From our house to yours...Merry Christmas!

We took this pic this morning. Notice the hint of a piano behind me...that was Joshua's musical gift from us. Micaela got a flute, with lessons from her Auntie Krista, and Josiah got a tamborine (he really does have great rhythm for a 4 year old) and a guitar, and Mikey got a guitar too. I got (from a different part of the family) a kareoke machine, so now, we are officially "The Family Von Blatt's". hehe

(that's from Sound of Music for those of you who didn't catch it) ;)

Merry Christmas to you all!

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve already! Our entire household has been really sick all week. Mikey only worked 1 1/2 nights! So Christmas has really snuck up on us. But luckily ALL the presents are wrapped, which we usually are finishing at 3:00 Christmas morning! But with church in the morning, and us being sick, we can't afford to stay up so late tonight. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and that our Lord and Saviour makes Himself so evident in all your family gatherings! I love you all!

Christmastime is busytime

Sorry I've been too busy to blog lately. Our schedule has been PACKED!!! We did have the kids Musical at Church on Sunday night. Here are some pics from the musical. It was really cute. Nothing much else has been going on exciting enough to write about...just getting our family ready for Christmas...which, by the way, is in ONLY 5 DAY!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!

Ok, I'll relax about that now, and wrap some presents, but here are some pics for you to enjoy.

This is Josh as Sam the Donkey at the church play.





This is Josiah dancing during 1 of the 2 songs he was part of.









This is Micaela before her dance during the same musical.








This pic is of Micaela during her school musical. Yep, that's right...2 Christmas musicals in 1 week for Micaela! That one was called "What in the World is Christmas" and explored the different traditions in different countries. It was pretty cute.

Ok, that about catches you all up. Merry Christmas to you all!

Christmas Joy

Last week Sunday, was our CHRISMAS JOY at church. Our small group was in charge of putting it on this year. Instead of doing just one scene, we decided to do 5 different scenes, starting with Angel Gabriel speaking to Mary then Joseph. That's what this first pic is of. Then, the narrator lead the group past the Roman Centurion, telling them to go to Bethlehem for the census. That's this second pic.

The third pic is Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem done as a shadow puppet. We weren't sure how it was going to turn out, but I think it turned out pretty cool. We couldn't find a real donkey to use for the scene...hehe

The fourth scene was Saydee being the Innkeeper telling Mary and Joseph there was no room in the Inn and pointing out back to the stable. Which leads us to the final scene. After the narrator read about the birth, I sang the first verse and chorus of "What Child is This". We had the shepherds come to the stable, which were mostly the kids of those who worked on the whole thing, so we didn't have to worry about them that night.




This last pic is of the stage that we had set up. We had a group from Huntington Park Church who played and sang. We also had Debbie (from church) and her 2 sisters sing in a trio, the ladies of the church sang carols, and the kids performed a few songs from the program they are performing on the 18th at 6:30...hint hint...come and see if you are around ;)
Anyways, all in all, I think it was an AWESOME night! We did A LOT of REALLY HARD work before, during, and after, but it was all worth it. We have decided that we are NOT IT for heading it up next year, but I can honestly speak for my whole group when I say that we were all truly blessed by this experience, and feel lucky to have been part of the whole thing. Thank You, Jesus, for helping us thru it all! We love You and Happy Birthday!!!

Christmas at Disneyland

On Monday night, we got to go to a private night at Disneyland for employees and their families only. It started at 7:30 and ended at 12:30. It was fun...we were a little grumpy being as tired as we were, but it was nice to be there when it wasn't very crowded. We took our picture with Jesse, which we'll get later, and we gave the Marine a baby doll for Toys for Tots. We also got to see THE REAL SANTA!!!!! He was just an amazing guy! Micaela and Josiah are convinced that he's the real one. He made sure they knew to leave him cookies and CHOCOLATE milk for him when he stops at our house. We spent most of the evening with Stephen and Kelly Garis and their girls. Stephen is the guy who got Mikey the job. So this is our pic with Santa. Jus thought you'd enhoy it. :)

One of the scariest things I've ever experienced!

Last night, for Joshua' birthday dinner, we went to Downtown Disney to go to The Rainforest Cafe. It was pretty busy, and Josiah was running around while we waited for our table. A couple of times I told him, "If you can't see Mommy or Daddy, you're too far." Michael asked me to go in and see if they'd seat us without our whole party there. As I came out of the restaurant, I looked around, then asked Michael, "Where's Joe?" He gave me a quizzical look. I told him, "I'm not kidding. Where's Joe?" His response..."I don't know."

Ok, so now, I'm starting to FREAK OUT! Here we are, at the very busy Downtown Disney, and my little boy is missing. And we are right by the monorail, and the parking lot, so if he's been taken, he's gone for sure. I started running around, yelling his name, looking for him and a police officer. By this time I am absolutely HYSTERICAL! Tears are streaming down my face. As I'm just about to ask where the officer is, my brother calls out my name. "Jill, we've got him." Thank you, Jesus! He had decided he wanted to go back in the store to the talking tree. Needless to say, Daddy gave him a stern talking to...about how "anybody could've taken him and he wouldn't be with us anymore. And look how upset Mommy is. You really scared us." I don't know that Michael spanked him. All I know is that I sat there for a long time, still crying because I was so relieved he was back.

My friends at work assured me that even if someone had taken him, they probably would've brought him back after just a few minutes because of what a stinker he is. I agree with that, but I still don't think I EVER want to go thru anything even remotely as scary as that EVER again!

Thank you, Jesus, for keeping my little booger safe and bringing him back to me!