our christmas can be summed up with this picture...

Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
(Isaiah 9:6)

From our family to yours- wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a blessed 2011!


May you know the true JOY of a relationship with Christ and the peace and comfort in walking with Him!

all I want for christmas...

check! Everett's got two of his bottom teeth in! Thanks to Aunt Missy for the adorable bib/picture!

the holidays

Aaron and I couldn't get over how fast the holidays went this year! December flew by and along with it Christmas and New Years. We spent Christmas in Pittsburgh and were so excited to get to spend time with everyone, especially Kels in from Nevada! We drove out to Pittsburgh on the 23rd, which made Christmas Eve and Christmas Day really fun and relaxing for us. Erika, Todd, and the boys moved in with Grandma to take care of her, so we ended up having our Anderson Family Christmas at Grandma's house for the first time in a long time. It was really nice celebrating in the house that I spent so many holidays in as a kid. We drove back to Philly on Saturday night and got to celebrate Christmas with the Windles on Sunday. Diane made chicken papikash, a traditional Hungarian meal, which is my absolute favorite! New Years was spent with 65 of our closest friends ;) haha Jess, Faith, and Revee threw a party at the Farm and we had lots of fun with plenty of sparkling grape juice involved... well at least for Sara and I.

our christmas card

christmas at our house!

only our dogs pose like this for food...

30 weeks!

after 7 years of asking, Erika finally gave in and let Aaron buy Aidan a gun ;)

to which Aidan was obviously excited about

Ethan too!

and Bebe :)

all of the Anderson cousins at Gram's house

prego for new years ...

only Aaron...

 New Years with Bry and Sara... haha and as Aaron said... hmm, one of these things is not like the others (in a sing song voice) ---hey, we can't all be 6'4!

We are looking forward to quite an eventful year and are starting the countdown to the arrival of our little guy - only 8 weeks to go! Happy 2010 Everyone :)

Christmas time is here

Christmastime is one of my (Kristen's) favorite time of year. I love nothing more than to cuddle up by the fire (haha now that we have one!) and watch a good movie or read the Christmas story. We spent Christmas with my family this year and had a blast. Then, we celebrated with the Windles on Sunday. It is wonderful having families that love us and that love God even more. Here are some fun pictures from our wonderfully amazing Christmas break :)

our front door!

our tree

the mantle

obviously, the much needed Steelers ornament

and an Eagles one too, so Aaron didn't feel left out and/or take mine down... haha







our incredibly adorable puppy Marley






Marley being a good sport :)

Windle kids

Anderson cousins

It's a wonderful life...

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Every year it seems like amidst all the gift buying-christmas partying-house decorating-christmas baking-movie watching bustle we forget the true reason for celebrating Christmas. This year Aaron and I really tried to focus on and remember what the birth of Christ means to us as children of God and what a tremendous sacrifice He made on our behalf. Our church, Providence, worked through something called "God in the Straw." It was an amazing study on Christ's birth and its' significance. Here is an excerpt:

"For many, Christmas is just a beautiful dream. It’s a world in which everyday reality goes a bit blurred. It’s nostalgic, cozy, and comforting. But real Christmas isn’t like that at all. It misses the point completely if all you see are decorated trees, carolers, and shiny presents. Christmas is not a reminder that the world really is a nice old place after all. It’s a reminder that the world is a shockingly bad old place where wickedness flourishes unchecked, where children are murdered, were civilized countries make a lot of money by selling weapons to uncivilized ones so they can blow each other apart. Christmas is God lighting a candle: and you don’t light a candle in a room that is already filled with sunlight. You light a candle in a room that’s so murky that the candle, when lit, reveals just how bad things really are. The Light shines in the darkness, as St John says, and the light did not overcome it."


While we love all that Christmas means to us through traditions and family, even more so, we love that it is symbolic of when Christ came to this world to free us. We pray that this year you would recognize along with us the need for Christians to be light in the dark places and to continue on the work of Christ.