Christmas Cheer x 2

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Number One:

Place: Marty's sister and brother-in-law's place (a.k.a. Jenessa & Jarend)
Menu: Ham, scalloped potatoes, garlic bread, bread sticks, veggies, and TWO amazing desserts!
Most memorable moment: Opening my present from Mrs. Speelman - She made a beautiful scrapbook of Marty and I from the last 7 mo! I love it!
Funniest moment(s):
* Watching Mr. Speelman do the 'mumba' (If any of you know of little kids who watch Dora, you might have an idea of what this might look like :))
* Marty's driving :) (He knows what i'm talking about)
Merry quotient (out of 10):
11! :) - I had tons of fun, ate WAY too much, played with Marty's beautiful neices and hung out with his family, and got spoiled rotten!

Marty's parents with all the grandkids... prior to opening presents and the grumpiness that ensued ;)

Myself and baby Owen

Uncle Marty playing blocks with his neices. Marty, make sure you SHARE those blocks!

What a cutie :) - Marty's neice Rebecca

Christmas Number Two:

Place: my house
Menu: Too much! :) Turkey, potatoes, rolls, salad, beans, and lemon merengue pie. If that wasn't enough, later in the evening we feasted on finger foods and tons of baking! mmm.. :)
Most memorable moment: Seeing my sister's reaction to the drawing i made for her.
Funniest moment: 5 of us all fighting to put the LAST puzzle piece in (doing a puzzle around Christams is a family tradition. I believe the winner was Rob, but only because Marty and Rob not so inconspicuosly "kidnapped" a few pieces in their hands until the very end.
Merry quotient (out of 10): 11! Once again... being with family, singing Christmas songs, lots of laughs, and celebrating our Saviours birth together made for an amazing time!

"The kids" (and the kids kid)

Mom and Dad amongst all the gifts!

Rob and Dad - looking rather puzzled

Judah's new ride

My Dad and his new blocks.. or wait.. i think they might be Judah's :)

Me - trying on one of my gifts

O HOLY NIGHT

This is a re-blog... but i love this song and interspersing the bible passages with it really reminds me again of the amazing gift of God's son. Let us not forget the reason for the season! Merry Christmas!

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining…

In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning…

It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men…

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth….

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it….

A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn….

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God…

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5;12-14)

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Bringing light into the world... literally!

This is honestly one of the craziest christmas light displays i have ever seen. It apparently took the guy 2 months to set it all up - but it's all timed to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Wizard in Winter" (from The Lost Christmas Eve album). It's awesome! He apparently took it down by his own decision after it started creating traffic jams and even an accident on his streetm, which is too bad.. because it's pretty cool! check this out!


More about the display from snopes.com:

This display was the work of Carson Williams, a Mason, Ohio, electrical engineer who spent about three hours sequencing the 88 Light-O-Rama channels that controlled the 16,000 Christmas lights in his annual holiday lighting spectacular (from Christmas 2004). His 2005 display includes over 25,000 lights that he spent nearly two months and $10,000 to hook up. So that the Williams' neighbors aren't disturbed by constant noise, viewers driving by the house are informed by signs to tune in to a signal broadcast over a low-power FM radio station to hear the musical accompaniment.

A photo of the Williams Family:

Name the movie...

Looking for another way to procrastinate? :) Here is a cool link to a movie quiz. You have to guess the movie based on one still frame from each. The tricky part is that all the characters heads have been removed, so you have to figure it out based on costume and setting. It's pretty tricky!! We were only able get 25 without cheating at all, see how well you can do! I don't have the answers, so you'll just have to keep guessing!

MOVIE QUIZ

note:
-the quiz is in excel format
-as you type in the titles to the movies, the program will tell you if you are right or wrong. Enjoy!

Oh Baby...

Here are a few pictures of the newest addition to the VanRooyen family. Welcome Owen!

Baby Owen just a few hours after his entrance into the world :)

Proud Uncle Marty with his FIRST nephew!

A Hearty Welcome to...

Owen Peter VanRooyen!

Marty is an uncle now for the fourth time as his sister and brother-in-law just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy early this morning. He is a birthday present for his dad who's birthday it is today! :) Welcome Owen! Praise God!

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Picture of the Week...