Bakin' machines!

This year, the girls in my family started a new tradition of having a Christmas baking day! It was a day full of fun, messes, sweets & packed full of laughter :) Here are some pictures from our day, can't wait to do it all again next year!

Cooking making station :)

Bakin' :)

Chillin' on the cooling racks.

Chubby little things!

Bite size :)

J for Jenna & Jordan :)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip! YUM!

Love the believe sign in the background ;)

Annie had gone cookie crazy! (Family friend Jennifer, Jody, Janis, Catrina, Annie & Jenna)

This pic is from a Christmas tea party that my Mama had :) Just thought I'd thrown it in with the rest of these pics!

Hope you all are making new traditions this year & carrying on the old ones too!

Love & Blessings,

Jenna

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

**Side note: As I was looking through the pictures from our last post, I realized that we didn't take any pictures with The Richards family! WHAT?! I don't even know how that happened?! I will definitely be better at getting pictures on Christmas :))

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, yes it is! We have started a few traditions of our own for Christmas since being married & we loved being able to start them up again the day after Thanksgiving. We took down all of our Fall decorations the day after Thanksgiving & got down all of our Christmas decorations from the attic. Jordan could barely hardly wait to get them all up, he is like a little elf ;) The first Christmas we celebrated as an engaged couple, my Aunt & Uncle got Jordan & I a village set - a couple of houses, some people, fake snow, trees & some snowmen. Jordan love love loves putting it up - it's his little project. I usually do the mantle & try to find places for all of the other little decorations we have accumulated. My Mom has given us a lot of decorations that she wasn't using & we are so grateful! We have carried on our tradition of watching Christmas movies in the days leading up to Christmas, that's probably one of our favorite things :) We purchased our tree last weekend! LOVE the smell of a real tree, fake trees aren't allowed in our house lol We bought a set of pretty bulbs last year, my Mom gave me some of my childhood ornaments, along with some very special ornaments that her & my Nanny made. We received a few as gifts last year also, and enjoy looking at those & putting them on the tree too. One of the last times we were at the cabin, while Jordan was chopping wood, I gathered up some baby pinecones that were scattered around the cabin - I knew that I wanted to use them for something, I just wasn't sure what! Well, they became part of the centerpiece on our kitchen table! We love looking at them & know that they came from someplace special :) We are looking forward to celebrating with our families in just 9 short days! We can hardly believe that the year is almost over!

Here are some pictures of our decorations around the house...

Our beautiful "Richards" mantle.

 Stockings hung by the chimney with care...

Love these little trees!

Love & Blessings,

J  & J

Wow...

 So, I just realized that it has been quite some time since I blogged & completely forgot to blog about Thanksgiving! Being that CHRISTmas Eve is in just 10 short days, I figured I should blog about what The Richards have been up to, before I get really behind! :)

Where to start, where to start? We feel so blessed that we get to spend the holidays with both of our families, it really helps that they live within 15 minutes or so of each other & we pray that as our family expands that we will always be able to spend the holidays with both sets of families, because it is so important to us. It just always happens to work out that time conflicts never occur either, The Richards Family tends to celebrate earlier in the day, where as Jenna's family tends to celebrate more in the evening.

We had a beautiful Thanksgiving, we started out the morning with the Annual LaLoma Grace Brethren football game, then we quickly ran home to change into our "nice clothes" then headed off to Mom & Dad Richards house. We definitely enjoyed our fill of turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie & all kinds of other Thanksgiving treats. After hanging out there for a while, we headed over to Jenna's Aunt & Uncle's house for some more food! :D My oh my were we full & in a definite food coma by the end of the night! We so enjoyed the beautiful day we had with both of our families, and spent a little time wondering if we would be bringing a baby along next year :) We sure hope so & would definitely appreciate your prayers on that matter!!

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving...

Jenna's "little cousins", Annie & Adam ;)

Catrina, Jenna & Jordan.

Jenna's Mom, Jody & Aunt Janis :)

The girlies on Jenna's side of the family :)

Adam, Annie, Catrina, Jenna, Jordan & Austin :)

Family :)

HA HA HA

The Richards :)

:)

I love us :)

Thanksgiving 2011

We celebrated Jenna's Mom's birthday on the 28th :)

We also got to hang out with Katie while she was home!
Katie, Ryan, Jordan & I all went bowling... boy was that comedic :)

Katie & Jordan :)

Ms. Katie & Jenna :)

We really enjoyed being able to spend time with Katie & Will while they were home, we miss them so much while they are gone at school.

We have been eagerly awaiting CHRISTmas, it is by far one of our favorite times of the year! We love everything that it represents :) Reflecting on the true meaning of CHRISTmas is something that is so important to us, having a relationship with our Lord is something that is so precious to us & something we are so thankful for every day. Decorating our house, getting our tree, hanging our stockings, drinking eggnog, continuing our tradition of watching CHRISTmas movies everyday - so many fun things!

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas & a Blessed New Year - May you have the gift of faith, the blessing of hope and the peace of His love at Christmas and always.


Love & Blessings,
J & J

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today would have been my Dad's 53rd Birthday. I have truly missed him every minute since he left. At times I feel envious that he is in the place we all long to be, Heaven - a place where all of the trials & struggles of this life are no more and life & love never end. Today... I am missing him, as I have all of the days before, but I am also choosing to be thankful for all of the time & memories I did have with him, while wishing I still had just one more. Happy Birthday Dad, I love you & I can't wait to see you again.

"No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye. You were gone before we knew it & only God knows why. Our hearts still ache in sadness & secret tears still flow. What it meant to lose you, no one will ever know. But now we know you want us to mourn for you no more, to remember all the happy times, life still has much in store. Since you'll never be forgotten, we pledge to you today, a hallowed place within our hearts is where you'll always stay."

Love,

Jenna

Our first photoshoot...

While working at Shoob I met a girl named Shawna, unbeknownst to us we were neighbors... her & her husband Ben had moved to Riverbank from Oregon a little over a year ago & they now live right down the street from us :) Like me, both Shawna & Ben share a love of photography - Shawna is also trying to start a photography business of her own... so she asked Jordan & I to play her models one Sunday afternoon & these are just a few of the pictures from that day...

I have the most handsome hubby ;)

We are calling these our "1 Year" photos, because they were taken just a little after our 1 year anniversary :) I can still barely believe we have been married 1 year... actually, almost  1 1/2! We are blessed.

Love & Blessings,

J & J

Obsessed....

So... I had heard about this cool website a while ago, where people share all kinds of cool ideas through little "pins" aka pictures, on this website called Pinterest. So... last week, I looked up the app on my phone & anxiously awaited my "invite" (yes, you have to be invited). It didn't take long to get my invite, I actually got it this morning, I was so excited to see what it was about! They have the cutest ideas on there.... anything from photography, fashion, wedding ideas, baby room ideas, recipes, photography, DIY stuff... the list is endless! When you click on the picture it takes you to the original post so you can see what the pin is all about - definitely a great web invention! I urge you to go check it out :)

Love & Blessings,
Jenna

Today...

Today, I have realized that I need to work on something...

PATIENCE: (n)
1. Bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint
2. Manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain
3. Not hasty or impetuous
4. Steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity
5. Able or willing to bear

I also realized that in order to do that, I need to fully accept that God is in control & that everything happens in His perfect time. I am perfectly okay with that statement. He knows much better than I do, He sees the big picture. The bible does says that patience is a virtue. Now... PUT THIS INTO PRACTICE, JENNA! ;)

 Psalm 139:13-14
¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.

 That is one of my favorite bible verses :)

Love & Blessings,
Jenna