Amundsons

Please note Batgirl on top of the house. Even Barbie needs protection against evil doers.

During nap the other day Jacob and I could over hear Charlotte reporting on the earthquake in Haiti from her bed. When the dog started barking and interrupted her "broadcast", we overheard her yell, "Come on man, I am trying to talk about Haiti here!" Guess there are worse people in this world to emulate than Ann Curry. In effort to help, Charlotte's pre-school class decided to hold a bake sale for Haitian relief or as Charlotte reports "to build strong, tough houses for the kids". Charlotte made her special pink cupcakes with pink frosting for the sale. She was excited to DO something as I hadn't let her take a plane down to Haiti to build the houses herself. Here is her super cute class (and amazing teachers) as they have their bake sale set up. She is the one in the back picking her nose (awesome... want a cupcake??) Seriously how could anyone say no to these faces begging you to help their friends in Haiti??

While cleaning out my basement yesterday I found my wedding dress (supposedly sealed by the dry cleaners) sitting in water and molding away. I sighed when I saw it, cause I really loved that dress. But how come there was no crying? One Word: Haiti Later that day I talked with Charlotte about the devastation (Haiti, not the dress :)). We looked at a couple of carefully selected pictures, talked about the people and what they were going through, prayed for them. A few hours later she came up to me (she had been thinking) and asked me for a hammer. I was confused and asked her why. She said, "so I can help build houses in Haiti." Now that was worth crying over. So I did.

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." 1 Samuel 1:27 Fresh Art Photography 1 week old

During our Christmas travels we somehow ended up in a Perkins for dinner on New Year's Eve. As we walked in Charlotte saw the Claw Game by the door. Its allure of stuffed toys immediately drew her attention and she wanted nothing more than to play. You know the Claw Game , the complete waste of money that NO ONE I even know has ever won, ever. So she turned to her daddy with her big blue eyes. He decided that this was the perfect time for a life lesson in risk/reward management. He carefully explained how the game worked, how difficult it was for the claw to pick up any toy and about risk. How they make it look easy and then take your money and you have nothing. Next he showed her the gum ball machine across from it and explained how if you put your money in the gum ball machine you would always get something. Fully confident that he had explained the evils and perils of gambling and pretty confident that she would either: 1. listen to her father and enjoy the bubblegum 2.

Papa praying at our wedding with Nana in the background On the morning of December 30th Jacob's Papa quietly left this world, and went to be with his Savior. Since that day I have been in almost constant thought about him. This was at first strange to me as I would not say that we had a particularly close relationship. I have a handful of very pleasant memories and infinite amount of respect. But as a granddaughter in-law (is that a word?) in a VERY large family who only spent the normal Christmas/Thanksgiving time with him, the fact that my mind continued to dwell on him after his passing was, to be frank a little odd to me. But here is the thing I may have only known Papa briefly, but I know his grandson intimately, and that connection made the difference. The values that Papa clung too: family, hard work, prayer, honesty, generosity... I see in his grandson at a very deep level daily. Papa was a hard working cranberry farmer who loved the Lord. He would share the Lord

We spent Christmas this year in NY at my parents house. Charlotte and my brother's two boys spent most of their time outside in the snow. Riding around on my dad's lawn mower/kid cart... sledding... hanging out with the neighbor's goats... waving to the snowplow.. building a frosty... and then warming up in the hot tub... until our cheeks were as rosy as Santa's. Christmas Eve we spent hanging out by the fire listening to my brother and Leah play some Christmas Carols. Leah is amazing at the violin, absolutely mind blowing. I love that this will be a new tradition now that she is joining the family. Stockings on Christmas morning Claire bear totally loved this part Santa apparently got Charlotte's letter and she got her "touch and brush". OK so lets take a moment and talk about the fact that she was more excited about the "touch and brush" than the dollhouse I made her. Yep she liked the dollhouse, but she LOVED the touch and brush. Bathroo