Christmas Time Blessings

Ok, starting with the best news of all DAN GOT A JOB!!!!!!! After 3 months of unemployment and job searching for 10-12 hours every day, and getting 2 phone call responses to the 1000's of resumes he sent out, Dan is now working as a internet salesman at Wesley Chapel Toyota. Though we really wanted to get out of the car business, this position came available and we felt we had no choice but to take it. We are extremely grateful and after only two days (and selling a car already) Dan says "This is the best car place I've ever worked at." Praise the Lord. If you're looking for a vehicle you can call him at 813-407-5970 or on his cell at 813-919-9144.


Our next Christmas Blessing it that our beautiful, but way too big for our apartment, Christmas Tree had a baby and it fits our home perfectly. Actually, we were able to store our Christmas Tree at our friends John & Tara's parents house when we moved, because it was too big to store in our apartment. When starting to think about the holidays, we realized that there just wasn't any space big enough to setup our tree. With life going as it was at the time, I really wasn't much into the Christmas Spirit anyway, so I figured we just wouldn't have a tree this year. Lo and behold, my bestest friend Tara called and said she had something for me to pick up at Youth Group. Well when I arrived, she pointed to the above tree and said, "Your tree had a baby!" It's this cute little fiber optic tree. Isn't that awesome! The tree has inspired me to remember that we are immensely blessed because Jesus came to earth as a baby in a manger, to live a pure sinless life and take our punishment on the cross, so that we can live with Him forever. Amen and Amen.

Let's see our holidays started out with several Thanksgiving Feasts. First was a wonderful feast at my work. Then we went to one at our homeschool group - a great photographer friend took this picture of us - Dan had just bought this suitcoat from another homeschool mom for $6!
Then our good friends Mike & Cindy invited us to their church's Thanksgiving Cantata, which was wonderful and was followed by a Thanksgiving Feast. On Sunday evening our church blessed us with all the fixings for a Thanksgiving Dinner and then on Tuesday our friend Carmen's church blessed us with another turkey and all the fixings (and in between Mike & Cindy wanted to bring us a Thanksgiving Dinner too). Well, needless to say we felt very blessed with all the love that was given to us and wanted to share it, so we cooked one of the turkey's and a pie and took it along with all the other fixings to our friends Nancy & Haley so they could be blessed too. What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had and we are so very grateful for all the love that was given to us by all the wonderful Christian friends we are so blessed to have in our lives.

Our next Christmas Blessing was my brother Steve bringing my Dad down from Michigan for the winter. It was so good to see them both. Steve stayed down a week and Dad is here until the Spring when by brother Joe flys down to drive him home. Dad lives in Palmetto at a Senior Mobile Home Park. It's very nice and they have alot of activities and he has alot of friends there. He comes to see me every other week so I can do his laundry (he doesn't have a washer or dryer). I love it because we get to spend time together and we usually manage a Walmart run while he's here. He'll be over for Christmas dinner next week and were're looking forward to that.



Suzzie has decided she wants to be a Baker. This was her first cake (from scratch). We don't have 2 cake pans that are the same size so we improvised with the square and round. She used some of her birthday money to buy a cake decorating kit and this was the first time she used it. Her cake was a big hit at the girl's Youth Group Christmas Party as was the gift Jonathan gave Angie - a stocking filled with coal!! It was just a joke, he really gave her a very nice gift.

And last but not least, The girls and I enjoyed an afternoon at Busch Gardens with our good friends the Bertic's. I got quality "Tara Time" and the kids had fun riding the rides together.

Well, its' been quite an interesting few months. Dan has been able to participate in homeschooling, the girls have had alot of quality time with Dad and we've all grown closer. Friends and people who don't even know us have blessed us in many ways. We've had faith and had doubts, but we always knew God was in control and that we needed to live in today and do our best with what came our way for Him. Living in our circumstances has inspired us to spend more time in the Word and in prayer and we've definitely grown in our spiritual walk. We've learned that we don't need alot to be happy and that nothing can take away our joy. My prayer is that we can remember these wonderful things we've learned and continue to walk this path no matter what comes our way.

We're grateful for all of your prayers and support. There have been many who have been there to listen to us when we just needed to get stuff out and when when we needed good advice. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we do know that we are very blessed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!