now appearing for the first time, 2010!

don't we all just love new things. new things are fun and exciting because they have never been experienced before. it is thrilling to encounter them because we do not know what to expect.

the dictionary definition of "new" is having just been made or come into being;  of a kind now existing or appearing for the first time; or something not previously experienced or encountered


we all have experienced many new things in our lifetime:

a new born baby,
a new puppy,
a new outfit,
a new piece of furniture for our home,
a new revelation of the love of God,
a new piece of knowledge or wisdom
a new recipe
a new home,
a new friend,
a new marriage
a new car
a new song
a new day
a new year

there is just something about new things that excite our senses and make us giddy. our eyes get wide with delight as we try to take it all in. it is fun to look at fresh, new things before they begin to look worn, like new clothes before they have been laundered several times or new carpet before it has been walked on a million times.

i love the smell of a newborn baby, puppies, or a brand new car. even a brand new built house smells so good.

 i also always want to touch and feel things that are new. i love to hold a new baby or a puppy or touch that new material on a fresh piece of furniture. if you ever noticed a child when they encounter something new, they want to touch everything in sight.

hearing a new song for the first time that touches my heart or tasting a delicious new recipe that i have never tasted before are wonderful experiences that i love as well.  there is just something about ongoing new experiences that touch our soul and make life exciting.

new things are never new for long. new babies grow up, new puppies become dogs, new clothes begin to look old, new homes and cars get old and need to be refurbished or replaced, new friends become old friends, new marriages become long time shared lives, new songs become old songs that bring back memories, and new recipes sometimes become family favorites.

there is something comforting and enjoyable about the old as well. we know what to expect and are comforted by what we have learned from the things of old. we have usually built a relationship with the older things in our lives and they have taught us or granted us the memories in our lives. old things are hard to let go of sometimes. i had a hard time selling our last home because we lived there in the years of my kids being so young. i have so many memories from living there. my kids still consider that house, "ours." an old comfortable chair or an old family recipe may bring warmth of familiarity to our lives.

each of our lives are filled with so much that is old and new. we learn from the old and live for the new by allowing the comfort, enjoyment, and wisdom that we have gathered from the old bring excitement about what the new might add to it. but, new is necessary for thrill and purpose. without it, life can become dull, boring, and lacking in energy.

its time! its time for the new! its time to take what we learned and the memories from this last year, which is soon to be old, and jump into the new year! are you excited to see the things that God has in store for us? your tastebuds excited for the new foods your will enjoy? your ears elated for the new music you will hear? are you in anticipation of the experiences that await you? is your soul leaping for the excitement of the new friendships you will make and the new depths that God is going to take us, in Him? come one, get excited!! it's a new year!!! now appearing for the first time, 2010

what a fun Christmas gift!

grandma judy's Christmas gift to the grand daughters

a pedicure and a manicure

 (amanda, briona, olivia, victoria, rachel, kristen)

the day after Christmas all of us girls went out to let the grand daughters enjoy their Christmas gift from grandma judy.

it does not get much better than a foot message and a pedicure

                                                      
                                   jacob and grandma waited patiently while the girls got pampered

now for the manicure

                           
the finished product

then we took our fingers and toes to buffalo wild wings to fill up our tummies

what a fun Christmas gift!

our Christmas celebrations 2009

our celebration of Christmas always begins with putting on our matching pjs on Christmas Eve eve for a family photo. we open presents as a family on Christmas Eve morning so that we can get in all of our celebrations with the rest of our family as well.

then Christmas eve morning the festivities begin. as all of the kids awakened one by one, we drank our mocha drinks and ate coffee cake until everyone woke up. as the last rose child arose from their bed, we headed to the tree to pass out the gifts for everyone. of course jacob was the first to open his. rachel aided him in ripping the wrapping of his gifts because he was taking quite a long time and she was getting a little impatient. :)

i do not remember exactly what was so funny here but as jacob rode his broomstick pony that amanda got for him, rahel was in a full laughing roar.

                                                         josiah knew jacob would love a phone to pretend to talk into.

                               and he knew amanda would love to have his old ipod along with a little cash. he was right!

                                                        he thought the "bop it" game was perfect for olivia. right again!!

there was obviously an inside joke that we were not all aware of because as rachel opened up her juice boxes that josiah got for her, she rolled laughing again.

rachel got the "miles to go book" from miley cyrus that she had been wanting from amanda and amanda got a cute aeropostale shirt from rachel. they both look pretty happy about those gifts.



                                    
josiah does not look thrilled about getting a laptop but let me asure you that he was!

olivia and amanda are modeling their snuggies. we all got a laugh out of them performing actions from the commercial.

                                                                 and jacob absolutely loved his cozy coupe!
you can see some evidence of a couple of accidents that happened to jacob this week in this picture. he got poked in the eye by his cousin brayden's finger and he fell over in a rocking chair hitting his cheek which left an instant bruise. poor boy! i think he still has enjoyed the week though.

after we all opened our gifts, i fixed breakfast. we enjoyed the morning together as a family, talking about Christmas and the meaning of the season. then we headed over to grandma judy's and papa fred's for dinner and more opening of gifts.
we got them these gifts. i think they enjoyed them alot!

                                                                        we took a few family shots of all of our individual families.
                                                                                                    the rose family

                                                                                                   the witter family
my sister connie and her husband tony with victoria, kristen and their dog, hershey.
they were missing their two older adult sons, jared and justin, his wife jessica, and their daughter ryan. they could not make the trip from tulsa this year. we missed them.

                                                                             the beckham family
                                my brother brian, his wife holly, and his kids, briona, brooklyn, and brayden.

jacob and brooklyn loved their gifts from grandma and papa.









































they jumped in this trampoline all evening! they were having so much fun!






































jacob still trusted brayden even though he poked him in the eye. gotta love how forgiving kids are!!











































 
                   josiah is showing off his monetary  gift from grandma and papa! money is always sure to please.

the rest of the girls all got the same thing, a gift certificate for a manicure and a pedicure. they were all excited about that!
we had a great time together as a family. afterwards we headed home because aaron and i still had our own Christmas time together and we still had another big day of celebration in the morning.

                                  on Christmas morning, bright and early,  the kids all open their stockings.

this was jacob's first stocking experience. he was quite enthralled with the whole experience!

            


















                   
                                                                                                                                   there's more?!!!

       





















                                                           








 
                                             
                                       
                                     
                                            
                                                       he just can't believe it! the candy just keeps on comin'!

christmas morning was short at our home because we had a breakfast casserole calling our names over at grandma rose's. we quickly got dressed and headed over to be with her for the rest of the day. it was a great Christmas!