We have six big trees in our backyard that yield a lot of pretty leaves this time of the year.  We didn’t even try that hard and got a big pile perfect for some leaf diving.  We love our trees and the fact that we get to experience a little bit of a fall season…even if it is in January :).

This Christmas/New Years break was so dreamy having Jeremy home and hanging out as a family.  So dreamy, that yesterday when Jeremy went to work it was…well, it was depressing.  We had such a great time ringing in the New Year this year.   Some of the best memories were going to Tumbleweed park at sunset, playing in our backyard with all the leaves, hanging out with Great Grandma and Grandpa Hoverson, and enjoying a visit from cousin Mark.

We can just tell, it’s going to be a great year!!!

I thought it would be fun to look through old pictures from this past year and put up some random memories and fun times that Asher had in ’09.  Jeremy and I were struck by how much he’s grown and how much our lives have changed in one year.  We’ve went from onesies and formula, to Asher saying, “cheethsbuger an fries peese”.  Crazy.  We can wait to watch him grow in 2010!

JANUARY-JUNE

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JULY-DECEMBER

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Our Christmas weekend turned out a little different than planned because family was stranded in ND, but we still had a great weekend and enjoyed the time together just the three of us.  We had a really nice Christmas day.  Asher woke up and ran right to the plate of cookies we had left out for Santa, which just tickled us.  Our Christmas tradition isn’t anything spectacular or overly enthusiastic, but we look forward to it every year – jammies and homemade pizzas.  Jeremy made a really yummy homemade crust this year, which will for sure be used for years to come!

We decided to take a day trip to Flagstaff the day after Christmas to add a little white to our Christmas and enjoy some sledding.  We had a great time together!  Asher did so well in the car, which we were a little nervous about because the last car trip we took was nothing to be desired.  The secret ingredient – movies.  I don’t know why I was killing myself last time with toys and books.  On a side note, Bolt is one of the cutest movies!  Thanks Uncle Lance and Auntie Sarah for a great Christmas gift!

Asher had a lot of fun walking around in the snow, and eating it, and sledding with daddy.  Asher and I went down the hill a few times, but I took him down bigger hills and our sled always ended up going backwards or tipping over usually resulting in his face in the snow.  I just can’t drive those things!  I think the best memory from our trip was when we were sitting at a table at Burger King (special, I know) and we were talking to Asher about our family and how thankful we were to go on a family trip together.  Asher just sat there chowing on his cheeseburger listening when all of a sudden he pipes up, “Daddy, Mommy, Me, Daddy, Mommy, Me.  Daddy my family!”  It was so sweet.

We’re ready for Santa!

We’ve been having a lot of fun preparing for Christmas around here!  On top of all the great usuals like Christmas lights, music, books, movies, and cookies, we made an Advent craft this week that was provided through our church for the children.  We’re supposed to go through and talk about each ornament (Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, Immanuel, Messiah) in depth and read the scriptures each week as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth.  I know with each year that passes we’ll be able to spend more time talking about this beautiful story, but this year we are dealing with a toddler who eats glue…literally, look at the picture of him using the glue stick like it’s chap stick, ha!  So, the advent lesson was brief this year, but that’s ok, Jeremy and I look forward to many more years of teaching Asher these truths about Jesus.

HOPE_There is certainty and fact connected with the word hope.  We celebrate the hope of Jesus’ return at Christmas.

PEACE_God gave peace to His people through Jesus.  This is not just world peace, which will come when Jesus returns, but this is peace inside us.

JOY_Joy to the World!  This song is loved because it says that happiness has come to the world because Jesus came to the world.  Jesus came into the world to be the Savior of the world.  He came to bring life, to wake up our dead hearts, and make them work.  Jesus is the true source of Joy.

LOVE_The true love of Christmas is that Jesus would give Himself for us.  God knew when He was sending His only Son that He would have to die.  This love for us is big and real and so wonderful that God would give His child for us.

IMMANUEL_The angel said this was to be Jesus’ name because it means, “God with Us.”  God desires relationship with us.  He wants to be with us.

MESSIAH_Jesus came as the Messiah, which means Promised Deliverer.  He came to save His people and to change hearts.

We’re looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year!!!  Merry Christmas!!!

Yikes!  Totally didn’t expect this!  I guess “Santa” is more fun just to talk about, then to actually sit on his lap.  I can understand why he hated this whole situation, but he was sure excited about the idea of going to see Santa, and looking at him from afar, ha!

A couple of memories from our Santa visit that I wanted to record…we deliberately rushed out of the house to make it over to the mall so that we could avoid a big line.  Well, just so happens Black River School decided to do the same thing!  So, here’s us, waiting in line behind about 50 5th graders with all their hand-written letters to Santa.  I thought about leaving, but that just sounded like double the amount of work to get out of the house again!

The second, most memorable of memories was that Asher decided to fill his diaper with what smelled like the worse raw sewage you have ever smelled in your life five minutes before he sat on Santa’s lap, LOL!  People were giving me the glares like, “are you going to take care of that or what?!”  My answer, “Are you kidding me!  I’m so pot committed at this point, we’re not leaving this line!”  I was dying inside, but I just kept smiling a lot hoping people would look to another kid to blame, ha!

So, after an hour of the mall being relatively quiet, Asher was introduced to Santa.  I guess he’s not a fan…at least for this year!

We just wanted to wish all our family and friends a Merry Christmas!  We love you all, and hope you have a blessed holiday!

We have a date for the 2nd Annual Silent Auction benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, in honor of Asher Olimb!  We’re so excited about this event, and would be incredibly honored to have you join us!  We’re just starting the process of collecting donations and getting the details in place, but here are the majors you need to know about…

DATE: Saturday, March 6th

TIME: 4:00-6:00p (Silent Auction ending at 5:30p)

LOCATION: The Commons at East Valley Bible Church

Please help us to spread the word!  If you or someone you know would be willing to donate to our auction (an item or a service) please email me (rachelolimb@gmail.com).  We have all the forms needed for tax credits, and would be happy to deliver/pick-up just about anywhere.  Asher and I spent a lot of quality time in the car gearing up for the Silent Auction last year, and we’re ready again!

Thank you in advance to everyone for your support!  We so desperately desire a cure for our son and the 70,000 others with this disease, and we really appreciate you joining us in this cause.  THANK YOU!!!

Grandma Necas came for a visit this weekend to celebrate her birthday, and we all had a blast!!!  It was so fun watching Asher and Grandma play together, they were absolute buds! Asher loved showing Grandma his digs, and especially had fun playing with his playdough with her.  It was really cute for Jeremy and I to listen to them talk and giggle together as they made snowmen and pretend pizzas.  Happy Birthday, Grandma Necas!  Thanks for coming to celebrate with us!

Grandma bought us lots of fun things while she was here.  Here’s a picture of Asher sporting his new Buzz Lightyear jammies, and suitcase (very subtle, mom, ha!).  Asher has been pulling this suitcase all around the house.  He loves it so much, his bike is getting a little jealous.  Grandma also bought him a Vikings football so we could warm up for the Vikings vs. Cardinals game.  It’s crazy how quickly he can pick up on things, towards the end of our practice round he was throwing spirals with one hand!

Oh I just LOVE the picture of Asher’s little face by the Christmas tree…I’m pretty sure we’re blessed!