Uncle Garrett & Aunt Sam

Right before we left for Chicago for Thanksgiving, Uncle Garrett and Aunt Samantha stopped by for a quick, last-minute visit!  It was so great to see them and visit with them.  They came by Thursday night and stayed with Phil and the girls all day on Friday.  The girls had a blast hanging out with them and Phil was so grateful for the help!

Aunt Sam & Kate 

Uncle Garrett & Anna

Our New Ride

Check out our new wagon - we LOVE it!!  Thank you Aunt Melissa & Uncle John (Andrew, Jacob & Allie), Aunt Katie & Uncle Jud (Ali, Canyon, & Kingston), and Aunt Lauren & Uncle Chad (Rylee, Landyn, Dylan, and Brycen).

ONE

I honestly think that I am in shock as I sit here and write this post.  Our babies are ONE....WHAT??!!  I was not diligent to get a monthly picture of the girls - let's just say I was a little BUSY!!  Those of you who know anything about this first year know that I am just thankful to have survived!!  It was by far the most difficult year of my life, but I am so thankful for all that the Lord has blessed us with and brought us through.  Our sweet babies are definitely a handful, but they are an even greater JOY!  It has  been so amazing to see God work in our lives this past year - always giving us the strength to get through each day with the overwhelming peace of knowing He was right there with us each minute of every day!  Thanks be to GOD for keeping all of us in the palm of His hand through the blessings and challenges.

Happy Birthday sweet girls!!

Thanksgiving in Elmhurst

I had the whole week of Thanksgiving off of school (thanks to furlough days), so on Friday afternoon, we packed up the car and headed north to visit the Henry Gang!  We drove until we were tired on Friday night, spent the night in Kentucky, and finished the drive on Saturday.  The girls did pretty amazing!  We had such a wonderful time and are so thankful for the time we got to spend with family!  The only downside....most of us were sick the entire time:(  When we arrived on Saturday, I had a pretty bad cold and Katie was just getting over one.  I was sick until Tuesday and was finally feeling better, when I came down with a 24-hour stomach bug....YUCK!  I felt a little bit better on Thanksgiving day, but still not 100%.  Phil started getting sick (flu-like symptoms) on Thanksgiving night and was basically in bed from 7:00 that night until Saturday morning before we headed back home.  All the while, Katie got sick too.  Not an ideal way to spend the week with family, but at least we all got to be miserable together!  Here are a few pictures of our week together!

Everyone's a helper!

They have a bounce house in the basement and the girls LOVED it!

The weather was fabulous and we were able to spend lots of time outside!

At the park...

Going for walks...

Visiting the DuPage Children's Museum!

Katie threw a FABULOUS birthday party for the girls!  She made all of the decorations and the CUTEST butterfly cupcakes!  A regular Martha Stewart if you ask me!!

We had an incredible week and we can't wait to visit again!!  Thanks for having us!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Tutu Cute!

Halloween sort of came and went this year in the Collier house without much fanfare.  Phil was traveling home from his last race and didn't make it back into town until after the girls went to bed.  Halloween also fell on a Wednesday, so Melissa and her kiddos were at church.  I decided I was not about to attempt trick-or-treating with the girls by myself, so we stayed home.  Melissa and I had planned on having all of the girls be ballerinas together (we both already had the entire costume(s)) but we never had a chance to dress all of the girls up together.  So...last weekend we decided to have a little photo session with our adorable ballerinas!  Seriously...could these three be ANY cuter?

Finger Food

The girls have transitioned to eating all finger foods (in addition to their 4 bottles) over the past week...and they are LOVING it!  So far, they are doing pretty well as far as not being too picky.  Anna has had a few texture issues with eggs and chicken, but other than that, they pretty much scarf down whatever you put in front of them! I snapped these during dinner last night...they are just too stinkin' cute!

Anna

Kate - grinning at her sister

Anna

Kate

Of course, you can't eat a meal without wearing it too...that's the girls' motto!

Baptism Sunday

What a blessing today was as Anna and Kate were baptized into the Covenant family!

Before John baptized them, Phil and I were asked the following questions:

1. Do you acknowledge your child's need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit?

2. Do you claim God's covenant promises in their behalf, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation, as you do for your own?

3. Do you now unreservedly dedicate your child to God, and promise, in humble reliance upon divine grace, that you will endeavor to set before them a godly example,  that you will pray with and for them, that you will teach them the doctrines of our holy religion, and that you will strive, by all the means of God's appointment, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

Our answers were unreservedly, YES, YES, & YES!

We are so thankful for these special blessings God has entrusted to us and pray that we will always live lives before them that honor our Lord and draw them closer to Him.

I know I have mentioned before how amazing my sister Melissa is, but she seriously never ceases to amaze me!  She offered to have lunch at her house after the girls' baptism and said she would take care of everything!  It was a beautiful day and we had such a great time with friends and family.  Thank you so much to everyone who has loved and supported us this past year....we honestly could not have done it without your support or your prayers!

We had a quick photo session with the girls before lunch!