Wordless{ish} Wednesday

Excited to have you all along for this journey!!


LAST DAY!!:

 

2012 Hopes & Dreams

ENDING SOON!!:



 

Our {New} Christmas Traditions

I had intended to post pictures along with this post, but I'm suffering from serious laziness today (recovering from yesterdays highs) and drained from dealing with a random power outage this afternoon/evening at our apartment.  Power has been restored, but energy has been drained.
Our first Christmas together {just the 3 of us} was so memorable.  We are usually home in Seattle with my family, but despite being bummed to stay home, I knew that this year would be special.  Jerry and I had been discussing traditions that we would start in our family going forward.  I'm pretty happy at how it has all turned out.
In our family, the gifts we receive come from the true source of all we have, our heavenly father….not Santa.   Santa is just another character like Frosty and the Grinch, and he does not deliver to our home.
We only open one gift each on Christmas Eve…and it is the same gift every year…a new pajama set for each of us to wear that night and lounge in Christmas day.
We will sometimes attend a Christmas eve service with our spiritual family.  {This year, we decided it was too cold, too far and a little too late in the evening for our little lady.}
Bedtime on Christmas eve will include the story of Christ's birth from the Bible, as well as readings from our special Nativity book and singing carols for lullabies.  
Christmas morning starts with fresh brewed coffee and cocoa, and the emptying of our stockings.
Our traditional Christmas morning breakfast is Chicken & Waffles with Maple Syrup.
After breakfast, we open the rest of our gifts to one another.
We spend time together as a family, playing games, watching movies, listening to Christmas music, enjoying the gifts we've been blessed with.
We have a nice family dinner together.
We celebrate Jesus' birthday by baking him a yummy cake and singing "Happy Birthday" to him.



REMEMBER!!:






 

Merry Christmas! Glory to God in the Highest!!

REMEMBER!!:



 

Sneak Preview Saturday!!

REMINDER:


Welcome to the last sneak peek before the full redesign goes live next weekend!! I am really excited to share today's preview, because it reveals my goals and heart for this blog in 2012. Today I present to you the regular "series" line up for 2012. Some things will continue, but as you will see I have some exciting plans for this coming year.

Previously known as the "Weekly Wrap Up", I will continue to share a weekly summary of our Baxtron{Life} with lots of pictures of our activities and {of course} Zion!!

I've decided to merge my "From Mama B's Kitchen", "Recipes of the Week", "What's for dinner?" posts into one series that encompasses all food topics.  I'm not sure that I will post weekly meal plans anymore, but I will definitely continue posting recipes.

"Pinning!" will continue and {hopefully} grow into an even greater Pinterest Linky event, hopefully with giveaways and other fun prizes for the "Pinning-est" ladies on the web.

Until I had Zion, I always had a flat stomach.  Not anymore.  It is {sadly} official, I have a muffintop.  But, I plan on BLASTING it away this year.  Hopefully before I conceive baby number 2.  

This is a continuation of the same named series.  I believe strongly that in a time when Marriage is suffering so greatly in so many ways, people need honest, thoughtful encouragement in this area.  I'm committed to growing a stronger marriage, and so I will continue to share what I learn with you.

God has put a deep burden in my heart for the children of Liberia, a war-torn country in West Africa that is full of orphans who are in desperate need of love and hope.  I have no idea at this moment what God wants me to do, but I invite you to follow along in the adventure as He reveals His will for me {us} in 2012.

This new series is going to be a monthly or semi-monthly interview/post about a woman in my life that inspires me.  There are really so many of them, I cannot wait to introduce each one to you!!

And finally, the scariest series of my life.  The pure, unscripted truth about my life.  I have been through a lot in a very short time on this planet, and I believe {just like each of us} I have a story to tell.  This is where things get real about who I am.

I can't wait to kick off each of these series in the new year!

Merry Christmas Eve to you all!!