Look, here we are!

We haven't fallen off the face of the earth, in case you are wondering.  Here is a recent family picture to get us going again!

Photo courtesy of Whitney Nelson!

Christmas Fun

Celebrating Christmas at the Leonards' home was a fun change for this year's Christmas. We had a fun-filled extended weekend with cousins baking, eating, opening gifts, playing games and with toys, watching movies, and checking out Christmas lights.  Here's a snapshot of some of the fun we had:

Gma N.'s Visit

We were very spoiled this fall in that we not only got a visit from Gma B. but also got a visit from Gma N right before Christmas.  Gma N. is not going to come out during December anymore since it seems to rain like crazy every time she comes, but despite the rain we had a super time with her.  She came out specifically for Isaac's school Christmas program in which he sang in a small group for one of the songs, but we were able to fit in a few other things while she was here like:

Baking Christmas cookies:

And decorating them:

Celebrating Paul's birthday:

Making doughnuts. (Of course, it started sprinkling right as we started frying them!)

 Opening presents. The boys spent most of her visit in the Santa hats she bought with them at the start of her visit.

Hanging the 2013 ornaments:

A football guy for Caleb

A remote for Isaac

Caleb loved staying home with Grandma for a couple days and going out for a doughnut one of those days. The boys also spent time with Grandma outside on their scooters when it wasn't raining. And we played a few games over the few days that she was visiting.  Thanks for the fun visit!  We can't wait for your next one--be sure to bring Grandpa with you. :-)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to you!

The pictures above are some of our favorite moments from 2012 which included our summer vacation with family, the first day of school for all of us, and a wonderful trip to Martha's Vineyard to be part of Brad and Kara's wedding.  

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Part VI

Our Christmas break has been busy with traveling, building the fence and spending time with family. Despite the busyness, it truly has felt like the most wonderful time of the year. Our house has been filled with lots of noise with most of its being joyful.

After the Christmas Eve service at our church, we let the boys open their presents from us and each other. Before bed the kids signed the note to Santa to leave by the cookies and milk. Isaac wrote his own note that said, "I wish you have a good time flying around the world" and signed his name with a heart, Christmas tree and a smile. 

Excited for Christmas morning

Christmas day was a beautiful day with the temperature in the mid-70s so most of us enjoyed lunch outside. What a fun gift after a couple weeks of cool weather!

Kenzie "helping" make the stuffing

The kids' table--every family gathering needs one of these

The big boys

Brad and Zac had a hankering for a root beer float so they headed out on a root beer mission Christmas evening. Since 7-Eleven did not carry a single bottle (small or large) of root beer, they improvised and filled up an empty gallon jug that Brad had in his car at the soda fountain.  The best part is that they did not even ask the cost but filled it up and set it on the counter like it was a normal thing to buy a gallon of root beer. The cashier did not even blink, charged them 99 cents and wished them a merry Christmas.

Got root beer?!?

Christmas Snapshots 2011

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Part V

Both boys were part of the children’s program at our church a couple weeks ago. They sang a couple songs and recited part of a poem with their Junior Trailblazers class. They both did such a great job holding up their letters for the "Merry Christmas" poem and reciting what their letters stood for. We were not sure how Caleb would do being in front of everyone, but the promise of Cold Stone ice cream if he got “no helps” (just like Isaac for his weekly memory verse) spurred him into action. The lights were a little bright, but he tried to smile and be brave the entire time.  Caleb’s part was, “I is for little old me. I’m the one he loves for all eternity” while Isaac’s was, “R is for the reason why our Savior came to earth. You’re the reason angels sang of his birth.”

Then Isaac had his Christmas program at school the following day. It was a joy to be at this program as a parent and watch him sing with his class. I now understand why the kids wave when they are up there; I admit that I was one of those parents who waved at my child when he went up on the bleachers. 

Isaac is on the top row in the center--chin resting on hands

We not only enjoyed the songs that night but have also enjoyed listening to him sing them at home. I am thankful to be part of a school community that teaches Isaac to know and love Jesus as his Savior. 

Merry Christmas!

Another year is nearly done, and what a year it has been! It has been a year of joy in watching our boys grow, spending time with friends and family, and having meaningful work. It has also been a year with its moments of sadness and pain in having to say goodbye to Grandpa Walker and Aunt Ruth and in watching Maddie go through treatment for cancer.

Thanks for the picture, Mark Leonard!

Through it all, though, it has been a year in which we have been reminded of the many blessings God showers upon us daily—both physically and spiritually. We are part of a church family that loves us and challenges us to grow daily in our faith and to be disciples of Christ in a radical way. We are part of a school community that not only provides Paul with a wonderful working environment and great colleagues but also cares for our child and teaches him to both learn more about the world around him and also that he is a child of God and has a Savior in Jesus Christ. We have a home that is warm and dry, and we have more than we could ever want. I do not like taking out the trash, but it is a reminder that God blesses us with our daily bread and more. We have family and friends whom we love and who care for us. What a blessing!

At Brad's during our AZ visit

And in this Christmas season we are reminded that all of this is really insignificant in comparison to knowing Jesus as our Savior. Everything in our lives has to be about Jesus and center around knowing him and serving him. And that is my hope for this upcoming year—that we might not lose focus of Jesus and continue to grow in him daily.

Merry Christmas from our family to you! We praise God that you are a part of our lives! May you know the peace that comes through Christ not only this Christmas but also in 2012. 

Love, the Lapkas

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, part IV

Although it is beautifully warm for putting up Christmas lights in southern California, one of the big bummers each Christmas is being far away from the grandparents. Thanks to Skype, the boys were able to open their 2011 Christmas ornaments with Gpa and Gma N "in the room" with them. 

Catching up on life with Gpa & Gma

Opening while Gpa and Gma watch

So excited!

This year's ornaments are a Darth Vader ornament for Isaac and a San Diego Chargers one for Caleb. After hanging the ornaments on the tree in good spots (Isaac adjusted his today so Darth Vader could fight with other ornaments), the boys said good-bye to Gpa and Gma. 

"Cheese!" The classic gift pose

What fun it is to open gifts with Grandpa and Grandma! Thanks for the ornaments!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, part III

Since our neighbor put lights and decorations on the outside of his house, Caleb has been chomping at the bit for us to get the Christmas lights on our house. We have either been hearing the hopeful "I know! We should put on the Christmas lights" while driving or the dejected "I wish we could put lights on our house, too" when returning home and seeing our dark house.  On Saturday, we finally gave in and set aside part of the morning to work on them. Paul climbed up on the roof and hung the lights from above.

Only in southern California can the boys be riding bikes while we put up Christmas lights in December. I love the picture below with the boys all "bundled up" in front of a tree that has the colored leaves of fall and a palm tree next to it.

Being the creative one, Isaac found their little tent and decided to set it up in the front yard while we worked. They proceeded to haul out a bunch of toys and played in there for quite a while.

And the finished product: our house with lights and a little boy who now can anticipate coming home at night. 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, part II

We pulled out the tree and put it up on Saturday night. Because the boys were so tired from a fun-filled week with their cousins and we had to all be at church early for praise team in the morning, we saved the decorating for after church. They were especially looking forward to putting the ornaments on the tree.

As soon as we opened the storage bins, they started grabbing ornaments. Since we have many special and breakable ones, Paul ran interference and handed them ornaments one-by-one. Decorating the tree is one of my favorite times of the season because of the memories associated with many of the ornaments in our Christmas box. Paul's grandparents gave him ornaments every year of his life until the Christmas before we got married (when I also got one since we were engaged) when she passed that tradition on to her own kids to continue with her great-grandchildren. Now Isaac and Caleb each receive a special ornament from Gpa and Gma N every Christmas, and each ornament is carefully recorded and marked with the year. They enjoyed pulling out each ornament and finding other ornaments gifted to them the past few years--from Aunt Ruth, Gma B, and some of our youth. They also enjoyed looking at Paul's ornaments and hearing the stories behind each of them.

Our growing boys standing in front of the tree

We put our tree in a new spot this year, and I think it might be a good move. Since it is covering the fireplace and mantle, we hung our stockings with care from the ledge over the piano. Caleb was a little concerned that Santa would not be able to reach them there but was calmed down when he saw that we could reach them. Although we focus on Jesus' birth during the Christmas season, we do have fun by letting "Santa" be the one to fill their stockings. (I have to remind myself to not spill the beans on that one when getting gifts for them.)

I also love putting out our nativity scene. I set it up like I always do--Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the stable, the shepherd and his donkey and the magi outside the stable on the side. Isaac was drawn to it and did a little moving of the people. I love that he moved the shepherd and magi so they are looking at Baby Jesus and put the donkey in the stable next to Jesus since the donkey would be in the stable. I had to take a picture of it and think this is the right way to display the nativity even if it does not look as balanced. 

Another highlight for me during Advent is reading the Christmas story with the boys. We have an Advent calendar from Gma B that we use from December 1-25. The daily readings help us read through and learn the story of Jesus' birth and then place the different individuals (animals included) of the story on the manger scene. Here is our Advent calendar before reading anything and starting the countdown to Christmas morning when we get to place Baby Jesus in the manger. (We put this up while the boys were resting. As soon as they saw it, they moved all the characters and animals to the manger part of the calendar.)

I love the traditions we are creating with our boys--decorating the tree, telling the story of Jesus' birth using our Advent calendar and the nativity, hanging our stockings and our "Jesus" stocking, and so many more. And I love that they look forward to it as much as we do. God has given us great responsibility in conveying his message of hope to our children. I pray that he finds us faithful as we live through this Advent season with our boys.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Besides the joyful screams and giggles of our children, the first sound I heard this morning was Christmas music playing in the living room.  Now that Thanksgiving is past and since the first Sunday of Advent is only a day away, it feels okay to be thinking Christmas thoughts. 

The boys have wanted to decorate cookies since the last time we did cutout cookies so we decided to bake and decorate some today. I (Danae) confess that I was not the most fun person at the beginning of this process. For some reason I always get a little cranky when we do these. Could it be the flour everywhere? The multiple rolling out of the dough because a child decided to not make optimal use of the dough when placing the cookie cutters on it? The licking of the fingers while decorating and having to wash hands repeatedly to prevent gross germs on the cookies? I will say that none of these really were my reasons for being a bear at the start of this--I think I was just tired when we began and chose to do this project at the wrong time. Thankfully, I had calmed down by the time we started frosting the cookies, and I really enjoyed it with everyone else.

Isaac carefully cutting out his cookies

For the actual decorating, we set up individual stations for each child complete with decorating mat (recycled cereal bags--thanks for that great tip, Mom) and personal washcloth (thought of that after the first licking of the fingers). Paul mixed some fabulous colors--the expected red and green plus some other random colors. The kids did a great job sharing all the colors and passing them on as they finished a cookie.

Kenzie focusing on her first cookie (a 15-minute process
that produced an evenly coated cookie)

Not sure what happened here, but Caleb looks excited! 

Maddie being diligent in using just the right amount of frosting 

What?!? Only one cookie and not three?

I love Christmas and getting to do traditions with our boys--some of our own and some borrowed from family and friends. We now have a couple containers of Grandma's cookies and Chex Mix in the freezer to enjoy through Christmas day (assuming they last that long). Next on our list for the season is putting up the tree and decorations. My prayer is that, despite the busyness that sometimes comes with this season, we do not lose focus of why this is the most wonderful time of the year...Jesus!