I wonder....

... what exactly do seventeen month-olds think about anyway? Any guesses?


Well, whatever it is, Benjamin sure does look cute thinking about it!

Presents!

Merry Christmas!

Well, we certainly had a wonderful celebration of the birth of the Savior this year in Central Asia! The festivities started out Christmas Eve. We went out to eat at Cafe H* (the only western style restaurant in town) and enjoyed pizza, Dr. Pepper and coffee before several families of "like-minded" ex-pats came to sing Christmas carols. The children sang some songs for us as well and read their version of the Christmas story. They were adorable dressed as angels and wise men. Here is a picture of me and Benjamin enjoying some pizza (before Benjamin got really messy!).

After that, we came home and watched White Christmas (a tradition of mine growing up) and put together our "stockings" which in reality were assorted baskets; you can't find stockings here. Such fun!



The next morning we got up, read from the Book an account from John who said that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us bringing light to all men. We sang praises and then opened our "stockings". Benjamin really enjoyed "helping" us with our stockings!


After stockings, we headed to the kitchen and enjoyed a yummy breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy (and by sausage, I mean a homemade beef version- which didn't turn out too bad!). Then, back to the living room for presents!

Attempts at Being Candid

What started as an attempt for some candid photos of Benjamin playing turned into Benjamin posing for a photo shoot. Here is the progression:

Playing with his toys, unaware of dad with the camera

Dropped the toys as he notices the camera

Cheese!

Goofball face...

Well, that is our son in a nutshell. He just loves the camera!

Sick Days

Better make that weeks! Between Keith, Benjamin and I we were sick a total of 2 weeks. First Keith, then Benjamin and finally me. We all have a lingering cough, but other than that we are mending just fine. It certainly is tiring taking care of sick ones and I was ready to see daylight for sure! Anyways, that explains the delay in blog posts this past week. I have several pictures to post when the internet starts behaving.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas....

Alright, so maybe "dreaming" isn't entirely acurate, but what else can you say when it snows so close to Christmas? What a wonderful surprise to open our door this morning and find this:

More pictures of Benjamin in the snow to come!

Boxes!!

Oh what fun to receive packages in the mail! My mommy and daddy say they are for Christmas so we have to wait to open them until then. They said we will open one of them now and the rest later. Until then, I love to play on the boxes! See how happy I am? I wonder what could be inside! Thanks Mimie and Doc, Nana and Papa Bear, Grandmommie and Papa, Omah and Grandpa, Uncle CJ and Uncle JoJo, Aunt Amy and Colton! Y'all are the best! Here are some pictures my daddy took so y'all can see how much I appreciate y'all. Thanks so much!

Love you bunches,
Benjamin