these days...

Hello Blogger World!  I have missed you!  My blog posts seem to be getting much fewer and farther between...  sorry Mom and Dad (my most faithful blog followers!).  So...  I decided to take some good time this afternoon and try to catch up in one fell swoop.  We'll see how I do.  Above is a sweet collage of my two little loves, as I affectionately call them.  They keep me on my toes each day and if I take my eyes off of them for one moment, sometimes chaos ensues as pictured below.  But I wouldn't trade these days for anything because they are so quickly passing me by...

We have lots of fun, these two girls and I.  We spend most of our days together and we sure love it when Daddy gets to be home to join us!  We play and we color, read books, dance, eat meals, clean up and repeat.  There are baths and naps and fun with students in our home.  We cook (I have TWO little helpers now!) and bake cookies... we mess things up and we clean...  lots of laundry is dirtied by these two little beauties, but there are no clothes more fun to fold as I reflect on the lives of these two little miracles and what a privilege it is to be able to love them and raise them and spend my days with them.   Here are just a few highlights from our last month and more specifically what the girls are doing these days!

 In early November we got to head to Kansas City to celebrate the wedding of two of our good friends, Jordan and Macie Ayers!  It was SO fun to see so many friends...  former and current students.  Joel and I both got the privilege of being IN the wedding, so Ellie and Alexa got some extra good time with students and staff who took care of them through the day!

Over Thanksgiving week, Ellie and Alexa got to stay with Nana and Papa J for a week as Joel and I went on a 10th anniversary trip!  They had lots of fun and made lots of memories together, as did we!  I think it was the first time that the two of us had gotten extended time together as a couple since these little ones entered our lives!  It was a fun getaway, but also so fun to get back to our girls!

Right when we got back, we got to celebrate Daddy's 35th birthday with friends!  It was a really busy but fun day!  Ellie and Alexa made Daddy a really fun card and sign and made him a cake.  Then we got to have dinner with our staff team and a few students at the Little Apple.  So fun!

Early December has been characterized by lots of people in and out of our home.  We LOVE to have our home full of life and laughter!  The girls ADORE the students and love having them here for Bible Studies or parties, etc...  We had about 120 students over for a finals study break and our girls were eating it up!  I could hardly get them settled down to go to bed!

This is also the week that the girls have their monthly "birthdays"!  Today Ellie is 41 months old - almost 3 1/2!  Crazy...  And Alexa will be 19 months on the 17th!  My babies are definitely no longer babies...

More soon on what each of the girls are up to these days...  but the girls just woke up from naps, so out of time for now!  To be continued...