Wow! It's been a month since I've posted anything on here and really longer than that since I've posted anything about us up!!! I"m not even sure if anyone is even checking our blog by now. I've actually considered not doing the blog anymore b/c it takes time to write on here and put up the pics and stuff. But I decided to keep doing it and try to do a better job b/c of the blessing it is to me to be able to look back at past months and years and see what has happened and how God has worked in our life and family! So here I go with trying to do a brief catch up on what's been goign on here...

The girls: Isabelle is becoming more "grown up" and independent in life as the weeks pass on. This is so fun to watch and at the same time challenging as she has her own mind about how she's going to accomplish things too. The process of molding our children to have a heart for God and a spirit that is in submission to God and authority is a daily, moment by moment process. Isabelle loves to "help." If I'm in the kitchen making a meal she'll quickly go into the bathroom and get out her stool and bring it over to help. She likes to pour and mix stuff and esp likes to eat anything that I am trying to make as she "helps!" Isabelle has been loving on her sister more and more these days which is a delight to watch. She will often come up to her and give her a sweet (...well most of the time it's sweet) kiss on the cheek and tells her she loves her! Ireland likes it too but will sometimes respond with a scream b/c the kiss is lasting too long! ha! It's fun to see the girls enjoying eachother more and more as they grow.

Ireland is almost 16mo old. She contiues to be a happy and contended baby! At her 15 mo. appt. she weighed just under 17 lbs so she's still a tiny one but very healthy! Ireland is a cuddle bug! She loves to snuggle on our shoulders and will come over to us if we're on the floor and give a kiss "just because!" So sweet! Ireland is still not walking but will be I'm hoping before Christmas. She can walk pretty well as long as she's holding on to one hand. She probably could go on her own if she'd try! This past week she actually took her first couple steps on her own when I just stood her up and had her walk to me. She would normally just sit right down but this time she took two quick ones as she was falling into me! It won't be too much longer I'm sure! Her favortie words right now are "uh-oh" and "ow." She is also very fond of answering questions by shaking her head yes or no. One achievement of late is Ireland going to sleep w/o being "put to sleep" (ie: rubbing her back or rocking) and sleeping through the night!! It took a few days of re-teaching, since I've been the one who go her into the bad habit of being put to sleep, and now she will lay down without problem for naps and will out herself back to sleep if she wakes up in the night. We're definately enjoying the priveledge God has given us of raising two sweet girls!

Thanksgiving: We has a wonderful Thanksgiving that was hosted at our house this year. All of the Ice side of the family came down to have thanksgiving her this year instead of in IN b/c Sarah (Ben's sister) and Jonathan could not travel with Zoe. Since no one had seen Zoe this was a incentive for everyone coming too! We had 37 people eat Thanksgiving dinner together. Thankfully we were able to eat at the church in the chapel or who knows what our house would have ended up like!! :) It was a wonderful time of eating and then singing together and giving blessings of what God has done this year. 27 people (including us) were able to sleep in our house. It was tight but it was fun to be able to have everyone (except Sarah and her fam b/c they live in town) under one roof and to be able to enjoy time together as a family.

Christmas is coming: On Monday we went and got our annual Christmas tree from Lowe's and got it decorated and put up light outside too. Isabelle enjoyed helping putting lights and some ornaments on the tree and kept saying as she was opening another bin of Christmas stuff and digging through it, "Wow, look at this; oh wow; ooooooo; Mommy, wow, look at this!" And now she for some reason likes to give the tree a hug! Like I said she's three and new things come into her mind all the time!!! :) We've taught Isabelle Away in a Manger and I caught it on video so I'll post that here soon. Looking forward to celebrating our Saviour's birth and teaching our girls that Christmas is about the baby in the manger and the free gift of salvation He offers to us! Looking forward to all the blessings of the Christmas season.

So there you have it (a little longer than I thought)...I'm back in on blogging and hoping to try to stay a little more caught up and take the time to post what's going on. Merry Christmas to all!