Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2017 by Matt Smith

Joy to the World

Joy to the world, the Lord has come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

Advent

December 22, 2017 by Matt Smith

advent |ˈadˌvent| the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.

Old English, from Latin adventus ‘arrival,’ from advenire, from ad- ‘to’ + venire ‘come.’

We have been doing an advent reading each morning this month in preparation for Christmas. This is our first year doing this and it has been great. I think it is sinking in a little with Lydia (and mom and dad) that the birth of Jesus is a way bigger deal than any of us can imagine.

Here is our advent tree. When Lydia first saw it she said, "It's little. Like me!"

Mom wrapped all of the advent ornaments into 25 little packages. They coincide with the reading for each morning. One of us reads from Voskamp's Unwrapping the Greatest Gift and then Lydia hangs the ornament on the Jesse Tree. Here are some photos of the setup.

And here are some photos of us setting up our Christmas tree a few weeks ago, a few from our first snowfall here (that quickly melted away), a few of our new piano, and also some randoms. (Note that a couple of the photos of Lydia with a camera are followed by the photo that she took with it.) Click to expand.

Other News

Other news Part 1: This week Lydia said, "Mom, I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to say yes, because you say no a lot, okay?"

Other news Part 2: After an extensive and successful search for her lost stuffed animal Penny, Lydia said, "I'm a hero. I'm really good at finding lost things."

Michigan Weekend

December 20, 2017 by Matt Smith

We spent last weekend in Michigan with family. It was a fun trip, it was nice to see everybody, and we finally got to see a decent amount of snow! Here are a lot of photos separated into galleries. Click to expand them. Also, for those who want to download the images (Pam!), click here to do so (link will expire in a few weeks).

Gallery 1 of 3

Gallery 2 of 3

Gallery 3 of 3

Thanksgiving in California

December 02, 2017 by Matt Smith

We flew out to California last week to have Thanksgiving with family in Los Angeles.

We all met up at Ryan and Shireen's place in Studio City. It was our first time visiting their home.

Lydia was very excited to use her new Ladybug Suitcase that she received for her birthday. This was our first trip without a stroller and Lydia did very well. She walked through the airport each time without any problems. Here are some photos of our travels.

Here are some photos from Ryan's place (which is super nice).

This is what happens when Momma holds somebody with a name other than Lydia.

Here are some photos from the CityWalk near Universal Studios. (We didn't go into the actual park but plan to take Lydia into the theme parks when she is older.)

Lydia really enjoyed the huge screen that was playing Christmas music. She did quite a dance during Joy to the World by Pentatonix.