In celebration of Christ, the 7 of us each wrote 3 things we are thankful for,

folded up the little papers, and then took turns reading them one by one -- each
time guessing who wrote it. Interestingly, Melissa was the one who wrote spiritual things like "I am thankful for the comfort Jesus provides" while the rest of us wrote things like "airplanes."


In the evening, we went to Peter and Anya Warkentin's for dessert. Later we all lay by the Christmas tree and I told a Christmas story. It started out sad, and my mom commented that Christmas stories usually start out sad.










Dad's awesome Tabasco pants were a gift from Chris.




























Lylak too, of course

My Uncle Willi told me he would pray for me. "But not for a fitting super husband," he said. "I will pray for more Jesus in you."

Then he gave me Scripture to meditate on - including this famous one.


Over-dramatic accents just help me memorize, and giggling is what happens when I'm with my sisters. But this Scripture really convicts me and inspires me at the same time. It has become my prayer.

Quotes from Martin Luther about marriage and sex

"Your body demands and requires it; God wants and wills it."

"If my marriage will strengthen him [Bishop Albrecht to marry], I am ready. I believe in marriage."

"No natural man should slip out of the noose of marriage."

In his treatise “Against the So-Called Spiritual Estate of the Pope and the Bishops”: "A man cannot exist without a wife. [It is] as deeply implanted in our nature as eating and drinking. Whoever wants to repudiate this and fight what nature will and must do acts the same as one who disavows that nature is nature, that fire burns, that water is wet, and that a person eats, drinks, and sleeps."

"The irresistible will to live reveals itself in the sexual drive. It is the living God himself who moves a person’s body and soul in this direction, and it is God who supplies the gift for it. This discovery on my part emerged from the same spirit as that of Copernicus, and is scarcely less important."

Biem Desch

Dad acting like a lady

We took our kids to the animal shelter.

One little dog had such sad eyes. "He misses his family," said our little girl.

Lylak's Shoes