christmas note

Merry Christmas!

First I have to say a huge thanks to brooke knipp for the amazing pictures (see picture to the left) she took of us in November. Brooke you are the greatest and we love you!

Now back to the christmas note...

Immanuel - God with us. This year I again find myself comforted by the reality that God became flesh and dwelt among people, and by His spirit is with us today.

This year was filled with great joy but also great sorrow. The year began with the death of my dear Great Uncle Jim. He was a man of great faith. He had a passion for learning, an appetite for fantastic food and a love for people. As Tim and I returned to Denver for Thanksgiving I found myself missing him, as Denver was his home and our shared time living there was full of meaningful time together. Uncle Jim left us many gifts - tim is particularly thankful for 60 boxes of books he began to sort through over thanksgiving (thanks stivers and now mom & dad knipp for housing these books!).

In April my Grandpa Rid died (Uncle Jim's brother). His presence is especially missed this time of year, as he loved Christmas. Even today I couldn't help but cry in church when we sang "Angels we have heard on High," which was one of his favorite Christmas songs. When people share with me their fond memories of my grandpa I always say, "yes, he was a great man." A great man with a heart for people, his family, the Word of God, games, and the Lord. I imagine him singing Christmas carols even now - and I bet "Angels we have heard on High" sounds pretty good surrounded by the Heavenly Host.

In June we enjoyed a special time in Florida with the Knipps. We love being together as a family and being together in a beautiful place was a special treat! After we returned I went back to work part time and Tim started a part-time job at Hillcrest Chapel, as a teaching pastor. We both find enjoyment in our work. And Sammy enjoys her weekly day with daddy and her special weekly visit to Bellingham to be cared for by my mom (and often visits with auntie defense!).

In July we had a miscarriage, which is still a grief I find complicated. I have found great peace and healing but am still surprised every now and then by the loss.

The fall was full of traveling - Calvin and Liz's wedding in Omaha, a fabulous vacation with my family to Hawaii, a trip to visit the Mosers, and Thanksgiving with the Knipps.

Samantha Jean brings us such joy! She loves to laugh, has strong feelings about most things, enjoys talking in a language all her own, and would play chase all day if we had the energy. Recently she has began to incorporate English into her vocabulary and found great delight playing fetch with faith (our dog). She particularly loves saying hi, blowing kisses before bed, and announcing amen after every prayer.

We continue to love our life in Vancouver. We live in a house with amazing housemates. We love our neighborhood - the chance to walk to good sushi, excellent coffee and beautiful parks. We are thankful for friends a few blocks away to play games with, and a moms' group who brings weekly encouragement to me.

We look forward to Tim's graduation from Regent in January 2011! With Tim's graduation, 2011 will most likely bring change in where we live and what we do. We are thankful for your continued prayer - so many of you stood with us as we left Denver 3 years ago at the beginning of this journey. Now near the end we are humbled and incredibly grateful for your support!

This Advent season Immanuel has given me a great gift. In a very real way the Lord has reminded me of His faithfulness and love, which I needed after a year filled with tears. I have no doubt that God was with us throughout the year, as He graciously made Himself known in big and small ways.

May the God who is with each of us be glorified this Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Kristi

the grinch

grandma vickie gave sammy and ellis How the Grinch Stole Christmas with a matching grinch stuffed animal for christmas. samantha is really into the book and grinch right now. for a few weeks i was reading the book to myself and all of a sudden samantha took a strong liking to the book. now i can't even read it to her - she has to read it to herself. she finds the book and the grinch and sits herself down somewhere to read. she isn't opposed to reading to others, as long as those others don't read the book to her. so here we are - samantha reading the grinch to me:

happy girl!

thanks grandma! we LOVE your gift!

baby loves pancakes

although you would never know it from these first two pictures...

a blurry clap smile for pancakes!

mary

tim told the story of mary and gabriel a few sundays ago at church.

i would highly recommed it. to make your life easier - just click here.

advent and redemption

tim is reading God is in the Manger by Dietrick Bonhoeffer this advent season. i read it too sometimes - reading this today was encouraging - i hope it is encouraging for you as well.

Let's not deceive ourselves. "Your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:28), whether we know it or not, and the only question is: Are we going to let it come to us too, or are we going to resist it?... Christmas is coming - whether it is with us or without us depends on each and every one of us.

... "Look up and raise your heads" (Luke 21:28 RSV). Advent creates people, new people. We too are supposed to become new people in Advent.

Look up, you whose gaze is fixed on this earth, who are spellbound by the little events and changes on the face of the earth. Look up to these words, you who have turned away from heaven disappointed. Look up, you whose eyes are heavy with tears... Look up, you who, burdened with guilt, cannot lift your eyes.

Look up, your redemption is drawing near.

Something different from what you see daily will happen. Just be aware, be watchful, wait just another short moment. Wait and something quite new will break over you:

God will come.

May we each have eyes to see God's coming this advent.

saturday morning

this morning it was my turn to wake up with sammy. today is my dad's birthday and he requested a german chocolate cake. at 7:00 am i was busy making the cake, and now by 10:00 i think it is safe to say it turned out nicely.


i talked to my mom for a bit this morning and she mentioned my dad was outside raking leaves. yes, he is choosing to rake leaves on his birthday - and i bet he feels quite happy about it. he loves being outside - i love this about my dad!



happy birthday dad!! we love you so much. we are grateful for you and the significant way you have shaped our lives.

happy birthday tim knipp!

happy birthday tim - here are some pictures i have easy access to that make me smile:

happy birthday tim. Samantha and I are so very thankful for you - especially today. You are an incredible man - loving husband and dad. I have loved our 7.5 years of marriage. You bring wisdom, humor and thoughtfulness wherever you go. We celebrate you today.

table talk

these two were the cutest together. my favorite was when sammy reached over to tickle ellis. they both thought it was hilarious!

also - happy, happy birthday to auntie janae and grandma v!!! we love you!!!

garden of the gods

i was very happy with how these pictures tim took at garden of the gods turned out.
i just finished this hat for sammy and am pleased with how it turned out.

even though this picture is blurry - i can't get over how old she looks.

little explorer

she loves to push her stroller

i love this picture of tim and sammy!

more words

for my memory

tickle-tickle
ba-bath
up
dish (fish)
baba (baby - her favorite toy)
all done (this is hard to hear without a sophisticated ear)
night-night

grandpa and grandma and ellis too

sammy loves her grandparents!!

off to colorado

tim and i decided southwest is now our favorite airline. free bags. and people chose their seats. a family of three where one member is a toddler - not exactly people's first choice.

fine by us. here is sammy enjoying her own seat.
how do you feel right now about being on a plane for two hours?...

but how do you feel about seeing your cousin ellis? happy.

words

sammy is beginning to speak english. here are all of the words i can think of that she can say:

dada

da-dog

ba-ball

mama

papa

hat

cat

nana (banana and her grandma)

ba-bye

hello

cheeese

amen!

that's all i can think of.

here is a picture of sammy and ellis - just to make this post more interesting :)

ta-ta for now.

blessing

more from Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction:

Berakah (one of the two words for blessing in Hebrew) describes what God does to us and among us: he enters into covenant with us, he pours out his own life for us, he shares the goodness of his Spirit, the vitality of his creation, the joys of his redemption. He empties himself among us, and we get what he is. That is blessing!

God gets down on his knees among us, gets on our level and shares himself with us. He does not reside afar off and send us diplomatic messages; he kneels among us. That posture is characteritic of God. The discovery and realization of this is what defines what we know of God as good news - God shares himself generously and graciously... God enters into our need, he anticpates our goals, he "gets into our skin" and understands us better than we do ourselves.

God stands - he is foundational and dependable; God stoops - he kneels to our level and meets us where we are; God stays - he sticks with us through hards times and good, sharing his life with us in grace and peace.

And because God blesses us, we bless God. We respond with that which we have received. We participate in the process that God has initiated and continues. We who are blessed, bless.

(enter my thoughts). These are good words this morning. I am thankful for the truth that this is who God is and because this is who he is - this is who he is shaping me into. I desire to be someone who stands, who stoops, who stays. I desire to reflect God to those around me - to introduce him to those who don't know him in subtle (and not so subtle) ways. I think particularly about Sammyt this morning as she and I will spend the day together - may she see the Lord in me and find him attractive.

great pictures from my mom's camera!

enjoy the photo extravaganza!

cute mom and dad!!

d and j

the knipps

sammy and the ocean

sisters

i love these photos of tim and sammy!

baby likes to drink water from a big cup

good times at the zoo

sammy, papa and a monkey

good times watching mickey mouse clubhouse

we had such a great trip! thanks mom and dad for making it happen. we love you!!