Category: Straight to True North

I found out that my grandma’s sister passed on tonight. Great Aunt Wanda Yinger was almost like another grandma to me because she lived across the field from Grandma and Grandpa Hill’s house, and we saw her and Great Uncle John quite often growing up. We would sometimes walk across the field with cousins and climb through their fence and play over at the Yinger’s place. They had a wooden box with water and live crawdads in it. We always liked to go peek at the odd creatures. Dad told me that when Uncle John opened the lid to get some for their fishing trip, he’d wave his hand across the top and say, “Can I have a volunteer?” The unlucky crawdads would raise their claws.

We started our fifth anniversary celebration at Seaside for an overnight stay to enjoy the beach, one of Jennilyn’s favorite places. We visit Cannon Beach quite often and Seaside is generally a stop we make on our way back from Oysterville to pick up a snack. When we decided to spend our anniversary at a beach, we realized Seaside would offer us something different yet familiar. I love that the beach is far enough away to be a “get-away” but that we don’t spend a majority of our time in the car driving to our destination.

We’ll have to make a stronger effort to take photos of our everyday lives for our next anniversary. Each anniversary, I sit down and look through the photos from the last year as well as blog posts to see where God has taken Jennilyn and me. As an observation of the obvious, ever since Kadie was born, most of our photos have been about her. Then about both kids after Violet was born. Our lives are very much involved with our kids, as it should be, but I hope that we get more photos of only Jenni and me next year, as this blog is called davidandjennilyn.com right?

Here is a closeup of the Easter Eggs we dyed Saturday morning. Kadie had a grand time putting stickers on while we created multi-colored eggs.

I’m looking forward to gathering with family with Christmas and seeing Kadie celebrate the birth of Christ. We’ve been doing nightly advent activities and I smile whenever I hear Kadie say “Baby Jesus” as she plays with our nativity set.

I am incredibly blessed that the Lord has given me the life that I enjoy, Jennilyn to love me with all heart, two delightful daughters who smile at me everyday, family nearby to visit often, and a generous job with fulfilling work.

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday (can’t really call it a vacation when you’re more tired after the long weekend then before) visiting family, cleaning house, and Christmas shipping. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the Lord had put the theme of gratitude on Jenni and my heart this month, and I’ve been reminded of how easy it is to be selfish and greedy when I have much to be grateful for.

For our third wedding anniversary, we had planned to visit Silver Falls and spend a night at a rustic cabin, but due to health circumstances, we were unable to go.

I think it was better that we went this year, for our fourth anniversary, since we were able to go without a baby and spend two wonderful days alone together (thanks to Jessica and Jenni’s parents for watching Kadie last minute).

Oh yeah, Jennilyn was very, very proud of the photo on the right. And she should be 😉

It’s hard to imagine that we’ve been married four years. Where did the time go? We’ve been married as long as we were both in high school, a president’s one term in office, and the number of years between olympics. On second thought, four years was not very long at all—there are great blessings in each year.

A little over a month ago, I read the last two chapters of Revelations and exhaled. While I missed my original target by two weeks, I still managed to finish the bible with my group in about five months. Funny, I thought, the book of Revelations wasn’t as hard to read through as I had imagined.

It’s been a white Christmas in our parts. We’ve had the most snow I’ve ever seen in my hometown. It’s been a challenge getting to and from work, trudging through thick snow and ice, hoping that the mass transit system is working. I’ve actually enjoyed the challenge, but sympathesize with those that the snow is a hardship. One of my coworkers has stayed at a hotel the past few days because water doesn’t work in her apartment complex. I pray that people are able to spend time with loved ones warmly and comfortably.

Jenni’s mom and dad normally hosts Christmas eve at their house and we all spend the night with all her family. With Kadence this year, all of Jenni’s family were generous enough to celebrate at our house.

I’m looking forward to the first Christmas where Kadie should be able to play with her presents. She’s been gabbing away and trotting around the house. It’ll be fun to see her play with her uncles.