Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas 2009!
It was a wonderful Christmas. We had our birthday party for Jesus on Christmas Eve evening after reading the story of the nativity. I made a cake with unannymous suggestions from the kids to decorate it with a rainbow. Whether they realized it or not, I thought it was the perfect way to decorate Jesus' birthday cake. Rainbows remind us of God's promises to us, and what better promise than the gift of eternal life through Jesus.
This year was also Jack's first Christmas. In the past we have always either waited for everyone to wake up or we have woken up the baby so that we all get to open gifts together. This year I decided to let Jack sleep while we all opened presents. When he woke up later he got to open up his gifts(or at least watch Ryan and Morgan do it) all by himself. He was mostly interested in the paper which is no surprise.
Ryan was super excited to get his power miner lego set from Gramma Fortuna.
Patrick thought the Wii was totally awesome, and Morgan was beside herself with her new fairy princess outfit from Oma & Opa and her new high heels and princess castle. Heath got a new work and casual wardrobe, and I got new All Clad pots and pans which are fabulous.
All in all it was a great Christmas. We spent much of the day in our pj's playing games and just enjoying the company of our kids. We are truly blessed.

Ryan ready for his Preschool Christmas Program


Jack loves climbing over, under, & through any obstacle he can find.


what'd ya get


Our resident puzzle expert


who can open presents faster?


Glamour Girl


I think it would work better the other way Patrick.


Christmas cutie


Getting them all to cooperate for a picture is not one of my many talents


Mama & Morgan, Ladies in Red


Spending some time reflecting on the reason for the season


Happy Birthday JESUS!


Jack opening his 1st Christmas present. What is it? Jammies of course!


Patrick and his Christmas jammies


Morgan is so excited about her robe that she didn't even realize that I didn't get her a nightgown. She typically has a fit if she has to wear pants.


Jack and Daddy


Ryan is so excited to get the Lego Power Miners set he has been talking about for months. Thank you Gramma it's "super cool!"


Morgan opening her presents


Heath is so excited about his basketball hoop. Little did he know that it would never make it to his office as Ryan and Patrick claimed it as theirs.


Another puzzle


A little girl and a new pair of fancy shoes, I think she has found happiness.


My wonderful husband bought me All Clad pots and pans. Unless you have cooked with these you don't know what you are missing.


Morgan's daily outfit for about 2 weeks after Christmas.


Jack opening up his Christmas presents


Ryan helping Jack with his gifts. I think Jack is more fascinated with Ryan than with the packages.


Let the games begin. Patrick's Wii fit age is...


Little guy and his new toys


That's my sweet baby boy, always smiling!


Our 1 dancing princess.
Merry Christmas 2009!!

Christmas Greeting 2009

December 2009

It is hard to believe that another year has gone by. We are so busy with our everyday happenings that time seems to get away from us. As I sit back and reflect on the past year I realize how much has happened and how truly blessed we are each and every day. I hope in the coming year that maybe we can slow down a little and enjoy more moments in this gift of life that God has given us.

The kids have grown and changed so much, and we added another one to our bunch. Jack Thomas (named after my dad) was born on May 1st. He is the sweetest little baby ever (which I am sure I must have said 4 times now). Baby Jack-Jack is such a good baby. He is very laid back like his big brother Patrick, has Morgan’s blond hair, and Ryan’s onry grin. He has recently mastered sitting by himself and is working on the crawling thing (right now he resembles an inchworm). I thoroughly enjoy every moment with him and I swear I could just hug and kiss him all day.

Patrick is 6 ½ and in first grade this year and seems to surprise us with new things he has learned daily. It is so strange to have your child reading you books instead of the other way around. He loves math and has recently learned how to do Sudoku thanks to Oma & Opa. He is hoping for a Wii for Christmas this year.

Ryan started school this year. He is 4 ½ and attends Pre-K at Our Savior Lutheran Church. He really enjoys it and just like Patrick surprises us everyday with what he is learning. He is the singer in our family. He is always singing praise songs from church or songs from vacation bible school. A few weeks ago he and I were shopping after school and he was walking along beside me singing “God bless America” at the top of his lungs (and he knew all the words). Ryan’s Christmas wish list includes pretty much everything in the toy catalog.

Morgan is definitely the princess of our house. She will be 3 in February, and is all about pink and purple and dresses and princesses. We have to come up with a pretty good argument for her to be convinced to put pants on (a lot of the time lately she has on both pants and a dress and resembles a hippie). I laugh out loud everyday at the funny ways that she is so different from her brothers. She is quite the little mommy to Jack and my trusty helper. We recently went to Disney’s Princesses on Ice dressed to the nines in our crowns and fancy dresses. She was so enthralled with the whole thing and cried and cried when it ended. I believe that she would like anything pink or purple or girly for Christmas.

Heath has been busy at the office as usual. Our practice has seen a lot of growth in the past year, and we have opened a second office. They are about an hour apart and we live halfway between the two towns which works out great. When he is not at the office he does enjoy the opportunity to use his new chainsaw and with all the trees on the property there is plenty to keep him busy.

I am still working as a physician assistant for a gastroenterologist but have really cut back on my hours since Jack was born. I have also made the commitment to start seeing patients with Heath at our Fulton, IL office on Fridays (previously known as my day off). I am really excited to be focusing more energy on practicing chiropractic. Where that energy comes from I don’t know.

Life is filled with many hellos and goodbyes. This past year we have welcomed little Jack into this world and shortly after that, had to say goodbye to my dad. In August, Dad lost his battle with lung cancer and went home to be with Jesus. We miss him and wish he was still here with us, but know that he is in a greater place knowing we will be together again. One of my favorite memories of the past one year is that I took a trip by myself to Pittsburgh to watch the Steelers win the super bowl with my Dad. Football was something I shared with my dad and while I miss him every game day, I will never forget the great ending to our tradition.

So that is life in Treehouse. I try to update our lives and happenings on our blog from time to time with pictures and stories. You can check on us throughout the year to see what we are up to or in to at www.iowatreehouse.blogspot.com As a general rule, in our house we take each moment as it comes and do our best to make it count. Sometimes we are more successful than others, but one thing that we always do is trust that God will see us through and know that through him ALL things are possible. We are so thankful for every blessing and for all of our friends, family, and colleagues. We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very blessed new year. Don’t forget the greatest gift of all is the one we received the day that Jesus died for you and for me.

Merry Merry Christmas!
Love and Blessings,

Heath, Cindy, Patrick, Ryan, Morgan, and Jack (and Emma and Skippy Jon Jones too!)

Thanksgiving 2009

Each year on Thanksgiving we all reflect on what has occurred in the past year that we are thankful for. There are so many blessings that we receive each day, but I can say that what I am most thankful for this year is my baby Jack. He is such a joy and a wonderful addition to our little clan. Also on our list and in no particular order are health, a happy family, a wonderful church, great kids, great friends, a prosperous & thriving practice, a wonderful nanny for our kids(actually make that 2 wonderful nannies), our home, lessons learned, the love of God and much much more.

Our normal Thanksgiving traditions continued this year without missing a beat...

This year we started the day delivering a meal to a family in need. After lunch we went out to Weber's Tree Farm to get our annual Christmas tree. The kids especially look forward to it because Heath lets them take turns driving around as we look for the "perfect" tree. This year's tree like many in the past was a bit large. Why is it that they look just right out in the middle of the field, and then when we cut the twine in the living room, the branches encompass most of the room? I guess you could say it is our "Griswold Family Traditon."

Our good friends the Pohlman's joined us for dinner. The boys were especially excited to have Jacob stay for a slumber party. Miss Morgan wore one of her fancy dresses for dinner, and baby Jack got his very first tooth. Last year I let the kids decorate the tree but this year I waited for them to go to bed and surprised them with a fully decorated Christmas tree when they got up in the morning. All in all it was a pretty laid back day this year but not any less special than any other.

I have cooked Thanksgiving dinner every year but one since I started dating Heath in 1995, but our traditions didn't really start until 2001 when we first moved here. Heath always travelled for Christmas and didn't really care much about decorating or all the preparations for the holidays. I on the other hand had grown up with numerous traditions. So when that first Iowa Thanksgiving arrived, my parents came out to share it with us. I decided to take advantage of their presence to enjoy some traditions with others who shared in my excitement. We went to a tree farm on Thanksgiving and cut down a tree. We decorated it together complete with eggnog and Christmas music. My dad and Heath even put lights on the house. The fact that it was 70 degrees that year was probably more influential in getting the job done than my request. Over the years they continued to come visit over Thanksgiving until recently, and each year we did the same thing. We also try to invite others to our home who like us might not have family in the area to spend the holiday with. One year we had 15 extra people at our table. That year was particularly funny because if you know me, you know that I love to cook, but could really care less about baking, so when people asked what they could bring I said dessert. Needless to say, we ended up with a dozen pies from the Village Inn plus the desserts that I had made. Whether it is just us or a houseful of friends and strangers, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. A day to remember good times, and not so good times, eat too much, enjoy our family and friends, and truly embrace all that God has blessed us with.

Mommy's little cooks in training



Game time!!

Annual Driver's Training


Jack's 1st Thanksgiving!


Fire up the chainsaw!

Morgan's working hard to find our tree


And we found ourselves a winner


Ryan's choice


Patrick's pick

The prettiest little hostess

The 3 Muskateers: Ryan, Jacob, & Patrick


Randy, Isaiah, & Katie Pohlman armed with plenty of sweet potato casserole.


And the verdict is....yes it IS another big fat tree.


Deck the halls!

Morgan's 1st Haircut

Well Heath predicted that this wouldn't happen until prom, but I have been wanting Miss Morgan to get her haircut for a little while now because the ends were pretty ratty. Everytime that I brought up the subject to Morgan she was very adamantly against it. The conversation went something like this. Mommy: Morgan do you want to get a haircut? Morgan: No Mamma! Mommy: Why not? Morgan: Because it's pretty mamma.
So this evening after she got a bath, we sat down at her Dora vanity to blow dry her hair and she handed me the special scissors for cutting Dora's hair. I asked her if she wanted a haircut, and she said "Yes." So what I thought was going to be just a trim around the ends ended up being a little more because who knew that she would not be able to sit still for the few minutes that it should have taken. It is still long and beautiful. We put curlers in it and blew it dry and had just the best time at the Dora Beauty Parlor tonight. The boys took turns taking pictures which also contributed to Miss Morgan not being able to sit still. She is insistent on seeing the picture as soon as you take it. One especially funny moment was when we had all her hair in curlers, she looked in the vanity mirror and said, "I'm a real princess mommy!" Indeed she is our favorite little princess, the most beautiful precious little girl in our treehouse.