Before we reach 2010...

Here's a "quick" vacation recap:

We had a fantastic time down in Florida with my parents and sister's family. Now that Gramz and Pappy are "snowbirds", the rest of us can benefit from having a place to visit down south! While the weather wasn't uber balmy, it was definitely warmer and we appreciated every degree difference... The boys ventured into the ocean (and so did mom and dad up to our ankles!) All I have to say is BRRR! I guess once one's skin becomes numb enough, it is bearable! The heated pool was much nicer.

The Big Kahuna lives

Christmas was festive and fun. The boys got a big kick out of all their new toys, scooters, and a cool bounce house from G and P. You could say they were in their element!

From my perspective, though, the coolest gift was this one...

She was even willing to share!

The week included more fun adventures and great times with my sister, J, and her family. The boys just love their cousins, who are worthy of any and all admiration. Such great kids!!

Mom and boys at the lighthouse

Last night beach walk with "night vision" goggles...

Daytona 2009

What a great time!! Happy New Year!

Merriest of Christmases

To you and yours!! Blessings for a wonderful holiday celebration.

Florida sand, surf, and sweetie pics to come...

First, we have to do a little Christmas rejoicing!

He is born!

Avatar, the movie

We saw it tonight in digital 3D and it was AWESOME!

Totally recommend the $13.25 (yikes!) cost per ticket (along with babysitter fees to boot!)

Still worth it... Amazing!

Buried!

The snow is at about a foot!! And we're lovin' it!

We were extremely resourceful when scrounging up snow gear today--is it really necessary to stock up every year in a town that rarely sees snow?? T wore an 18-24mos. snowsuit and liked it aok. M wore 3T snowpants and old ski mittens. And J donned old baby snowpants and his regular shoes and still had a great time. GG got out his old ski pants (complete with broken buckle) and even B-mama dusted off old duck boots that kept her tootsies nice and warm.

It was great! But the kids could hardly move, the snow went up so high! lol. Thanks, Virginia, for continuing to feed the notion that it will snow here at least once a year. The children are certain of it and I'm sure glad we didn't disappoint this year.

Staying warm and toasty by the fire,

Prego Lesson Numero Uno

If you were to happen to drop by a neighbor's house to deliver a gift,

please remove the keys from the ignition when doing so...

To avoid locking the baby in the car...

while it is running...

along with your cell phone... wallet... and other set of spare keys.

To avoid the drama of arranging boy preschool pick-up...

AAA locksmith help...

and coordinating all of these without a cell phone.

I've learned my lesson. (Praise the Lord!!!)

Thank you to Mimi and Papa for their help.

Thank you to the nice locksmith, who responded to us as "priority".

And thank you to sweet baby J, who slept through the entire thing.

God bless!

Brown Bear's Wonderful Secret

One wintry evening Brown Bear
came rushing out of the woods.
The big brown bear smiled. "I have a secret!"
"It's wonderful! It's fantastic! It's shout-out-loud
and jump-for-joy great!"

"What is it?" asked Fox.
"What is this secret that's so great?
Can you eat it?"

"No! No!" said Brown Bear impatiently.
"You wouldn't want to eat it! You'd want to snuffle
and nuzzle it. You'd want to lick it all over from
the top to the bottom and then some more!"

..."My secret isn't cold. Although you might want to wrap
it up warm and hold onto it forever."

..."My secret cannot fly. But I will
throw it up in the air, and when it sails down I'll catch it
in my big strong arms and never let it go."

..."Oh, I'll tuck it under my fur all right." said Brown Bear.
"Don't you worry about that. I'll tuck it, but I'll take it out every
day and just look and look at it because
I won't be able to believe my luck!"

..."It's not just wonderful," said Brown Bear.
"It's FABULOUS. It's so marvelous and magical...
it's miraculous, even..."


The Gasperini-Ville Census came and went the other day and found a little something.

A quite wonderful little something. A 13-week-old little secret something.
And guess who can't wait to hold it in her arms come June? (~June 23rd to be exact!)
B-mama Bear!!!

I've been holding out on you all a little while and it feels good to finally come clean!! :)
Thanks for rejoicing with us!

Our DC Date

Two weekends ago, M and I had a little mother/son date and headed up to DC to see the Nutcracker and watch a dear friend of ours perform. She was wonderful and we were both mesmerized! What a fun time it was!!

When we arrived, M was a little overwhelmed when we learned our seats were in the second row. We quickly backtracked and headed back to the ticket lady, who allowed us to sit anywhere we wanted in the balcony. Perfecto! We had a great vantage point and were able to see J dance with clarity. M was a brave champ through the scariest mouse fight scene--he had been worried about it ahead of time. He proclaimed at the end that his favorite parts were of the "snow" and "when the mouse king was killed". lol. Even more exciting was actually playing in the real white stuff outside the theater!

We finished the fantastic day with dinner with ND friends on the west side. What a treat!! Can't wait to get up there again soon...

Overheard in a houseful of boys

"No, boys. There is NO tackling in basketball."

...................

"M, if you don't come by the count of 3, you won't get to watch SportsCenter tomorrow morning."

God Speed, Dear Soldier!

The whole G-Clan back in July

Last week we rejoiced in the return of our dear friend, Chaplain Will Alley, who came back after a year-long tour in Iraq. Now it is with uplifted and hopeful hearts this week that we send off GG's brother, our dear Uncle C, to Afghanistan. His unit deployed from Italy on Wednesday and we assume he's made it safely to his AO.

Can you guess who's a favorite uncle?

He is rough. He is tough. And he has Sovereign Grace on his side. Praise God for that.

We couldn't be prouder of him and all he's accomplished since deciding to join the Army back in November of 2007. God speed, dear CG. Know of our love and prayers! Thank you for your service!!

In the meantime, if you could include him in your own prayers, we'd so appreciate it! Also, if you're looking for a soldier pen pal, email me. Mail is the greatest gift for these guys. Thank you!

Santa Visit

The boys had a chance to chat with Santa on Saturday while at a party. They all did great! Electric trains and track were tops on both older boys' lists.

T bravely went first and was surprisingly calm. He said ahead of time he was nervous about talking to Santa, but sat like a champ.

Though we did see see a little of this (comfort zone :):

You might say he set a low bar for his brothers, ensuring their success. Nice guy.

M followed and was a champ. Hands to mouth showed nerves.

But he was mostly all smiles.

And little J, well, he just about cracked us up. Does he look enthused or what?! Santa = green beans in his book. lol.

And the family shot?! Well, you'll just have to wait for our Christmas card. It was that good. When the whole family is looking and mostly everyone is smiling, it's a keeper! Put it on the Christmas card!!

Have a blessed Monday!

In the Spirit of the season,

First Snow!

We are within a snow globe... and loving every minute of it!

Signs From God

When the baby in the house brings you this:

It's pretty obvious you can't avoid the mopping any longer!

Advent Beginnings

This morning GG and I awoke to:

"Mommy, Daddy, can I open box #3... Pllleeeaasse?!"

The boys scampered out of their room and down the stairs to the kitchen table. There sits our newest Advent tradition, a gift from T's godparents, Aunt Kat and Uncle E. We constructed the pop-up manger scene on Sunday and started with Box #1 containing the Angel Gabriel and a poem about him. Box #2 yesterday held dear Mary. And today, much to our expectation, M opened Box #3 to find Joseph. There are 7 boxes in all and T is already figuring out how he can finagle the ordering to make sure he gets to open the final box. What a stinker!

All I know is that this little box containing more boxes of joy has already brought much Advent anticipation into our home. Just what we needed... Thanks Aunt Kat and Uncle E!!

T, filled with joy, but showing a very serious Advent face.

True Advent joy from the peanut gallery of Papa and J!