2009: the highlights

january: joe got macdaddy

february: kat visited (last one to visit our old apt)

valentines day

march: our first house!

april: hofmans and family reunion TX!

may: joe's bday

june: peterson summer train ride

house warming!

july: our first garden

summer feast

the atwoods visit

august: our 6th anniversary

september: Coffee Cat farmer's market debut

we discover figs and brussel sprouts (put together!)

october: reformation feast

joe gets in the paper

november: first thanksgiving at our house

december: last shot of the year

what a year!! and what an amazing one. Lord, thank you.

incidentally, i just realized that my first post of 2010 was my 300th. fun!

on happy new year and boxes of metal

it's 12:05 am, and joe's been alseep since 9pm. i've made my bed on the couch. year 2010 for us begins with the stomach flu: seperate sleeping quarters, two highly disinfected toilets, and a pot of chicken broth. it's been quite a sicky holiday for us this year (3 stomach virae for joe and a mean bronchial thing for me), but we have seen the Lord's lovingkindness to us throughout, and we rely on His healing hand on us as we enter the new year.

between washing and re-washing bedsheets and administering ice chips, we have managed to celebrate the Lord's advent and birth in great joy. we are so grateful for the majestic, brilliant, paradoxical, weighty story that Christ has written for us and this world - He has created, loved, and saved us. we are His, only. thank you, Lord Christ. we love you.

tonight, as i was tending to my weary husband, i was all of a sudden incredibly grateful for our home - namely, the machines in it. i had to do several loads of laundry tonight. a year ago, i was trudging up a hill through the rain to launder our clothes in a set of metal boxes that weren't mine. this evening, i stepped into my hallway to be greeted by two bright merry maids winking at me. they are efficient, indeed. they're quiet. they're big. but, the best part of all, they sing. it's a seriously well-written melodic line too! upon finishing their work, it comes dancing down the hallway, soudning all chipper that it just did your laundry for you. i wish i had that attitude whenever i wash stuff. joe and i've subconsciously committed the jingle to memory already...we found ourselves whistling it polyphonically in the car the other night.

the other machine i am thankful for is my dishwasher. i had so many dirty dishes tonight, many of them nasty. and there i was, stuffing nastiness into a box and closing the door. and miraculously, when i open the door again, i will have loveliness.

and then i stuffed a pot into the oven, a panini onto the grill, and a DVD into a blu-ray player - all metal boxes doing crazy amazing stuff. i mean, what in the world?? after a few trialsome weeks for the Carlson household, i was overcome. i leant, in tears, over our dinner (well, broth for joe) and thanked our gracious Father for these new, eager machines. sometimes, i have felt overhelmed with the hedonism of our culture, and i worry that our home is an extention of it. but tonight, i was grateful. and then i remembered that's why the Lord delights to give - because we delight in Him.

on that thought, happy new year, everyone!

the joy of the Lord is our strength: a Merry Christmas

in our new house for Christmas, with a prime rib dinner from our awesome oven.

i surprised mom with framing her baby pics, and joe suprised me with grandma.

argileness

spiffy boys

my nephews!

Christmas at mom and dad's - thank you for such a lovely time!

rare family pic!

daisy and dad. this looks like something that will become a tradition. dog and red suspenders.

Christmas night (joe's fighting a persistent stomach flu here and doesn't realize it, poor guy)

getting ready

(that's my toothbrush, if anyone wonders)

platoon

great aunt cici

cici was cheerful and spry. we brought presents. she had fun.

love this one. cici's eye are closed, mine are closed, and mom's (whose normally are closed) managed to stay open. go figure.

3 generations

new stove!

five burners. convection. dishwasher-friendly grates. stainless steel. temp-controlled warmer. cool-to-the-touch weighted door. oh yes.

oh, and can i just say that the knobs weigh, like, a pound each? this is a good stove, folks.

compliments of mil and fil. they heard that the oven guy recommended we bury the old one. and then they saw how adventurous it was making thanksgiving dinner. so, on black friday, they bought us this pretty thing. we had to make a celebratory batch of cookies.

mil and fil: merci, encore! we are so grateful.