the hardest goodbyes...

Today was the day I've been dreading for months now. Saying goodbye to the little ones who have all stolen my heart. I think that out of everyone we have to say goodbye to, they are for sure the hardest because I'll most likely never see them again. All I could do this morning was beg God to fill my heart with His joy and peace and comfort. And I repeated that earnest prayer throughout the day, especially through the tears.

Working at the daycare has been the most amazing experience - I've learned patience and unconditional love (not that I've mastered them by any means!!) and I've been reminded of childlike joy and not stressing over the little things. I never thought I could love so much, and I've always considered myself a fairly loving person to begin with!

Oh, and if you are all wondering (and as if it isn't obvious from this blog so far) the answer to the most pressing question, "So does working there make you want to have kids or not?", it is a wholehearted "Yes! And I want a lot of them!" Of course, that doesn't mean we are near ready for kids AT ALL!! It just means I'm super super excited to have some of our own SOME DAY in the DISTANT FUTURE! Did I get the point across??

Enough of the rambling... here are some pics from the day.

Alden Family Christmas

Hands down, we have the best nephews in the entire world. That's right! Not that we haven't always believed that, it's just that we needed a reminder! We loved getting to spend the afternoon and evening with them (oh, and Natalie and Daniel and Johnie and Dee); playing with Titus and holding Mace. Mace is just so sweet and such an easy, happy baby, and Titus is just adorable and so incredibly well-mannered! We're so blessed to have such great nephews to spoil!

Ketner Family Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at my mom and dad's. We had a blast experimenting with my new food processor and making oreo truffles, exchanging gifts, eating good food, and taking way too many sibling pictures!!

A few more pics...

Here are a few more pics I've been meaning to post.

These are the girls at our Sunday School class Christmas Party:

And the men:

And here we all are at our class' Halloween party:


We always have the best times with this group!

Texas Roadtrip Pictures

Here is a link to our album of pics from our roadtrip to Texas. There are way too many pictures on it, but I didn't feel like going through and deleting most of them, so I figured you could just sort through them if you wanted.

http://picasaweb.google.com/AldenAdventures/TexasRoadtrip?feat=directlink

We had such a great time with our friends and were just so thankful to have a weekend getaway with them before moving!