Celebrating Christmas . . . .

Our Christmas in pictures . . . . here are Jackson and Kinsey in their Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve.

I tried to get a picture of the two of them in their Santa hats, but we only succeeded with Kinsey.

Jackson LOVES cars . . . so here he is with his "Cars" rug driving his matchbox cars all over it. We are planning a "Cars" birthday party . . . . can't believe he will be 2 in a few weeks!


Papa with all the grandkids on Christmas night.

Jackson and Claire with their new tents! They had so much fun climbing through them and were just giggling together.

All of the great-grandkids from my mom's side of the family. It was nearly impossible to even get them all in the picture together, much less looking at the camera and smiling (L-R: Jackson, Kinsey, Claire, McKenna, Madi, Blake and Tate).

Illinois Boys

Aren't they cute?! David was able to snap this cute picture of all 3 cousins this afternoon before we left Karen & Derrick's house. Merry Christmas Eve!

Gingerbread Fun!

Nathanael, Josiah & Jackson with their gingerbread creations! As you can see, we all had fun helping them. Josiah even told us he was having dreams last night of how he was going to decorate his! The youngest two were most interested in the candy in the center of the table . . . and ate their fair share of goodies. Thanks Karen for making all the pieces . . . we all had a GREAT time!

Merry Christmas from the Jarretts!

Click here for our Christmas greeting! And here for one from Jackson : )

Illini Game

My dad got 4 Illini tickets to Monday night’s game (12/17). So we braved the cold and took both kids to the game. Jackson sat on Grammy’s lap the whole time just taking it all in. And of course it helped that Papa got him some popcorn too : ) Kinsey did great and slept through most of it! You can't tell in this picture, but she also has on an Illini t-shirt (only it is pink).

Snow Day and More Smiles . . .

Jackson got to play out in the snow last Saturday . . . . of course there was a LOT more by that night! Here he is pulling his little sled from Cousins Josiah and Nathanael from his 1st birthday. David pulled him around the front yard in it before he decided to pull it himself. Most things are "I do it" these days . . . oh, the new independence of the terrible 2's! : ) I can't believe he will be 2 on January 14th. It doesn't seem possible already.

Here is another cute smile from Kinsey . . . she just lights up sometimes when you talk to her and gives us the cutest smiles!

We got to start celebrating Christmas with The Ritchie's tonight. They came out for dinner and presents at my parent's house. It is so fun watching the boys all play together! We are attempting gingerbread houses on Sunday night. David and Karen say it was a tradition in their family to make them on Thanksgiving . . . I have NO idea how to do it, but Karen is a pro. So I'll just be there to assist in the decorating process! I'll post pictures of that adventure. . . especially Jackson and Nathanael's!

My Little Santa Baby . . .

We have been in a moving frenzy the last few days. We packed up on Monday and Tuesday and moved a load down to Salem Tuesday late morning. Then we got to unload and unpack!! So to say the least we are a LOT tired! Of course, we forgot a few things in Rochester and have to make a very quick trip up there today to pick them up and do a little shopping.

It was REALLY sad for me to finish packing up the house and drive away from it on Tuesday. I know it is silly because it is just a house, but I love our neighborhood and we have so many memories playing outside with Jackson there. Hopefully we will find a place in Salem that will become just as special to me.

I have more pictures to post later . . .

Our Singing Boy . . .

Click here to link to "Our Family Website" to see a little video David put together of Jackson singing at Grammy and Papa's this morning. It's precious!

Amidst the Craziness. . .

Here is Jackson all dressed up after church on Sunday. We had a going away party at the church on Sunday afternoon from 3-5 pm. It was great to visit with everyone and feel their love and encouragement as we transition into a new ministry. There are so many that we will miss as we leave our first full-time ministry. But we know God will bless our lives with new relationships in Salem as well.


When both kids woke up Monday morning, David put Jackson in the crib with Kinsey. He is trying to give Kinsey her pacifier (which is quickly snatched back). He is SO sweet with her . . .


Kinsey started to give us little smiles this past week. They are quick, but we did catch this one real fast on Monday morning. She is so sweet and I love the little dimple in her left cheek : ) Kinsey has been a VERY good sleeper the last 2 nights! She slept until 7 am on Tuesday morning and until 7:30 this morning! Keep it up girl!

Thanks to Katie Young and her family . . . . I was able to get Kinsey's announcements done last night and finish my Christmas letters! She kept Jackson overnight and he and Ellie had a little slumber party. On Tuesday during the day, we were able to visit with Jen Searby and her little one Evan (15 weeks old) and Katie and her 2 little ones Ellie (20 months) and Lincoln (8 months). Aren't they precious! It was so great to visit and catch up!

Kinsey-4 Weeks

I can hardly believe that Kinsey was already 4 weeks this past Tuesday and officially a month old yesterday! It has gone by WAY too fast. And with Christmas, packing, moving, etc., the next month with probably also be a bit of a blur. But here are a few pictures from Tuesday to capture Kinsey's 4 week milestone!


Jackson has been getting lots of new BIG brother presents . . . here he is playing with one of his new favorites! Of course, he LOVES anything from the movie Cars so a Mater toy that actually has sound effects and drives itself on the floor was a BIG hit with him. It is just so much fun watching him use his imagination while he plays. The things he comes up with!!

We were down at Salem yesterday and today trying to get a few things set up to prepare for our move. We got a PO Box set up to start forwarding mail and then of course a checking account. And we were able to look at a few more houses too. There is one good possibility, but we really can't do much of anything until we sell ours. Thankfully, a woman in the church in Salem has graciously offered one of her homes to us to stay while we are in limbo. So we plan to move our necessities there on the 17th. We will have the rest of our house in Rochester packed, but will leave everything there until we actually sell and close on it. We know God is taking care of this whole situation, but we pray that he will grant us patience as we wait on his timing.

I have been working on getting out our Christmas card/letter out along with Kinsey's announcements. My goal is to get them all done and out this next week. Hopefully that actually happens! I do have all my Christmas shopping done and most everything wrapped so that is one less thing on the "to do" list. With moving and everything, we decided not to mess with the Christmas tree or much of any decorations (except for stockings and Jackson's Veggie Tales nativity set). So it feels VERY weird at our house in Rochester. I usually have all the decorations out and lights on our house by now. It just isn't the same this year! But fortunately, we will pretty much be at my parent's house after we move stuff down to Salem on the 17th until Christmas. So that will help!