Growing... Like a Weed

Samuel's hair grows fast!
Saturday marked the day of his second haircut.
Grandpa gave it to him this time.

Dad was surprised at how fine his hair is,
even though he has quite a bit of it.
It has been too many years since he cut Shawn
and Nick's hair when it was as fine as Samuel's.

Samuel sat like a very big boy and actually
seemed to enjoy all the attention and eyes on him.

* The pictures are snapshots from a video that we took
so please excuse the poor quality.

Girl's Best Friend

If you know Katrina at all you know that
she is a collector.
Rock collections.
Shell collections.
Sticker collections.
Worm collections.

Not long ago we were at my parents
and Katrina discovered a moth inside the house.
She quickly asked Nana for something to put it into.
Nana grabbed the closest thing around,
a quart-size jar.

Perfect, right?
Right.
Unless it has a little water residue in it
from when it was last washed....
Poor little moth didn't know what
hit her when she fell into a pool of water
at the bottom of her new home.
She was dead before she knew what
she landed in.
Needless to say, Katrina was devastated.
She has not had a pet discovery since
Lily Ann and her second-cousins twice-removed.
We brought the jar home
as she was so hopeful that her newest pet
would make a recovery.
It never did.

Well, today Nana made up for that grave error.
Today at our family Christmas gathering
Grandpa and Nana gave Katrina something
even better than a real moth in a jar.
They gave Katrina a "My Pet Butterfly."

It is an ingenious invention.
It is a very real looking butterfly inside of a
plastic quart-size jar.
And when the jar is tapped, the butterfly flies around
inside the jar.
Her eyes were as wide as saucers when she figured
out what it was.
She named her butterfly "Jingles."

Our only concern is that she is adament that we
feed "Jingles" and she is asking everyone
she sees if they know anything about butterflies
and what they eat.

For now, we have her convinced that they eat air
and that there is enough air in the jar to last her quite a while.

Celebrating with the Gehring Clan

Today we went to Shawn and Leanne's house
to celebrate as the Gehring family.

Katrina and Samuel were captivated by Aunt Leanne's
singing gingerbread house, tree and snowman.
Katrina enjoyed dancing to the music
while Samuel made the rounds turning them all on at once.
Pancho spent some time playing with the dogs: Ginger and Kyah.

After enjoying Mom's homemade egg nog
we headed to the lower level to exchange some gifts.

The kids enjoyed opening a few more presents.
Each year we try to do something a bit different among the adults.
In the past we have done gifts based around the
theme of "my favorite things."
This year, however, we decided to give one another consumable gifts.
It was great to see the creativity among the couples.
We made the jar-filled items pictured on the silver chargers.
(all-purpose spice rub, hot fudge, individual jar pies)
Shawn and Leanne gave everyone a different meal that they prepared.
Nick and Amber gave each couple something consumable perfect for each
couple's likes and demeanors.
Dad and Mom made homemade ice cream, homemade pesto and then gave us each a bag of shrimp along with another VERY generous gift to use toward "family betterment" as they call it.
After the gifts we took some pictures.
Samuel was getting hungry and was not
happy about yet another picture, but we turned out ok.
The rest of the family looks great!

After the pictures we moved back to the main level
to finish preparing the pasta bar for lunch.
Each family contributed something and we ate like kings and queens.
We had:
pear and cashew salad
penne pasta
thin spaghetti
GF fusilli
marinara sauce
alfredo sauce
pesto
meatballs
grilled chicken
steamed shrimp
parmesan cheese
garlic bread
We had to wait several hours in order to eat the two yummy
desserts Leanne had prepared.

Thanks, Gehring clan, for the fun-filled day.
We love you tons!

Handy Manny Meet Handy Trini

Katrina has enjoyed spending much of this week
with her papa, being handy.
Pancho has been wiring different areas of
our basement and his right-hand woman has been Katrina.

She does everything in style, even being Miss Handy.

los Duran 2010

Here we are.
Nearing the end of 2010.

Samuel will be 2 years old in less than one month.
Katrina will be 5 in less than two months.
We will just let you guess how old Pancho and I will be in 2011!

We have had an incredible year.
Incredible highs.
Incredible lows.
God has been faithful throughout.
Just like always.

GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS.

BEST Christmas to-date

We enjoyed the BEST Christmas to-date.
We had already experienced gift day and
worked hard to prepare our hearts to marvel
at God's GREATEST gift to us:
Jesus, His Son.

I found the perfect balloon while we were purchasing our
birthday party supplies.

Katrina helped me decorate the dining room for
Jesus' birthday party.
She made place cards for all of our guests
and helped decorate the cake.

We prepared Italian burgers and homemade french fries
for the birthday dinner.
Grandpa, Nana and Uncle Nick were able
to join us for the delicious down-home dinner.

After dinner was served we quickly
cleared the table and brought the cake over.

Katrina and Samuel sang their loudest to Jesus.
"Happy Birthday" is the one song that
Samuel can actually sing and well!
We enjoyed the yummy cake together.

Nana cuddled up with the kids on the sofa
while Pancho and I cleaned up and she
read them the Christmas story for
the 100th time that day.

It was an absolutely wonderful day
rejoicing in the fact that Jesus was born to die for us.
We could not have asked for a better day.
It was not about the gifts or the food.
It was all about Him.

It is all about You, Jesus.
Thank You for preparing our hearts
to grasp that message so clearly this year.
Happy birthday and we love You!

Gift Day 2010

This year we have been working very hard with
both Katrina and Samuel on the idea that
Christmas is about Jesus.
Katrina knows that we celebrate Jesus' birthday at Christmas
and we have talked about her birthday and who gets gifts on her birthday.
Then we discuss that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and
who should get gifts on His birthday.

A few years ago a good friend shared a neat idea she did with her family
as she grew up.
It was called Gift Day.
One day during the month of December was designated as Gift Day.
The children did not know when Gift Day was during the month.
On Gift Day the family would exchange gifts.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were set aside to celebrate Jesus' birthday.

The idea really resonated with us.
This year more than ever we yearn to marvel at Christmas and
we believe that Gift Day was a great fit for where our family is right now.

So, yesterday, we celebrated gift day.
Last year we decided that we would give each of our children three gifts.
It helped put a boundary on what can be an overwhelming and obsessing task.
So, after Pancho and the kids arrived home from the airport
(they took our Venezuelan visitor there)
we sat them down on the sofa and explained the "rules" for Gift Day 2010.
I had hid the gifts in strategic places throughout the house and I gave them one clue
to find their first gift.

They ran upstairs and retrieved their gift.
They brought them down with huge smiles!
They opened the first gift with enthusiasm and actually were mesmerized by the
gifts until we mentioned there was another gift hiding.
It was such a blessing for them to be thankful for each individual gift.

After opening their three gifts they played for hours with them.

We by no means think this is the right way to celebrate Christmas
as Jesus' birthday and yet for our family it was the right way this year.
What are you doing to celebrate Jesus' birthday?
Remember, there'd never be a Christmas without Jesus.

Venezuelan Visitor

Last week we entertained a dear Venezuelan visitor.
Our good friend, Kendy, came to visit from Thursday through Monday.
We would have loved for her to stay MUCH MUCH longer.
We were able to enjoy some wonderful American meals and
then on Saturday she helped us make our best-to-date
hallacas.

The Sterken's are "local Venezuelans" who help us
every year and joined us yet again to participate in some
of the most fun hallaca-assembling we have experienced.
And the hallacas turned out amazing.
Kendy had all of the tricks of the trade, so to speak, and we
are thoroughly enjoying hallacas almost daily because of her!
* Samuel wanted to help but did not get the idea of one garbanzo bean/hallaca.
Hence the sad face!

These two ...

... give us so much joy.

Past or present participle

Are you ever somewhere, listening intently

and you hear something and suddenly you stop listening

and it is almost as if your mind is in another place?

Your thoughts are racing and when you begin to listen again

you realize you have missed quite a bit of what has been said?

That happened to me on Sunday.

I was sitting in the worship service at our church

preparing my heart and mind for the Lord's supper,

which was about to be served,

and the pastor said something that made my mind race around.

He shared that the Bible is clear that those who

participate in the Lord's supper must complete two criteria:

* the individual must be trusting in Christ's work alone on the cross to save

him/her from their sins

* the individual must eat the bread and drink the cup in a worthy manner

(having confessed all current sin)

When he said "trusting" my mind raced away.

Over the years I have heard these comments about the Lord's supper countless times.

Yet, Sunday, I heard "trusting" for the first time.

Am I currently, today, right now, trusting Jesus's work on the cross for my salvation?

Or, have I trusted (when I was 9) and now am I working for my salvation?

For the first time I heard and saw a difference that I think it critical.

The Bible clearly explains that our salvation is based upon God's grace and our faith.

Not by works.

So why have I come to this place where I say,

"I trusted Jesus to save me all those years ago"

and then go on to be doing things to receive a better position with Him?

I cannot receive a better position with Him.

I must go on trusting in His work on the cross to save me.

P.E.R.I.O.D.

It is a one time deal.

John 1:12 uses the past tense.

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,

even to those who believe on His name."

I received Him and His work.

But I need to be mindful to not go on working to become a child of God.

That was a done-deal 24 years ago.

Lord, help me to live trusting Your work on the cross to save me.

Please point out when I fall prey to the trusted mentality.

Thank You for perking up my ears to hear that VERY subtle, yet critical difference.