Monday, December 28, 2009

Our Christmas

Christ the Savior is born. This year, we had Christmas at our house. My sister and her three kids came for Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day. Instead of alot of commentary, here was our time is pictures. This was our Christmas feast. The first time since being married that I cooked Christmas dinner! And here we all are getting ready to eat. AFter dinner we took the opportunity to take some pictures. Here's the boy in his Christmas outfit. And here are my two boys. I made them matching Christmas bowties!!!! Don't feel bad for them, Luke proudly wore and approved the fabric and the design beforehand!! Aren't they handsome (and yes....maybe a little dorky!)Then we got ready to go the Christmas Eve Love Feast at Providence. This is our family tradition that we're so glad my sister got to partake in this year. Last year, this was Isaac..
Now......alot more mesmerized by the candle.
And here are some more pics of the family!

We had a great time celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Everytime I think of what the angels said, "Behold, I bring you GOOD NEWS of GREAT JOY that will be for all people" , I just break down and cry. Thank you God, for coming to earth in the form of a baby and saving me from my sins. AMEN!!

We hope your family had a great time celebrating too!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I Wonder Where He Got it From

HO HO HO, time to see Santa. And someone didn't like it very much.

Here he is with the Santa at Luke's work partyAnd here with Grampa and Mutee as Mr. & Mrs. Clause. Needless to say, he didn't recognize them.
Reminds me of someone......oh yeah......ME!Here come Santa Claus....Quick! Hide the kids!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Monday, December 21, 2009

Our Digital Christmas Letter

Here is this years Christmas letter from the Mehaffies. I'm putting it on our blog for all you out there who won't be getting it in the mail. Oh that sounded mean. But it's not.

Hello Friends and Family!

We are so amazed at the grace of God and thankful to Him for giving us another year to celebrate life. This past year has been full of blessings and we hope you can join in praising God with us as we share them with you.


Last December, we had our first child, Isaac, and have spent the past year getting to know him and watching him grow up. We love him so much and can’t resist his sweet little charms. He is usually described as sweet and tender hearted. It’s been fun to observe his personality and see bits and pieces of his parents shine through. Our prayer is that he might (through our imperfect examples) grow up with a heart for God and His word, having seen His glory for himself. This is the verse we think of as we daily pray for him:


“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians (which were also pretty noble), for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true.” -Acts 17:11


Rockie and I are still learning what it means to be parents. There is a whole new realm of responsibilities to learn and grow in. We are trying hard to keep up with Isaac’s growth. Our current struggle is discipline. It was difficult to see our sweet, content little boy start throwing tantrums when he didn’t get his way. Sometimes he knows when he’s done something wrong and sometimes he doesn’t. As much as we hate to see him unhappy, there are times when we know that if we let him do whatever he wants the result would be harmful. How true is this of our heavenly Father who desires to love, protect, and sanctify us. I am continually reminded by this Martin Luther quote of what God did on the cross to show me His love:


“You have taken upon Yourself what was mine and given me what is Yours. You have become what You were not so that I might become what I was not.”


The other good news this year is that we bought our first house in September!! God showed us His faithfulness and provision through the whole journey as we watched Him take the little basket of fish and bread we had and multiply it abundantly. Our home has been another realm of responsibility for us to get used to. Even though we have been living here for three months we still have some boxes that are waiting to be unpacked. What an adventure it is to own a home!!

One thing that Rockie has fully embraced this year is her passion for crafting. She enjoys this and can’t seem to get enough of it. Whether it’s mod podge, knitting needles, spools of string or fat quarters, it’s like therapy for her (check it out: http://rockiescrafts.blogspot.com)!!! I sometimes make fun of her overzealousness, but she is so creative and I love seeing her work hard at it. She has also started “nannying” for some friends of ours during the morning.


Proverbs 17: 1 says this, “Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.” The Lord has placed this verse on our hearts and we continue to savor the crust He has given us. Let this also be an encouragement to you, that in this Christmas season, when there is so much feasting in our homes, that there will also be peace. More importantly let us remember that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and only He can provide perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).


To see what our family is up to year round, check out our family blog:

www.themehaffies.blogspot.com


Merry Christmas from Luke, Rockie, Isaac and Missy Mehaffie!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Advent

Advent is a very important season in our family. We look forward to Jesus' first coming with great anticipation. We also desire to teach our children the importance on the advent season so that the understand at an early age what Christmas is really all about.

I have been pretty slack this year about posting our weekly Sunday advent devotional so here are some links from advent last year.
First Sunday of Advent
Second Sunday of Advent
Third Sunday of Advent
Fourth Sunday of Advent

I hope that it can be an encouragement to your family as you learn the real meaning of Christmas.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Ornament Exchange and Craft Time

Every year (except for last year because my little guy had just been born) I have hosted a Christmas ornament exchange for the ladies in my Sunday school. It has always been a really great time, and I hope that it is a tradition that will continue to go on and on. Recently I added a craft time where all the ladies make an ornament together to commemorate our time. I think everyone has loved doing this. Here are some pictures of our time together.Leslie and Leah were working really hard on theirs.And this is the felt ornament that we made.I found this tutorial from CREATE. It was really easy once you got the hang of it, especially if you're not used to hand sewing.

It was a really great time together. We had fun making fun of our sewing skills and also talking about our family Christmas tradition.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Isaac Needs Jesus so Badly....

....Little baby Jesus that is!
Even though he got the Little People Nativity set for his birthday, he still wants to play with these little people. Oh well, some mountains you stand on, and some you don't!

And just for fun, here's a picture of our Christmas tree this year. We just love it!!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Isaac's Birthday Party!

Here are the pictures, as promised, of Isaac's party. We are so happy for the friends and family that came to celebrate with us and honor Isaac on one of the most important birthdays of his life! Here are two of my favorite pictures after Isaac ate his cupcake:

"Oh I love my life! That cupcake's the best thing I've ever tasted. Oh I feel that awesome sugar high! I love my mom and dad.""Oh, I hate my life. Why did I eat all the icing first? I think I'm gonna throw up! Why did mom and dad make me eat that dumb cupcake?!"
Are they great pics. We just love love love love him! Thanks again to everyone who came to honor Isaac with us and give such awesome gifts of love to him!


Sunday, December 6, 2009

Birthday Boy!!

Thursday was little Isaac Boy's birthday! I can't believe he's one already! I know this is cliche`, but it really did go by fast. Look at that big boy!Here's how our day went. I went and got him up from bed and sang him Las Mananitas (it's the Spanish birthday song). Then we went downstairs to have a photo shoot with his birthday crown. Sleepy little eyes.Then we had a birthday breakfast of blueberries and a baby pancake. Num Yummy!Then we just hung around and played with Finn.
Later that day, after a quick lunch with Aunt Anna, we met bed with daddy for some birthday ice cream at goodberry's! He was one happy baby. Don't worry, we only gave him like 3 maybe 4 bites. Then, after daddy came home, we had another photo shoot with a birthday shirt that I whipped up for him that afternoon in front of the Christmas Tree.
He was hungry so most of the pics didn't turn out, but we got a few. Then it was off to birthday dinner at Chick-fil-a. He likes it there :)
After opening some birthday cards, we went off to Wal-mart to do some shopping for his birthday party on Saturday. Then it was way past his bedtime and he fell right to sleep.

Luke and I just get so emotional just thinking about how much we love him and how good God has been to us through Isaac. We truly feel honored, I mean, really honored that God would choose us to be the parents of this sweet little boy. We are so thankful for Isaac's sweet and content spirit, and for the health that he has had his first year. What an easy baby our little Isaac boy has been. Thank you Lord!

Pictures of the party to come tomorrow....it's taking forever for them to download.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Thankgiving!

Oh thanksgiving! the best part is that Gammie and Aunt Marilyn come to visit. We only get to see them once maybe twice a year and it is such a treat. They even took time to come see our new home. We were so excited and honored by that. My crock pot Mac-n-cheese bombed, but people still ate it!!! I also made some pumpkin pudding. Click here to see pics and the recipe. I had alot of fun hanging out in the kitchen with Aunt Marilyn with our matching aprons (unplanned) and hearing about what Thanksgiving on the farm where she grew up. Here are some pictures from our day. Our first Thanksgiving with Isaac (don't you love the candle in my face!)Isaac getting ready to feastWith Gammie & Aunt MarilynIt's always easy to be thankful for the good things: my salvation in Jesus, my amazing husband, my precious son, and our wonderful home that God gave to us. But how much do we share and are truly thankful for the hardships in our lives? The pain that keeps us in bondage? This year, I am thankful for that. Not with a cheerful, or joyful heart yet, but one day. I am so thankful for the deeper and truer way that the Lord has revealed Himself to me through earthly hardships, helping me to discover in a deep deep way who I am in Him, why He loves me when I so often feel so unlovable, but most of all, my WORTH in Him. This is my worth: that Jesus poured out His blood for me. God is revealing this to me, not in the cliche' way we so often tend to, but in the way that keeps me going day to day. In the way that causes me to run to Him for safety and shelter. So, for all this, I am thankful. Thank you Lord for saving me and that one day I will be with you in Heaven, worshiping only You!

"Holy Holy Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.
With all creation I sing, Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything, and I will Adore you"
--Revelation Song

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Visitors

This first picture is from a while ago. Sorry I didn't post it sooner. My mom came to visit and this is my whole family sending her off at the airport. Suzie's kids are so funny.
This picture is just from a couple of weeks ago. Matt, Andrea and Benjamin Sutton came to visit and see our new house while they were in NC. It was fun comparing parenting stories and tips and just hanging out!