Merry Christmas from Our Colorado Mountain Home….

We start every Christmas morning with all the kids lining up on the stairs before they are allowed down to open their stockings….and every year we love seeing how the kids have grown!!
Abi and Ryan and Finn spent the night last night.  They were here for a little while and 
then went to Ryan’s family’s for the day.  
And by the way, meet Nate.  He has been hanging out at our home 
for awhile now.  You have seen him in pictures and will 
keep seeing him in pictures.  He is a sweet addition anytime he is in our home.  
He is one of the kindest guys we’ve ever met and 
we welcome him to our ‘family’.   Every one of us love him to pieces and quite honestly…
take a look at our family…Nate fits right in…

 Liberty teasing Nate…just like a sister should!!
 I stayed up until 2:00am cross-stitching names on stockings…
{why oh why did I save it till the last minute?}

 Welcome to Christmas Saunders style Mr. Finley Q!!

 Sarah flew in last night!!  So good to have her in town 
{although she’s staying at her family’s home – waaa}

 All of a sudden Sarah’s phone made the most beautiful noise…Sarah ran screaming, “Ty’s online…Ty’s online, Ty’s online!!”  We all ran…and sure enough, eventually we were sort of/kind of able to skype with him…via Sarah’s iphone.  He never was able to talk, but he did type, and he could hear us….it was just absolutely beautiful to see his face.  He has not able to skype ever before…so it was Sarah’s first time seeing him since he left….

They tried over and over to get the skype to completely work, but the connection 
was not strong enough over there in the sandbox. 
I tried talking to him, since he could hear us…but I started to bawl {like really}.  Tyler started to laugh and typed, “This war has been pretty hard on mom, there ought to be war benefits for her too!”  

 It was a precious moment when Tyler met his first nephew – Finn!
{Look at the sweet, pleased look on Abi’s face…priceless!}

 For awhile, Tyler could not hear us, but could only see us.  So Dw was talking to him in “slow motion”….pretty funny…
 Graham AND Tyler both think Taylor Swift is pretty amazing…so Graham’s friend gave him a Taylor Swift Calendar for Christmas….They held it up for Tyler to see….a big smile broke out from what I hear….face it, the size of the picture he might even think Taylor was at our home for Christmas – haha
 Josh came over for a few minutes….he and Emma have been ‘dating’ now for just about 18 months…

 Finn and his mommy

Isaiah drew Emma’s name in our gift exchange and he chose to get her 
some PURPLE chucks for Christmas..{she was tickled purple}.

 Dw got me a Stuart Little doll, just like the one I lost in the fire.  
I love Stuart Little.  He’s my favorite…remember – he’s adopted too
and this Stuart Little doll talks {just like the one I lost}!!
My favorite line he says is, “When you’re friends with 
Stuart Little, you’re friends for life!!”  
That mouse is my bud – so good to have him back again!!
When Tyler lived at home he would come and lay on our bed late at night and talk to Dw and I.  I would press the Stuart Little doll and talk back to him.  Tyler used to say, “Mom, you are so weird – it’s a rat!  You’re in love with a rodent!”    

 

 Elizabeth Mercy
Isaiah Samuel got a bike….

 Emma really just wanted a guitar.  She is very musical, sings beautifully and 
wants to learn to play so she can play for her orphanage one day.  

Daddy and Nate sharing a sweet moment….

 American Girl dolls {replaced by insurance from the fire}

 Elijah Mueller and Daddy

 Liberty named her dolly Dayly Mae

Merry Christmas from our home….

May we all remember that without Easter, 
there would be no Christmas!!!

19 thoughts on “Merry Christmas from Our Colorado Mountain Home….

  1. Merry Christmas sweet friend to you and your family. In the first picture I noticed a little man who might have been in the kitchen BEFORE everyone come down. Wonderful pictures. Hugs and love

    btw – I'm loving how your hair is coming along.

  2. Merry Christmas Linny….
    TOTALLY agree with you about Easter…
    Your celebration looked really sweet. Glad you got to see Tyler…I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to have him there…I hope you know that we are very thankful for his heart about serving and his sacrifice for our country and my family…
    Thankful also for your blog…and advocating and educating on the needs of orphans worldwide. I have a friend trying to bring a boy home and in the process of trying to raise the money to bring him home…if God lays it on your heart, will you please pray that they will be able to raise the money they need to bring him home?
    THanks!
    Love,
    C~

  3. Loved all the photos of Christmas. Glad you could "talk" to Tyler via Skype. They had no such thing when I was in the military and in England. Oh well….Glad you had a wonderful Christmas with your family. I enjoyed my little granddaughter and waiting for grandson to be born very soon!
    Happy New Year across the miles!

  4. So you've made me cry! Just thinking of your Skype call from Tyler. My cousin in ND calls my grandmother's house every Christmas and we pass around the phone…50 or more of us.

    But, to think Tyle'r mama got to see his sweet face. Oh, what a blessed Christmas. You were able to see the sweet face of all of your precious treasures.

    You ahve warmed my heart.

    Robbie

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