Christmas time is here....

Merry Christmas everyone!  We pray you all had a splendid Christmas rejoicing in our Savior's birth.  For our holiday celebrations we were joined by most of Tyler's immediate family.  It was wonderful to share the joy of Christ and the gift of family during such a special time.

Tyler is still enjoying his holiday break up through next Monday.  So far we have been staying in pajamas half the morning, playing with Caleb's train sets, doing a little shopping, napping, and trying to finish up or get rid of all those holiday sweets.  Plus of course the few house projects we'd like to accomplish while Tyler is home all day.

We can't believe how much both kids are growing.  Aaron is starting to cruise around the furniture.  He is all smiles and happiness (except for last week while he was teething and dealing with a second cold...).  Caleb is picking up more and more phrases and words, like "Ow knee mama" when I banged my knee on the stairs earlier while chasing him.  It's fun to be able to communicate with him more as he develops.

As usual, we can't resist putting up a few pictures of our lives.  Here are some Christmas photos to enjoy!

 Aunt Danica and Aaron

 Playing "Bohnaza" card game

 4 generations of Schmidts

 One happy child

 Christmas Day meal and one happy family

Oh Christmas Tree...

This is one holiday season that we do not have to travel, and instead, family will come and see us.  To celebrate, we decided to upgrade from our scrawny fake tree to a real Christmas tree.  We went to our local tree farm and got to pick out a beautiful 6 foot tree and cut it down.  Here are a few pictures of the event.

 

What is a family event without a picture?

Peeking through the acres of trees

Caleb had a fun time running in between all the blue spruce and pine trees

Renae and Caleb posing

Renae and Jodie Toews "clink" coffe mugs while watching the men "work" :)

Bringing out the mountain man in Tyler as he poses with his latest "kill"

Warming up by the fire after a long walk at the tree farm

Aaron helps Russ Toews (Jodi's father-in-law) get a baby fix

 The tree almost didn't fit though our back door

There...it is straight as long as you tilt your head to the left

  Caleb gets into the decorating spirit

 

The final resting place

Getting lights up

Playing with the light settings on the camera

Caleb has discovered how to plug in lights now

 "Squirrel" (for all you Pixar fans)

The final touches and we will have a beautiful tree.

Merry Christmas to all of you and thank you for your continuing prayers and support.  A new letter from the Schmidt's will be coming soon in the mail with news about Tyler's switch to Moody Aviation, his tentative date to take technical evaluation next year, and progress on our support team raising.

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles!

Trains...

Planes...

...and automobiles

Imagine taking enough trips in a year to travel by plane, train, and automobile all in the same year!  That is the kind of year it has been for us.  Beginning with last Christmas, when we flew to ND for deputation and vacation, followed by a summer trip by automobile to ND for more deputation.  Then an unplanned and spontaneous flight (in the Kodiak!) to ND, again, while Renae spent time with family and Tyler spent 11 days on the Kodiak touring the east coast. Then ending with our recent expedition, yet again, to ND on the train for the week of Thanksgiving to spend holiday time with my (Renae's) entire immediate family (which we were not able to see earlier in the summer).  Talk about being traveled out!  We are ready for a nice long break from traveling now as we settle back into our routine again in Spokane. 

We are so thankful that we were able to spend lots of time last week with my brother and his family, as well as seeing extended family for Thanksgiving, and sharing a Christmas celebration with all of my immediate family.  Unfortunately many of us shared in spreading the joy (or dread) of the stomach flu!  It managed to pass to most of the kids and some adults, making the trip a little less fun but just as memorable.  Poor Caleb caught it the morning we left on the train to come back to Spokane.  Oh the joys of catching throw-up while traveling on a train!

Here are some pictures of our time with family:

Caleb on the train with a bucket near by

Family picture

Everyone is helping with the puzzle

Renae's sister Andrea and Tyler's cousin Jonathan, who happen to be married :)

Renae's brother Ryan and Mindy with their twin girls Emma and Aubery

They all wanted to play piano

Aaron was happy to just standup and grin

All the little babies of the family, just missing the three older kids.

Today is Tyler's last day at Spokane Turbine Center.  Tomorrow (Friday) he will move his stuff out of his office there and transfer it over to Moody Aviation.  We are excited at this next step towards preparing to join MAF.  Tyler is tentatively schedule to take his technical evaluation (TE) with MAF in October of next year.  Please being praying with us that he would be able to adequately prepare for the test, and that God would overcome our burden to student debt so that we will not have that obstacle still in our way in a year.

Thank you so much for praying with us and sharing in our lives. 

holiday blessings (and hopefully not such a long wait until our next blog...)

the Schmidt's