http://worship.gateway-community.com/weekend-review-06-0607-09/

For those of you catching up with us from Ohio and Indiana, it started snowing here one Sunday. It snowed most of the day. Portland got it worse than we did, but we actually ended up with a fair amount to play in and enjoy. My parent’s only got a dusting over at their house, so we were lucky. It has warmed up since this morning and is now a delightful 28 degrees outside, and it is not expected to get above freezing all week. That hasn’t happened out here since 1990, so it is a definite rarity!

We bundled Hannah up and took her out for a few minutes on Sunday. The wind chill really had the temperature down, so we didn’t let her play for long. As the week went on, the snow just continued to fall. Hannah went out several more times. Some  of her favorite activities included scooping up snow with her net, throwing snowballs at Mom and Dad (she thought she was VERY funny), making snowmen with Daddy, and making snow angels. (She has been making carpet angels ever since.) We both had a lot of fun going out to play with her, and seeing the magic of the snow through her eyes.

Our celebrations started on December 21st, at my Grandma’s house, where we celebrated with my Mom’s family. On Christmas Eve, we were together as a family, and enjoyed a quiet day at home. We made our traditional home-made pizza for dinner, and then let each of the kids open one present. David and I always watch, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” every year. (and yes, I always cry.)

We woke up and ate our home-made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and then let the kids open their stockings. They were both really happy, and just delighted with even the smallest of presents. Henry went down for a nap, and Hannah got to open her gifts. Her big present this year was a dollhouse. Henry’s big present was a little tool bench and tools. It was really nice to be able  to stop and spend time with the kids, and allow them to open and play with their new toys. I think Hannah wanted EVERYTHING opened right away. It was so much fun for David and I to make them happy. Of course, we both got some great presents too.

We went to my parent’s house in the afternoon for lunch and yes, more gifts. (We now have a present embargo.) The kids had fun opening more things, and stopping to play with their new treasures.

Our Christmas celebrations concluded on New Year’s Day, when we had the Smith family up to our house for Christmas. The highlight of this Christmas is always the white elephant exchange, where I’ll just say that Grandma gave me “pay-backs.” The kids had fun with their cousins, and it was a relaxed afternoon.

There are just too many pictures to comment on each of them individually, so I hope you enjoy the gallery of MANY Christmas photos. You will be able to see some of the highlights from our celebrations. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Halloween was a lot of fun. This year was the first year we took Hannah around the neighborhood knocking on doors for candy. It taught us one thing…Greed is innate. After about 4 houses, Hannah figured out what was going on and would start saying “More Candy.”

After we went knocking for candy, we went to Laurelwood’s Fall Festival, it was fun to see some of our old friends and for them to get to see our kids.

Here are the pics!

Here it is:

Rest In Your Peace

You can also listen to the recording of a communion instrumental I played on the “David’s Music Page“

Lindner Photographic was started out of the desire to provide high quality photography along with high quality customer service. We feel that there’s no reason the process of getting your pictures taken can’t be enjoyable. Pictures create memories, and we think they should be happy ones!
We specialize in customer service and client-centered premium portraits. In our business, the client comes first as we seek to tailor your portrait experience to the needs of your family.

For your customized portrait session, plan to spend approximately one to two hours with us. At Lindner Photographic, we believe in capturing real moments, rather than creating forced ones. In place of unnatural and awkward poses coupled with fake smiles, we believe in taking our subject matter’s lead and finding those moments that are unique to them.

We believe in using nature, local architecture, and our community as the backdrop for your portraits.

At Lindner Photographic, we use the highest quality digital enhancement services to maximize the appearance of your portraits, and bring out the very best in you and your family.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support as we are beginning this new venture. Pray for us to book clients, and please feel free to refer your friends! =) You can check out our website and see a few examples of our work, check out our specials, see some of our on-location shoots, etc.  at www.lindnerphotographic.com

We are still building our portfolio, so check back often to see new examples of our work. We have had one shoot already, have one on Thursday, and one scheduled for next week.  We are excited for the work we have found, and feel blessed to be doing something we both enjoy together. Again, thank you for your prayers.

We first stopped to look at the antique tractors. ( I think this was mostly for David.) Then we headed over to the giant hay bale pyramid. David and I expected Hannah to be too afraid to go near it, but she proved us wrong right away. Our little fearless one climbed right up to the top all on her own, amidst the kids much older than her. She loved it. Then we headed over to the little tractors for the kids to ride on. Hannah got a kick out of that. We went and did the hay maze, and Hannah had it solved in no time! She didn’t take a wrong turn even once. (All the while, Henry was just being content, go with the flow Henry situated comfortably in the baby Bjorn.) He was just taking everything in with his ever-content way of living. We went to see the farm animals. Hannah especially liked the chickens and the baby pigs. She even got down and touched the pig all on her own. The hayride was probably one of the things Hannah had been looking forward to the most. She just loved it. It was so much fun to watch her smile as we bumped along. When we got to the actual pumpkin patch, she quickly picked out a small pumpkin…very proudly. She loved that little pumpkin and was happy she could carry it all by herself. We ended our day with cups of apple cider ( a first for Hannah). It was a really fun trip, and we loved being able to do it with the kids.

Speaking of talking…Henry is saying “ma-ma”!!!! It is wonderful and I haven’t gotten tired of hearing him say that yet!

Henry is desperately wanting to crawl. He can really get around with rolling, and is close to crawling. To be on par with Hannah, Henry would need to be crawling by mid-December…however, we think he’ll crawl before then. He can get his little bottom up in the air, and holds his body up really well….He just can’t quite figure out how to move himself forward. He is VERY fast with the rolling though. He is also close to sitting up by himself. He can “tripod” sit (sit while holding himself up with his hands), and can  walk backwards while sitting in his walker.

He is eating some solid foods now. He loves homemade bananas and applesauce, and also likes pears. He is slowly getting used to taking carrots, and will take two or three spoonfuls of sweet potato. He instantly threw up green beans.

He continues to sleep really well for us. Henry will sleep from 7:00 pm until around 6:00 am, have a bottle, and then sleep until around 8:00. He takes 2-3 naps during the day as well.

His favorite things are definitely Hannah, musical toys, and anything he can put in his mouth. We are having so much fun with him, and feel really lucky to have a son like him. Enjoy the pictures!!