Continued Christmas in Pagosa!
We got a whole extra week of Christmas celebrations with the Cox family in Pagosa Springs this year. We left Sunday evening, opened presents by the tree Monday morning and stayed until the following Sunday. We spent our days skiing (Henry and Addie’s very first time!), sledding, intertubing, riding around in the new Razor (a fancy 4-wheeler type contraption), making delicious meals and just catching up with family. We are so grateful for the week of relaxation and to get to be under one roof with Muzzy, GrandDad, Katherine, Taylor, Asher, Beau, Megan and Charlie.
Christmas in McKinney!
The day after Addie’s 3rd birthday our Christmas celebrations began in McKinney! The kids participated in their first (of 2 pageants) on Sunday evening. Muzzy and GrandDad got to attend and we even convinced Addie to wear her angel costume at the last minute! Over the next few days before Christmas, GrandMama and Fritz arrived from Chicago and Sarah came in from England. The kids sang Christmas carols at a local retirement home on Tuesday and then, on Christmas Eve, we had our second church pageant. Henry knew his line back and forth by that point and was a very convincing wise man! We loved eating big meals of chili and tamales, prime rib on Christmas Eve and a huge brunch on Christmas morning with Grant, Erin, the twins, Sarah, Natalie and Fred. For Christmas dinner we had a very special night at Mark’s and enjoyed every minute (how could you not with presents by the fire and Perini’s tenderloin?)! The following days were filled with Legos galore and the kids attempting to learn how to ride their very first bicycles (thanks Santa!). On Sunday, we flew to Pagosa Springs, but before we left the kids and I got to attend the most special of services: Heidi’s and Sophie’s Baptisms! We are so grateful to have been present as they join God’s family.
Here’s few pictures to remember Christmas 2014 in McKinney. At the church pageant:
Singing at the retirement home:
Christmas morning pictures:
Christmas evening at Mark and Alice’s house:
This one turned out a little blurry- but it’s still a great pic of the whole crew!
Our twin nieces, Heidi and Sophie, at their Baptism on the Sunday after Christmas:
One final picture… our Christmas card photo for 2014! We can’t wait to add another baby boy to our family in 2015!
Happy 3rd Birthday Addie!!
Yesterday was Addie’s 3rd birthday. She has been talking about it non-stop since Henry’s birthday in June… and she was one very excited little girl when her big day finally arrived. Every Friday morning, Andrew takes the kids to get doughnuts and it is always the highlight of Addie’s week. We just knew that a decorate-your-own-doughnut birthday party would be a big hit with her for this reason (especially if the doughnuts were in the shape of Minnie Mouse!). With her birthday falling so close to Christmas, a birthday breakfast with family and a few church friends was also one of the only parties we could think of that anyone could come to since the Saturday before Christmas is a jam-packed day for most people. It turned out to be a little cold and damp, but the homemade, hot doughnuts and breakfast burritos kept the energy up and Addie seemed to enjoy every minute. Happy birthday to the sweetest girl in the world!
It was extra special to have Addie’s newborn cousins at her party this year!
Addie was super excited about her pink car and keeps telling us we no longer need to drive her anywhere… she’s got this! Garage sale finds rock!
We love you Addie!!!
Filed under Our Life! | Comment (0)#3 for the Van Kirk Family!
Andrew and I are so blessed to announce that we are expecting another child! We have long wanted to have (at least) 3 kids and feel incredibly grateful that God has given us a healthy pregnancy. The weekend before Thanksgiving we heard from the doctor that she was able to preform a new blood test that would reveal the gender at only 11 weeks. This is much earlier than we found out with Henry or Addie, but it was perfect timing as we had family and friends in town to all find out at once what the gender would be. Special thanks to Aunt Erin who baked the cute cake for us to cut into (the icing was the clue!). We are currently 15 weeks pregnant and happy to say that the baby is growing and healthy! Our due date is June 4th, 2015- just one day after cousin Charlie and a few days before big brother Henry.
To find out the gender- check out the cake cutting reveal party video below! The kids pulled a special balloon out of a bag below the table so that they could find out at the same time- such a special day!
Love, the Van Kirk 5 :)
Filed under Our Life! | Comment (1)
Soccer, Family Time, Halloween and Thanksgiving!
We spent most of October and November with soccer, school, family, and holidays. Andrew coached Henry and Addie’s team at the McKinney YMCA for 8 weeks. This will probably be the first and only time they will be allowed to play on the same team (as it was for 3 and 4 year olds of both genders- and though Addie wasn’t quite 3 they let her join since Andrew agreed to coach!). The kids learned so much and really worked hard all season to figure the game out. We were very proud of all the Black Rabbits!
Here is a video clip of them playing!
For Halloween, the kids had got to dress up at school and then we also went to our friend’s Tim and Stephanie Jenkin’s house for a party. We ended the night with Mo and Michelle (and Dylan and Derek) trick or treating around their neighborhood. Addie had a costume change- a princess ballerina for school and a butterfly for Halloween night!
As a belated birthday gift, I got to go to North Carolina and see Katherine and Taylor’s new house in Winston Salem for the first time in early November. This weekend was such a treat… we took a candle light tour of Old Salem (where I learned a ton about Taylor’s denomination- the Moravian church) and spent all day Saturday at the spa! I just loved seeing their new town and how happy they are there.
Andrew’s grandparents Joanna and Roger came to Dallas to stay with us for the week before Thanksgiving and got to meet Grant and Erin’s new twin girls. The kids loved baking cookies with their Great Grand Mom and Henry even got to build a new bird house with Great Grand Dad! As a bonus, Roger and Joanna got to come to their school Thanksgiving play where they sang and danced- it was hilarious and so wonderful to have them in town for that that special day!
As for Thanksgiving, Andrew and I hosted our very first luncheon feast. Since my Dad took the hardest part of the cooking (the turkey and dressing), Andrew and I had it pretty easy! The whole day went wonderfully and we even got to pull out our china for the 2nd time in our 5 year marriage…. hopefully, we’ll start using it a lot more for big holiday meals in the future :)
Hi Baby Charlie!!
Happy Fall- now on to December!
Filed under Our Life! | Comment (0)Fall vacation 2014
Last week, Andrew and I escaped down to Fredericksburg, TX for my 30th birthday. We got to see some of his friends for high school, the Turpins, and they gave us some great tips on where to stay and what to do. Our little Victorian home had a lovely pool and even a grand piano in the living room. During the day we got to hike Emchanted Rock, visit Becker vineyards and dance the night away at Luckenback. It was an awesome couple of days.
We returned Saturday night and got to have dinner with my parents and then Mom and I met up with some of my sweet friends from St. Andrew’s at a local pie shop to round out the birthday celebrations. It was my best birthday yet :)
On Sunday, after Andrew preached, we jumped in the car and started driving to Chicago for our very first visit to Natalie and Fred’s new home and Andrew’s friends Arif’s wedding. We cooked and baked, visited the train garden at the botanical gardens, went to the Lincoln Park zoo, pet sting rays at the Aquarium, visited Uncle Tim, Aunt Julie and Kiki and ended the week catching up with all of Andrew’s Duke friends at the wedding. It was jam packed-
But lots of fun!!
Now we’re about 8 hours into our 15 hour car ride home and taking in the beautiful fall leaves while listening to lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!
Here are a few pictures to remember the birthday celebration:
And a few from Chicago too!
First Day of Pre-School 2014
Henry and Addie started pre-school this morning at Redeemer Day School. Henry is in the Pre-K class with Mrs. Sands and Addie is in the 3’s class with Ms. Abu-Saif (“Safe”). They are both going 4 days a week this year, Monday-Thursday from 9am-2pm, which will be a big change. I’m still working from home 20 hours a week for CCCS so I need them to have 20 hours of care, but I think it will take some getting used to! Praying God will guide their teachers, comfort our kids, and lead them as they make friends and learn many new things this year.
Summer 2014
It seems like a long overdue post is in order to give an update on summer 2014. The kids start back to school at Redeemer Day School next Tuesday (at a little PCA church right next to our McKinney house in Craig Ranch). Since I last posted, we’ve been to Colorado, spent a week in charge of Jr. High kids at Camp All Saints on Lake Texoma, bought a new car (a Hyundai Santa Fe) and played in the swimming pool almost every day. We’ve celebrated the birth of sweet Charlie Cox and are anxiously awaiting our twin nieces Sophie and Heidi as well. Katherine and Asher also came for a visit in early August- we still can’t believe they don’t live right down the street anymore. Here are a few pictures to remember the summer by…
Visiting baby Charlie at the hospital- we are in love!!
Our Colorado Trip in June was with my three college roommates and their husbands (and Hannah!). We loved every minute of this vacation. Long walks, waterfalls, fishing, cooking big meals and talking all night- wish this was real life all the time!
After Colorado, we went to Camp All Saints on Lake Texoma for a week. Andrew and I were in charge of the Jr. High students as “Deans” and the kids got to play all day with their nannies Kellie Michie and Jenny Dunbar – they love camp and can’t wait to go back!!
Baseball games, playing in our backyard, swimming lessons every week and lots of time with our sweet nannies, Kellie and Jenny Michie, filled our July!
Our time with sweet Asher is never enough… thank you for flying out to see us Aunt Katherine!
We also got to throw a shower for Erin and can’t wait to meet her sweet babies in just a couple of weeks!
Summer 2014- you have been so much fun!! Can’t wait to see what the fall brings! Love, the Van Kirks
Filed under Our Life! | Comment (1)
Henry’s 4th birthday
We had Henry’s 4th birthday party today (a little bit early since we are headed to Colorado next week)! We met up with friends and family at our new McKinney fire station which is right around the corner from our house. The firefighters kindly gave us the grand tour and even let Henry crawl through the trucks! After the tour everyone came over to our house for a delicious cookie cake (thank you Erin!!) and pizza. It was hot and rained (so super humid too!), but the kids didn’t seem to notice! And even though Henry was a tad bit grumpy since he didn’t take a nap, I know he absolutely loved having so many of his closest friends and family there to celebrate him. Special thanks to Aunt Megan and Uncle Beau who made the trip all the way out to McKinney even though her due date is tomorrow!!! Hopefully Henry’s cousin will be here soon!
Firefighters are Henry’s biggest heroes these days! He prays for them every single night and is convinced that someday he and Addie will grow up to be firefighters who live and work at the same station together…. hopefully it will be right near his parents house :) Happy 4th birthday Henry! We love you so much!!
February catch up!
I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a couple months. Big news around here. We have bought a home in McKinney and sold our home here in Dallas (we close on both in 2 days!). In addition, we had Andrew’s grandparents, Joanna and Roger, come visit from New Hampshire for Andrew’s 32nd birthday. Finally, we’ve been trying to squeeze in as much play time with our neighbors as possible- which is absolutely one of the hardest parts of moving. Here are a few pictures from the past month!
These neighbors all live on our street- Lanshire Drive. I can’t even begin to say what a blessing it has been to live next to them. We see each other most days of the week (even if it’s just a quick hello while dropping off groceries) and the kids love having constant friends who can come play. I count the girls as some of the dearest friends of my life. They have listened, brought meals, and kept my kids in hard times and they’ve also celebrated every happy occasion with us too with parties at birthdays and holidays or just long walks in the wonderful weather. We have been truly blessed to live near them.
Here are some fun pictures of Roger and Joanna’s visit. We had lots of great meals, went to the Arboretum, church and our new house. We so loved every minute of having them here.
Filed under Our Life! | Comment (0)