God is the reason we celebrate once again another Christmas season. He has given us many things this year for which we thank Him, especially the gift of His Son. Here are a few of the things we enjoyed by God’s grace this year.On March the 28th Nessa Grace arrived. Her sisters and brother were overjoyed to have a sister to hold. Then in April grandparents came to meet her.
In June we spent a few days in southern MN camping with the Anna’s immediate family and then enjoyed our first ever LaPine family reunion in northern Minnesota in July. We were thrilled to see most of the family on Anna’s side and spend a few days at the cabin, skiing, tubing, and fellowshipping with fellow believers. We are truly blessed to have so many Christian family members. Not everyone has that opportunity to be able to sing and praise God in a reunion setting.
In July, Logan went to Camp Fairwood with the Senior Highers, and in August we led our Gilgal Day Camp for the first through sixth graders. We brought the kids to a variety of racing events and activities including sled dogs, a race track, a BMX track, and going go-carting.
In October we helped another church in town with the October Fabulous Fall Festival. Our kids and church people had a blast putting on the Halloween alternative activity. Nina of course dressed up like a princess and Nat and Nora were bears.
Then for Thanksgiving Logan’s family came for a week. We rented the house across the street from ours and enjoyed time together. We hadn’t seen his sister, Lindsay and her husband Michael for two years. And Logan’s dad got to meet Nessa for the first time.
• Logan has been keeping busy this year working for the local Cable TV station. He has his own show called “Around the Corner” where he interviews people in the area about different events. One time we all went to a wildlife park while he interviewed the zoo
keepers. The kids were excited to be on TV in the background petting the animals. He has also done a lot of counseling this year, as well as deer and pheasant hunting, and slowly working away at finishing off our basement.
• Anna is keeping busy now trying to figure out how to run a house with four kids five and under. She has not had time to do a whole lot else. She does try to keep up with her scrap-booking and helping out at church in various ministries. She and her sister, Amy, started a blog this year and Anna also tried her best at some canning. The jam turned out great, and the apple sauce, but the salsa wasn’t quite right.
• Nina (5 years) passed her first year of swimming lessons this past summer and now has started going to preschool once a week. She loves it, especially being able to ride the preschool bus home. Her three favorite things are princesses, flowers, and kitties. She asks for a kitten at least once a month. She also sang a duet in our recent Christmas program which Anna led. Nina loves to play with Barbies and especially loves to do art projects. She is enjoying the snow we have here, and she really loves to go to church. She has lots of friends her age. Her favorite Bible verse is Ephesians 4:32. She wanted me to write that she loves to dress up in dress up clothes, and play with her kitchen set.
• Nat (3 years) doesn’t know what to do at home the day Nina is gone to preschool, but he is slowly adjusting. He, although very much boy, still loves to play princess and dance with Nina. Anna made him a prince costume so that he wouldn’t wear dresses anymore. He will grow out of that stage we are sure and will be very embarrassed by it. He also loves playing games on the computer and was potty trained this year (finally). Nina and Nat started Patch the Pirate Club this fall and Nat has had a blast singing with all the girls. (He is the only boy at church his age—another reason why he loves princesses). He likes to color and play tackle with daddy. And he wanted me to tell you that oranges are his favorite food!
• Nora (2 years) is our most determined child. She just turned two. She knows exactly her plans for the day and can’t seem to stay out of trouble. She loves to climb. At one point in the year Anna actually tried to tie the chairs to the table so Nora couldn’t climb onto the counter, but it didn’t work. Nora pulled the whole table and chairs with her. She tries to wear the same Dora Pajamas every day and night. Anna’s only lifesaver with this girl is that she loves taking naps and will ask to go lay down after lunch.
• Nessa is our little one. She is nine months old now, but still pretty small for her age. She smiles and loves the other kids. She just started crawling and although determined, doesn’t seem to have Nora’s temperament. Praise the Lord! Anna is really enjoying her because she is very sweet and loves to snuggle. She really enjoys playing the piano.
God has been so good to us. We are so grateful for our family and the ministry he has put us in. We are rejoicing this Christmas again for the birth of His Son. We hope you all have a great upcoming year and continue to praise God for what he is doing in your lives.
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