Brunch

On Christmas Eve us girls got together in the morning for a nice brunch and gift exchange. It was so nice to have everyone together again, it has been awhile since we were all in the same state! To add to the excitement of the day, Froujke has been living with Keri in Gainesville and is an exchange student from The Netherlands at UF. She came home from UF with Keri to celebrate Christmas with her family so she was able to join us for brunch and our adventure in St. Augustine (another blog coming soon). This was the first time Froujke had ever experienced an American Christmas, and the picture of her is the first Christmas present she ever opened! If you were wondering, in The Netherlands they celebrate Sinterklaas which is like Christmas in some ways. On December 25th the celebrate but it is not about gifts, Froujke explained it to me and described it as a day filled with family and food :) We all love Froujke and enjoyed having her around throughout Christmas!

This picture has a funny story: I thought this nice man looked a lot like Santa so I asked him if he wouldn't mind taking a picture with us. He was more than happy to and as it turns out he is a professional Santa from Texas and was in FL for Christmas. He is used to taking 900 pictures a day, so he said one more was not a problem :)
The girls all got glittery crosses from me (and Stephen, because he actually bought these for me) and they loved them. The pink one was perfect for Keri!
Here is Froujke opening her first Christmas present ever in America...I'm so glad we all got to be a part of that experience for her!

Sadly, Froujke is back in The Netherlands...but we will meet again :) There are more Christmas posts and New Years post from my trip to Indiana coming...

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner at my parents house and then headed to church together for the Christmas Eve Service. The puppies had on matching red Christmas sweaters and were so cute. See for yourself in the pictures :)





Hope everyone had a great Christmas Eve with family and friends!

The forecast for this week is...

SNOW!!!

I just got home from an amazing day with some girls friends and new friends for Brazil and The Netherlands and it is really late, but many people have mentioned that I need to update my blog so I thought I would try and get in a short post. Life has just been crazy busy with working full time at the dentist office and part time at Hallmark, and preparing for Christmas with family. I am looking forward to my break this week for sure!

I am so excited to be in Indiana and spend New Years with Stephen and his family :) I have lots of blogs in the process hitting on some special Christmas traditions so more posts will be coming soon, I promise! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and has a blessed New Year too!

There are lots of pictures coming soon with the new blogs...just a heads up!

Prayers...

I wanted to thank you all for the prayers and outpouring of love towards the Stratton family. The prayers now need to be directed towards the parents. Lucy Lynn went home to be with the Lord last week. I know many of you were praying for this little girl and her family even though you had no connection to them. My heart is heavy for her parents as they trust and lean on the Lord for his support during this tough time. Please continue to lift this family up in prayers!

Tonight was Lucy's viewing, and on a happy note-it was a blessing to see a spend a few minutes with each of her parents. In the short time we were together their love for each other, Lucy and the Lord has been an encouragement to me. Eric and Christina, I want you both to you know that you are incredible people and love and prayers are coming your way for many days ahead! Please let me know if you need anything...

Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."