Walking in a Winter Wonderland Once Again

The other day I walked from Cedarly to our Condo just after a pretty snowfall.

It was quiet, the sun was shining and the skies were blue.

What a beautiful gift from God.

(Just double click on the collage if you want to see the pictures up close)

Merry Christmas

Gary, Aimee, Faith, and Avery at home in Virginia
Merry Christmas from our house to yours! Snow is already falling here in Wisconsin, so we think we will have a white Christmas. This year we will join Gary, Aimee, Faith and Avery in Virginia for a week, spending a few days at the Masanutten Resort tubing, snowboarding, sledding, and enjoying the water park.

This fall at Elmbrook Church we had a sermon series/small group study on Philippians called THE CHOICE. It proved to be timely, encouraging, and challenging. The topics included I Choose Confidence, I Choose Joy, I Choose Unity, I Choose Service, I Choose Christ, I Choose Peace, and I Choose Contentment. In these days of political and economic turmoil, who couldn't use a bit of joy, unity, peace, and contentment? We believe that is possible if we only choose Christ. (Last time I checked the sermons were still available to view at http://www.cometothebrook.org/.)

Our year was filled with meaningful ministry at Cedarly, wonderful family gatherings, and opportunities to enjoy God's creation in several states. A big highlight was the addition of Anders Eric to the Jacobson family in August. He's a real sweetheart. We were honored to be a part of his dedication to the Lord in October.


Enjoy some of our pictures and commentary in the 2008 blogs here on our site. We're also including family photos in this blog. And, as always, our home and our hearts are open ~ come see us when you're in the Milwaukee area!

Joel, Sarah, and Anders at home in Colorado

Andy and Nancy welcoming Anders to the family on the day he was born!

Welcome Back to VA

Welcome back to VA. In October Aimee reminded me that I have never gone from 4th of July to Christmas without seeing the girls...so in November I went out for a long weekend. What fun. One day I spent some time with Faith at her school ~ it took about 40 minutes for her to show me everything in her wonderful kindergarten room. I learned all about the kids at her table and saw all of her artwork on display. I found out how the clip system works and the fact that Faith has never had to move her clip. I saw her cubbie and the birthday board. It was great fun to see she enthusiasm and love for learning.

The weather was not great some of the time we were there, so we played LOTS of cards ~ Go Fish and Crazy Eights were the favorites. We even taught Avery how to play (with some help from Mom). We made tents in the garage, flew a kite at the park, rode bikes, and wrapped Christmas gifts. Faith loves working in the kitchen ~ so we made some fancy ice cream ornaments and some fun apple/peanut butter/marshmallow lips.

With Faith in school a good part of the day, it is fun to have some time alone with Avery. She is easy going and full of fun, tho not at all interested in potty training at this point. We had fun creating some cards to send to Anders, Emma and Ellie (all of her cousins). Avery loves hats ~ including helmets...and she looks cute in them to boot. She keeps up with her sister and they love each other dearly. Avery has a wide vocabulary and surprises you at times with what she comes up with.

One night Aimee and Gary went on a date. We watched Mary Poppins, dancing and singing our way thru the movie. We took one break to eat supper and another to eat our special ice cream ornaments. It was full evening of entertainment!