Hello Winter!

My goodness...has it ever turned to winter quickly? Last week we were jumping in leaf piles and this week we were digging out the mittens and hats for a little snow play! Jaxon loved the first couple snow falls we had, even if they were very light :) He stomped on it all over the yard and of course had a fine snack while playing in it too! What fun and how pretty it looked as the snow fell all around us.
With colder days comes some more family traditions that we really enjoy... we always get our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. The last couple years we've gone with our good friends, Reisetter's, to the great Kris Kringles tree farm outside of town with our kids. They love it! So...Saturday we bundled up and picked out the finest tree we could find and hauled it home for decorating and adding good scents to the house for the holidays!
I love these little traditions and each year they remind me of what we're celebrating together... the joy of family and friends together, love and peace that comes out of this time of year, extended hands helping others this time of year, and of course the reminder of the most precious gift of all...God's gift to us...His son. As we go through these traditions I'm reminded of why I get to celebrate such a holiday and look forward to what my heart goes through during and after this season...the preparation of realizing once again what God's son does for us. Receiving God's love through His son and then being offered His grace through the death of His son is the most amazing thing through all the hustle and bustle of trees, gifts, get-togethers, decorations, and goodies. It is my hope that through our special traditions our children will learn to enjoy this time of year for the very same reason Dave and I do, as we do our best to teach them what we're truly celebrating for. I hope you find time to reflect this holiday season on what is truly important while fully enjoying the joy and fun of all this season brings to us!

Welcome Winter and have a Happy Holiday season!

At the tree farm...warming up after a cold walk to find the perfect tree!

Brrrrr, it was cold this day!

Jaxon warming up in front of the heater at the tree farm...it was so hot and blowing so hard I thought his face was going to burn off! He didn't seem to mind though. Ha!

Jaxon playing in our first snow of the season!

Fall Days...

One of our favorite things to do is walk and hike through Hartman Reserve here in our home-town. We don't do it enough actually... Jaxon calls it "the jungle" and loves to run through the trails and just talk about anything and everything as he goes looking for animals or cool sticks or big rocks to throw into the very small creek that runs through. It is times like these that I truly stop and let myself get lost in the moment of being there with our child that God has given us. I can remember our moods, our laughs, questions asked during these walks, hear Jaxon's little feet on the ground, feel his small and gentle hands in mine, hear his little voice asking great questions and giving me great explanations of what he sees...I simply get lost in these moments and the beauty that surrounds us while we escape for a couple hours into a quiet place. It's such a wonderful thing to share! These pictures are from our last trip there last week. It was lots of fun and might be one of our last with just Jaxon ... the next time we walk the trails we may be backpacking a baby with us too. And then, we'll share one of our favorite family traditions with the next Hansen member. Jaxon will be a great little leader for that! Happy Fall days to you all and I hope you each find moments of quietness to get lost in.