Happy New Year!

The first day of 2009 passed uneventfully and calmly for the Ransom Mallery household. Our morning started early and was fairly normal, except that Honour and I did "school" for the first time, which consisted of a half-hour of drawing shapes and pictures, identifying colors and playing a matching game. He seemed to enjoy it and I think he knows what the color red is. :)

Mom Rickel invited us to have lunch with their family. I do enjoy spending time upstairs for many different reasons, one being that I can look out the windows and see the landscape. Basement living isn't very conducive to that activity. ;) We had a pleasant time visiting around the table, and then the children and I said our final goodbyes to James Throckmorton, the young man who has stayed with the Rickels the better part of December, as he returned to Pennsylvania today.

And, yes, it is time to officially confirm many of your suspicions: James came to court my sister Paige. On Christmas Day, Paige was told of James' intentions and within a few days had agreed to allow him to court her. This will be a very exciting as well as very serious time for them as they seek the Lord's will regarding their futures, and whether it would glorify him for their futures to be shared in marriage. Please pray for them during this special phase.

In the afternoon, Ransom and I enjoyed a quiet time of visiting while the children napped. What a treat to have my husband all to myself for a couple consecutive hours! We chatted about all manner of topics and played a round of Yahtzee.

When the children got up, we went to Grandpa Schmid's house for a delicious ham dinner shared with the Rickels and several friends from Grace Church. What a lovely ending to a restful day.

That said, how was everyone's Christmas? We spent Christmas Eve with the Ray Mallery family and Christmas Day with the Rickels. Both gatherings were beautiful and relaxing. It was fun seeing Honour really enjoy and somewhat understand the celebration this year. Of course, along with the usual festivities, we were also rejoicing in the anniversary of receiving the sweet gift of our first daughter (For those of you who don't know, Remember was born on Christmas Day, 2007.). Last Christmas was one of the most unique and memorable of our lives. Isn't God kind to us?

Speaking of Remember, here are the be-lated pictures of her dedication that I promised in my last post. Didn't Mom Mallery do an amazing job on the gown?!

What a sweet expression!

Here's a better picture of the entire gown. It's made of linen, so it didn't stay nice and pressed for very long, especially since Remember was not excited about getting changed into it! Mom Mallery sewed it and did all the beautiful embroidery work on it, and I crocheted the lace. In this picture, we're with Mom Rickel.

I love this picture. Here we're with Mom Mallery.

Dad Mallery asking Ransom and me questions and reading a blessing...

...before our church family (we meet in a small community library).

I had intended to include more pictures in this post, but they'll have to wait as it's getting late and I really want to take my pregnant belly to bed. :) Love to you all and Happy New Year!

By the way, all the pictures in this post were taken by my brother-in-law, Ridge, who's an aspiring photographer. Thanks Ridge!