Taking a quiet moment during this
season of wonder
to wish you all the best that God's goodness brings.
May there be peace for your heart and soul,
joy in the daily journey,
and overflowing love
to bless you now and in the coming year.
Merry Christmas!!
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 NIV
JANUARY:
On January 7th Howie and Heather (Marble) Davis had a beautiful baby girl - Evielyn Cortine - we were SO excited to add another niece to our family!
On January 16th Brian took a huge step in his faith and partook in believers baptism. This was such a precious moment for both of us.
That Sunday was also our last Sunday at Grace Bible Church in Columbia MO because.......
On January 28th we moved to Raymond Iowa due to Brian taking a new job with Target. He is working in the food distribution center and loves his job.
FEBRUARY:
Christy and Brian watched the Superbowl together - and Christy made some delicious snacks - her first try at "Superbowl" foods!
Christy attended Pampered Chef's "SPRING LAUNCH" in St. Paul MN - it sure didn't feel like SPRING! She loved getting to see all the new products that they were coming out in March as well as getting some really good training. While she was there she got to meet up with a bunch of friends for a much needed girls night out.
For Valentines Day, Christy surprised Brian with a fondue dinner - it was delicious!
MARCH:
We added a new family member to our small family - Christy was overjoyed! We found it on Craig's List for FREE all we had to do was haul it away. We got it home and had a tuner come out to look at the piano - he said it was in great condition! YAY!
March also brought a 2 week work trip to Florida (oh darn...) for Brian. One of his pictures trying to make Christy jealous
While he was gone Christy went to visit her sisters Heather and Leslie and her niece Evielyn in North Carolina. (as you can see we visited the beach too - it wasn't TOO cold ;))
APRIL:
In April Christy and Brian had a Pampered Chef vendor booth at the Child and Baby Expo to help get the business growing here in Iowa. We had fun blowing up balloons (we only popped a few!) and meeting some of the people here in Iowa. The business has really taken off this year - you can visit her website at: www.pamperedchef.biz/cmsal for more information or to place an order.
MAY:
Christy took a week and headed to Missouri to help her BFF while she was recouping from having her 4th child. Christy thoroughly enjoyed her time watching the kiddos and enjoyed some snuggle time with this cutie:
Brian turned 30 in May. He was SUPER excited to go lay out in the hammock in 93 degree weather on May 10th.
Christy really wanted to throw him a birthday party but since we still had NO friends here in IA that really wasn't an option, so she did the next best thing - she got all of his friends to send him cards and she gave them to him all at one time
Another HUGE thank you to everyone who made his 30th a special day!
We also added another addition to our vehicle fleet in May - something with 4WD for the frigid Iowa winters! It's not pretty - but it will work (once we get the oil pump fixed!)
JUNE:
Christy headed to MN to celebrate her friend's much longed for and awaited baby girl. Congrats Jesse & Anna!!
JULY:
We welcomed a new nephew the beginning of July - Blake Christopher. (Matt & Dianna Marble's second son)
For the 4th of July, we went camping at a state park in McGregor Iowa. We spent a whole week doing nothing. It was great. We did a little exploring in Prairie du Chien Wisconsin as well.
Norene and John came over to visit. We went to The Amana Colonies (like Frankenmuth, just not as nice) we enjoyed visiting the different shops and had dinner at one of the local restaurants. We also headed to Cedar Rapids where John & Brian golfed, and Christy & Norene putt putt golfed :)
This is 'Big Bud' the largest tractor in the world.
John also taught Brian how to play Disc Golf - they had fun (while being eaten by mosquitoes) and Norene and Christy had fun sitting in the car waiting for them to finish.
We had the chance to travel to Philadelphia and New Jersey to celebrate Kevin and Elizabeth getting married. It was the first time either of us have been to Philly. And yes, we did hit up several Triple D restaurants and tried Cheesesteaks. Geno's is better than Pat's.
L to R: Alex, Brian, Dan, Dave, Andy and Mike
After the wedding, we hung out at the Rusek's with the rest of the 514 (Brian's college friends). The newest additions to the 514 really seemed to like Brian ;)
Brian and Sophia
Brian and Fletcher
Mason, Archer and Sophia playing
Mary and Mason
AUGUST:
Brian had a training session in Detroit, of all places. Since it was in Detroit, Christy was able to go along to visit family and friends. We got to spend some time with Christy's brother Daniel before he joined the US Navy.
Christy also was able to do a few Pampered Chef shows while we were in MI - it was great catching up with Stephanie and her family!
We also took a trip to the Iowa State Fair to see the Butter Cow. That is a full size cow and people made out of butter. Holy Paula Deen. We also tried the Deep Fried Butter, just to say we did.
Christy was able to head to North Branch MN for a Woman's Retreat. We had girls come from North Carolina, Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, Texas, Hawaii, Iowa, and of course Minnesota. She had a great time renewing relationships and makings new ones. These women are some of the dearest people to Christy - it was hard to say goodbye to everyone!
Yes, there were just a FEW pregnant mommy's there!
Back Row: Kalyn (TX), Johanna (WI), Amanda (HI), Lora (MO) Donna (GA), Christy (IA) Rosanna (then MN), Jessica (MN)
Front Row: Johanna (Our lovely host! MN), Elizabeth (MN), Sarah (NC), Anna (MN)
Two days after Christy got back from the retreat she got a call back from The Girl Scouts about being a temporary recruiter. Basically she went to different schools doing presentations to both the girls and their parents about the Girl Scouts. This was a temporary job that ended at the end of November. Christy very much enjoyed this job and was sad to see it end.
SEPTEMBER:
We found a church home at Prairie Lakes Church. Christy is involved with Youth Ministry, leading a small group of 9th and 10th grade girls. Brian is involved with Worship and Production, working on a video tech team. Together we are leading up a small group of young married couples.
We also started attending a Financial Peace University class. The class has completely changed how we handle our finances and we plan to be debt free in 18 months. We encourage anyone who uses money, or would like to use more money to attend this class!
OCTOBER:
Our Halloween Decorations:
It made Brian sad when a child asked him who he was supposed to be - don't parents let their kids watch the Flintstones anymore??
NOVEMBER:
We traveled to Chicago to see Daniel graduate from Basic Training from the Navy.
We hosted Thanksgiving for Norene and John in Iowa. Christy whipped up all of our favorite foods. The roaster quit working about half way through, so we had to shuffle everything around the kitchen to cook it. It was delicious even still.
Lots of hand and foot (and other games!) was played during their visit and we even went out on Black Friday and got a little bit of shopping done. We finished our shopping trip with a visit to Brian & Christy's favorite restaurant here in Iowa - Newton's
While Norene and John were in town we also got a family picture taken - too bad it was raining during our entire session! Thankfully it turned out REALLY good :)
DECEMBER:
In the spirit of being Gazelle intense (if you've taken an FPU class, you know what we are talking about), we will be moving in mid-January. If you want our new address, let us know.
As we go into this Christmas season, we hope you stop and pause to remember what this holiday is really about - The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. He came to earth to save each of us from our sins so that we one day can go to heaven and live with Him. We hope that each of you are truly seeking to have a personal relationship with Him. He loves and cares for YOU!
Please feel free to leave us a comment and let us know how you're doing! (if you don't have a gmail account or a blogger account you can leave an anonymous comment - just leave your name so we know who it's from!)
We hope you and your family have a blessed Christmas and a very happy New Year!
With Much Love,
Brian & Christy Msal
