoë and Mommy made some fun Christmas crafts!

Zoë's special friend, Celicia, came for a visit on Christmas Eve

We attended the Christmas Eve Family Service at our church and celebrated Jesus with lots of singing, listening to the Christmas story read by children, playing with Celicia in the balcony and watching Mommy direct her children's choir.

One of the favorite activities of our time together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was singing Christmas/worship songs, dancing and playing guitar with Grandpa and Uncle Judah. Here are a couple precious videos to enjoy:

Our Christmas dinner was mostly successful (with a little accidental burning of the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes) and delicious! Zoë woke up from her afternoon nap just in time to enjoy it with us and she gobbled up the green beans, sweet potatoes and sparkling cider. :)

Christmas dinner - the aftermath

Grandpa dared Zoë to eat the turkey wing.

 She was fully up for the challenge! :)

We tried to spread out our Christmas present opening times from Christmas Eve and throughout Christmas Day,  but misjudged how many presents Zoë had under the tree - so she got to open a whole bunch right before bed on Christmas Day. She got some really fun gifts from Grandpa, Didi and Papa, Auntie Judy and Mommy and Daddy. I'm learning even more how much it brings a parent delight to give their child a special gift - just as we know it delights our Father in Heaven to give us good and wonderful gifts. It was almost unbearable to feel the joy of watching her eyes light up with excitement as she opened them and realized what lay inside the wrapping. And then, of course, came the playing!

Reading a new book from Grandpa

Princess dress-up dress and umbrella were big hits!

Thanks Didi and Papa!

This is her "smile" for Auntie Judy - ha! :)

(She loves the pots and food! Thank you!)

Zoë's last Christmas present - made possible by a donation from some wonderful friends:

Playing with Grandpa and her new tools

Chillin' with Uncle Judah

Merry Christmas! 

May this coming year be filled with Christ, 

and all the hope, love, joy and peace that he brings.

love, 

Zac, Larissa, Zoë and baby boy Poppen

It's a...

Earlier this fall, Zoë had the privilege of making this announcement:

And today, she has another special announcement for you:

Zoë got to sit through the whole ultrasound this morning and enjoyed seeing the little baby on the screen. She is at the perfect age and season for this baby's arrival - Zoë takes good care of her own baby doll Madeleine and stuffed animals Cocoa and Seussi by feeding them, changing their diapers, putting them to sleep, comforting them when they are sad and taking them on "shopping trips" with her. Every time we see a new mother with a newborn in a carseat carrier, Zoë MUST go and see the baby! :) She will make a great, loving big sister who will give lots of hugs and kisses to her little brother (or little "brudder" as she says) and want to help all the time. She even is telling me daily that she will share her toys. Haha! Each day we talk about the baby in mommy's tummy, she tells me about the baby in her own tummy, and how her tummy is growing big too! :) 

It was a precious time seeing our little baby boy for the first time (as much as possible), and we are so excited to meet him in person and get to know this little man! I've been secretly hoping for a little boy and accidentally calling him, "little buddy" for the past month or so.  Zac is excited that he will no longer be outnumbered by us womenfolk. :) 

Baby Boy Poppen is 20 weeks and growing healthy and strong! All of his measurements are right on track. Little buddy started kicking the day after Thanksgiving and has not stopped since! Just like his big sister. :) We're halfway, baby boy! And the best half is yet to come.

Gym-tastic!

We put Zoë in a once-a-week "gymnastics" class for toddlers during November and December. She loved it! The class was a great opportunity for her to get some energy out, practice listening to directions and taking turns. (We still have quite a bit of work to do on those last two, but she's getting better. :) And teacher Ellen was wonderful!

Here are a few short videos of her last day of class so you can see her in action:

Somersaults

Bar

Trampoline!

Balance beam

Big jumps!

Aerobic dance

Lola's Holiday of Lights

On Thursday, Zoë and I ventured to The Dalles to enjoy Lola's K-3 music students present their "Holiday of Lights" Concert. Zoë wanted to be up there singing with the kids with all her heart! She had a chance to join the big 4th and 5th grade Troubadours as they welcomed families with their caroling, accompanied by our very own Uncle Judah! She even got to wear a Santa hat, dance around while they sang, and help Lola with the sign language for Silent Night.

Taking "pictures" with her binoculars

(A new favorite pastime)

One happy little girl singing with the big kids!

Dancing to "We Three Kings"

Helping Lola "conduct"

When the concert began, it was all I could do to keep Zoë in her seat instead of running up on stage. Nevertheless, she belted out "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with the kindergarteners from her seat - there was no stopping her! :) The parents sitting around us said they were quite entertained by watching Zoë throughout the program. In the second half, we had to ditch our seats (she would have no more of that!), visited with Oma playing piano in the back and ended up dancing in the hallway for the remainder of the night

Oma playing piano

Zoë just loves being with other kids! 

We spent the night with Oma and Opa and had a fun morning watching it snow! Zoë had the time of her life playing in the beautiful white powder before we had to head home.

Thanks Lola for a wonderful concert!

.

Christmas Tree Adventure!

Our friends from church own "Christmas Cheer" Tree Farm nearby and after hearing that they were selling trees this year, we decided we should take the step to have our first real Christmas tree as a family. :)

"This one!"

Our friend Laurna helped us find the perfect tree:

not too tall and not too fat. Just right!

Daddy's getting ready to cut down the tree! 

(And then decided he'd let one of the pros do it. Maybe next time. :)

Zoë was very excited about picking out a Christmas tree 

and especially loved tromping around in the mud.

After we got our tree tightly tied to the van, we went inside the barn for some delicious hot chocolate. Here Zoë is still thoroughly enjoying hers. Hot chocolate just *might* be one of her favorite things in the world. :)

And here it is all decorated up in our little home! We realized after putting all the decorations on that the lights were not all the same colors...oh well! You really can't notice it too much in "real life." The smell is fabulous! We spent the rest of Sunday evening decorating the house, listening to Christmas music, reading our first Advent story and lighting the candle, then watching "Home Alone" as a family. What a perfect way to start off the month of December! 

May your home be full of "Christmas Cheer"!

Oceanside for the Holidays

Last Wednesday we packed our van to the brim for a full, fun-filled four days at the beach. We stayed at The Sea Haven beach house overlooking the Three Arch Rocks in Oceanside with nearly 30 family members and a few guests. Over the course of the four days, we celebrated my brother Corby's 30th birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and my Grandma Phyllis' 80th birthday. It was a little crazy, but absolutely wonderful!

Cousins! 

Zoë requested that Rachel come with us to the beach.

They were pretty much inseparable from that moment on. :)

The beach was surprisingly beautiful on Wednesday and Thursday. 

We enjoyed several hours of beach tromping and a couple of gorgeous sunsets!

Because Zoë had a cold and I wanted to keep her as dry as possible, Zoë's beach attire looked awfully similar to sledding attire...and it worked really well!

Zoë and Daddy in the tunnel

Zoë had so much fun being carried around by her Uncle Kenny,

 and running away from the waves, 

exploring caves and throwing rocks in the water. ;)

And she managed to get Uncle Judah to carry her around too. ;)

Playing in the sand with Lola

Zoë missed Thanksgiving dinner, but somehow managed to get the dessert...

Happy Thanksgiving!

And then it was time for Christmas!

All the "kids"

(It's nice to still be in that category!)

Dancing with Anna

We spent Friday morning singing Christmas carols and meditating on the Christmas story (before opening presents, of course). Zoë, always the center of attention, kept us delighted with her lovely dancing. It was precious to watch her dance her little heart out! Here is a short clip so that you can be delighted as well: 

We left with our van full of sand, our suitcases full of presents, our stomachs full of good food and our hearts full of love. We are so thankful to be surrounded by such wonderful family! We love you all!