Our Fall (in a nutshell!)

We have had SUCH a busy fall (as you will see below) - between having a new baby, recording a new CD, traveling with meetings in Oct/Nov, the Christmas play, etc, etc, etc....I have gotten SO behind in blogging.  I sincerely apologize!  I have been able to do quick updates here and there, so you know we are still alive and well, but nothing in the detail I would've liked.  Now, we are gearing up to leave for our 3-month Spring Tour next week and one of the things on my to-do list for this week is to FINALLY catch up on the blog!  So...here we go....our fall in a nutshell :)  Enjoy!

Sept. 19 was David's 2nd birthday party! He LOVES Thomas the Train 

(from the toy that he has and a book that he loves to read)

\

Opening presents

Playing with the decor (which WAS his toy Thomas, so we let him play with it!)

There were so many people around and so many things going on that this was the best family picture we got that day...I don't mind :)  It's the memory that counts!

Yay for crazy blue and red cupcakes!!! (Interestingly, he didn't scarf the whole thing down like he did last year with his monkey cupcake!  He just licked at the frosting this year)

Good morning, birthday boy!  David turned 2 on Sept. 20! :)

We enjoyed having many friends/family over to our home this fall!  We enjoy being hosted all year long as we travel, but what we REALLY love is hosting others in OUR house!  Here we are with our pastor and his sweet family, enjoying one of our favorite meals: chicken alfredo!

With an energetic 2-year-old and a tiny newborn, recording our latest CD was quite the task!  We were thankful for friends who watched David for us at their home, so we could have the house quiet enough to record (until Jonathan woke up and let us know it was time for another meal!).   This CD took the longest to get completed, but thankfully, we had all fall and part of winter to do it!  Check back here on the blog for more info on how you can purchase one!

We went to a farm one beautiful day in October and enjoyed corn bins, hay bale mazes, animals and this giant bounce house (which these two boys had all to themselves!)

We had a few meetings in October and also went out for meetings every weekend in November.  It was nice to get a small taste of what traveling with two kids will be like in January!

Here Caleb is preaching on a Weds. night at Faith Baptist Church in Bourbonnaise, IL.

We had a week-long Revival in Wisconsin and while there, we HAD to get cheese at a local factory!

Caleb preaching the Revival at Immanuel Baptist in Menominee, WI.

Happy little guy!

We got to be with Pleasantville Baptist Church here in Iowa for their old fashioned Sunday.

We also held Revival meetings there all week.

David enjoying snacks with his friends in the nursery :)

Jonathan charming the ladies already....tsk tsk. ;)

These are the moments I never want to forget...

We had a wonderful day of meetings at Gateway Baptist in Clinton, IA on Nov. 2.  

Two young boys were saved in Jr. Church after Caleb preached!

 (One of them is pictured in the top left)

We had a fun time with our fellow evangelist friends, the Barbers, when they came for lunch one day.

My sweet friend, Cassie, and a few other friends from church took me out for my birthday!

We had a great day at First Baptist Church in Seymour, IA on Nov. 9 (my 29th birthday)!

When we got home that evening, we had a little celebration.  David was excited about the cupcakes!

Gotta love this newborn phase, where they can fall asleep ANYWHERE, with or without ambient noise, and in ANY position :)

Happy Thanksgiving!  We sure are thankful for our two little blessings from God!  

We enjoyed celebrating the holiday at our friends', John and Cassie's, house.

Time to decorate for Christmas!  I had a little fireman helping me :)

Christmas play - here again already!  Has it really been a whole year?!  Caleb and I enjoyed getting to be deeply involved with the play this year, more than ever before.  We helped brainstorm/write the script, find/arrange/orchestrate music, and 3 of us Garraways acted in it! :)  See photo below...

Yes, little Jonathan was the perfect Baby Jesus for us (Mary and Joseph)!  So far, both our boys have gotten to play this part!  We'll see if we can keep timing the birth of our kids just right, so they all can play Baby Jesus at some point! haha (just kidding!)

After the Christmas play, my family (minus my sister Laura and her family out in Utah) came to visit us!  David enjoyed playing with his cousins and getting loved on by his Grandma and PopPop!

My brother, Stephen and sister, Becki and I enjoyed singing and doing some just-for-fun recording together!

These two munchkins are practically twins!  Cousins born 2 days apart!  Originally due 3.5 weeks apart, Julia came late, on August 12 and Jonathan came early on August 14!

Someone is loving time with Grandma :)

We got to eat a meal at an amish family's house.  What a NEAT experience!...not only was the food unbelievably amazing but the hostess and her daughters were so sweet and friendly!  They not only cooked us delicious food (that just kept coming and coming!), but they also sang a song in german for us (by request) and answered tons of our questions!  

And Mrs. Miller's husband gave us rides in their buggy!  David loved it!  

4 generations represented here (my dad's mom, my dad, his children and grandchildren). We so loved having them all visit!

After a week-long flu bug that Caleb and I both caught, we were able to muster up strength to celebrate Christmas with our boys!

Reading the Christmas story about the ultimate Gift, before opening gifts!

David enjoyed opening his gifts, AND helping daddy and mommy open theirs :)

My favorite shot of the day!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a blessed New Year as you live for the Lord!  We appreciate your prayers as we pack up and head out for our 3-month Spring Tour (Jan 14-April 6).  We will be traveling south (hopefully to warmer weather!) and will try and keep you all posted on how our meetings go and what adventures we have along the way!