Merry Christmas!

I was thinking about Christmas and what it's all about.  Yes, "Jesus is the Reason for the Season"...but it's more than that.  Yes, we're celebrating the birth of Jesus...but it's more than that too.  Today we celebrate and thank God for giving us His Son, not just to be a baby in a manger, but to "save His people from their sins"!

As I thought on this, I started thinking about where in the Bible it specifically states that this is why Jesus came.  I have listed below the two verses that came to my mind.  Perhaps you can think of a few others to add to the list.

Praise the Lord with me for the greatest gift of all - His great gift of salvation!

• "...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief"!              (I Timothy 1:15)
• "...the Son of Man came...to give His life a ransom for many"!  (Mark 10:45)

Merry CHRISTmas, one and all!  Enjoy the time with your loved ones...and remember to thank the Lord for the gift that really matters!

60th Anniversary

On this day, November 29th, in 1952,  

Eleanor Wilson

and

Bruce Carter

were joined in Holy Matrimony.

Bruce was a military man, so the family has lived in many, many different places including (but certainly not limited to) Germany, Arizona, Tennessee, several different places in Illinois, and more.

A brief history of their family life is as follows.

Bruce & Eleanor's first child, Philip Neil, was stillborn during their time in Germany.  They then decided to adopt a German infant, whom they named Eileen Yvonne.  In 1955, Alan Bruce was born.  Paul Richard was next.  Sandra Michele was born in 1959.  Then came Linda Sue.  Steven Bradford was next.  Their last child, David Earl, was stillborn.

I shall not take the time to expound in like manner upon each of their children's lives as that would take quite some time, but I shall note that Bruce & Eleanor Carter now have in addition to their

6 children,

30 grandchildren,

and

14 great-grandchildren, with some more on the way.

(No spouses were included in any of these numbers.)

Interrupting the Silence to Introduce...

Cody Marshall Barta!

Born at 10:48 a.m. on Tuesday, November 20th, Cody weighs 9 lbs. 4 oz., and is 21.5 in. long.

A picture speaks a thousand words (especially when it's a new baby) , so I'm pretty much going to let them speak for themselves, I think.  (I've come down with a head-cold, so my current brain-fog doesn't help me to wax verbose.)

Day 1

 Cody meets Aunt Lisa!

 Cody meets Uncle Zachary!

(Sorry it's upside-down.  I don't seem to have enough clarity of thought to right it.)

 Nana & Papa Barta and big sister, Savannah delight in little Cody.

  Sometimes, when you visit your brother-in-law, you get interesting pictures!  :-)

Nana & Papa Barta with all of their Jared&Becca grandkids

Cody meets Aunt Kimberly!

 Cody meets Aunt Heidi!

 So good to be together again!

Uncle Zach entertained Conner with a ride.

 

 Day 2

Aunt HollyBeth helps Savannah hold her baby brother.

(Cute story - When Savannah was holding him the first day and somebody asked her if Conner could hold him now, she grabbed him around the waist and made it clear she was not interested in ending her turn just yet!  :-)  )

Open your mouth so I can give you your pacifier

He doesn't seem to want it Aunt HollyBeth.  What do I do with it now?

I'll try again.

Hey cool!  I can put my finger in there!

Look Mom!  I'm being so silly!

Oh, Daddy!  You're so funny!

 It's time for Kimberly's famous, post-birth foot massage!  Ahhhhhhhhhh!  :-)

 Daddy got us special treats while we visited Baby Cody!

 

Sweet husband right there while enjoying a fabulous foot massage - Can it get any better than this?!  :-)

More time with Uncle Zach...

 ...and Uncle David.

Uncle David made him cry.  :-0

 More time with Aunt Kimberly

Cody meets Papa Mueller!

 Seems contented enough!

Becca and Cody are both doing well.  They arrived home today, Thanksgiving, and we have much to be thankful for in their safety, health, and return home!

(Again, sorry it's side-ways.)

Mommy Barta is happy to be home!

Sleepy little man, yawning away.  :-)

New "Normals"

Well!  The 2012 Mueller weddings are now over and all are adjusting to new "normals".  Hopefully, one of these "new" "normals" will be more regular (you know, more than twice a year :-)  ) blog posts...but don't look for them too soon.  Adjustments take time...especially for some of us.  :-)

I just wanted to let you all know that we are all still alive (Yeah - We survived!), the blog - though it has had to sit on the back burner for a while - has neither been forgotten nor done away with, and, lastly, I wanted to inform you that though the posts have been few and far between, I've tried to keep the sidebar relatively up-to-date particularly as far as information on the couples is concerned.  Please see the sidebar for a few pictures and the information for each of their websites.  Some of their websites (this would be the new couples...not everybody listed in the sidebar) include pictures from their courtships, some include engagement pictures, some include wedding pictures...but all three (Waller, Knox, and Mueller) include the live-streamed video footage from their weddings.

Well, that will have to be all for now, but I thought I'd put something out to give you a little update and let you know we're still here!  :-)  {Hopefully I didn't cause any heart attacks or anything by finally posting something....}

~ Heidi

First day of Spring!

In honor of the first day of Spring, we made cookies with a variety of decorations. First we made melting snowmen,

then flowers,

and then just plain springy looking cookies. Loads of fun!

Very Short Post

This is indeed a very short post, but I wanted to be able to share at least some pictures and videos with you, even though I have not yet written up a whole post.  Following are some links that you are more than welcome to visit and enjoy!

Some pictures a friend took at Adam & Valerie's wedding.  {no longer available}

Video of the live-streaming of Adam & Valerie's wedding.  (Sound doesn't kick in until after the prelude due to copyright issues.)

Some pictures a friend took at Joe & Mary Jane's wedding.  {no longer available}

Video of the live-streaming of Joe & Mary Jane's wedding.

Some fun pictures of couples (married and and engaged ones) amongst the Mueller Family that were taken by a friend after Joe & Mary Jane's wedding.  (After Joe & Mary Jane had left, which explains why you don't see them.)  {no longer available}