Holiday Newsletter

This year we were going to mail out a holiday newsletter but I lost almost everyone's address when I lost my cell phone. So, instead I decided to post it and email it out. Hopefully, everyone gets a chance to read it. Merry Christmas!! Here it goes:

We hope that as we write this letter, you and your family are healthy and thankful for the blessings that you have. This year has flown by so fast that we can’t believe Christmas is right around the corner! This has been an especially trying year for us but also a very rewarding year. Many of you have been so important to the survival of our family and we truly thank you for everything that you have done for us - prayers, gifts, encouragement, support, a shoulder to lean on, and often an ear to vent to. You are all such blessings to us. Let us give you a brief update on what the Heppenstall Family is doing these days:

Taylor: Taylor is running his business in this slow economy. Business has definitely dropped due to the vast economical struggles but God continues to provide enough business to keep a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. This year Taylor has really been reaching out to our homeless community. He feels that God has called him to minister to them so he has been organizing food, clothing, and hygiene supplies to be given them regularly. For those of you that know the struggles that Taylor went through at the end last year and the beginning of this year, we want you all to know that he is doing MUCH better!! Praise God!!

Terecita: Terecita is working at a small manufacturing company that makes wire harnesses for old cars. The job is very simple and not that exciting but it certainly provides the opportunity to bring in some income while being able to be home with Tyler when he gets out of school. Terecita recently started coaching a basketball team at a small high school in Redlands and it has been quite an interesting experience so far.

Tyler: Tyler is currently enjoying the 4^th grade. He is getting great grades and has had perfect attendance so far this year. This is the first time in his school career that he has ever gone a whole month without missing a day of school! Many of you know the struggles we had when Tyler first moved in with us and he has practically become like a whole new kid! He has made so much progress in his behavior!! He is enjoying lots of sports and he loves all types of art. Tyler has been struggling recently with the fact that his siblings were adopted in November and our adoption with him is still not final. If you remember to pray for him and his anxiety with that, please do!

Little “T”: That’s right!! If you didn’t already know, we are expecting our first baby in March! By the end of December Terecita will be 7 months pregnant. We have not found out yet if we are having a boy or a girl and sometimes we feel like we should just wait and be surprised. We do have a name picked out if we are going to have a boy but we are struggling with a name for a girl. We would like to keep the “T” trend going but we have not been hearing any girl names that we like. We are certainly open to suggestions. As of right now, baby checks out to be completely healthy! Praise God!

So, that is a very brief update on the Heppenstall Family. We wish we could fit in everything for the year but that would take too much space. We truly are blessed to have you in our lives and we hope that you have an amazing Christmas and New Year!!

With Love,

Taylor, Terecita, Tyler, and Little “T”

The Heppenstall Family

Baby is A-Okay!

Just a quick update before I go to work! :-) I just got back from the Dr for my baby check up. My belly measures just as it should and the baby's heartbeat is strong. The doctor got the results back from the sonogram and baby is healthy! Woo hoo!!! And you may not be able to tell but I am now 24 weeks (at least I will be tomorrow). I still do not know if we are having a boy or girl but I will find out before Christmas. Here is my picture of 23 weeks and 6 days. I know it might not look like it but I'm actually 6 months!! It's so crazy! I hope everyone's Wednesday has started off right! And I will look forward to writing my next update. And I think I'm FINALLY starting to feel the baby move. :-) Right now it just feels like bubbles in my stomach. :-) Have a great day everyone!

December is Here!!

It's officially December! I think this is my favorite time of the year - probably because Christmas is my favorite holiday! This year we are really trying to start some of our own family traditions now that we have had Tyler for over a year and we have a baby on the way. In previous years we have always gone to my parents' and in-laws' and done whatever they do. But I think this year that we are going to stay home and make our own Christmas Family Traditions. I can hardly wait!! Last year, we already started one - which is to have hot chocolate with warm bread for breakfast on Christmas morning. We just dip the bread in to the hot chocolate. It probably sounds really weird but I really like it and always have since I was a kid. Mmmm!!!

And I think one of our new traditions that we started this year will be decorating on Thanksgiving weekend. We had our Staycation on Black Friday and we started our decorating on that day. And then we put up our Christmas Tree on Saturday. It was great! :-) I think that's the way to do it again next year! Much better for us than going out with all the craziness in the stores. We didn't do a lot of decorating but it is enough for us.

Our Christmas Tree with stockings hanging next to it. (I apologize for the bad picture. Trying to get use to the hubby's camera - very different than mine.)
The dining room table. Very simple but nice.
We also have some garland hanging up in a couple of various places and some Christmasy towels and oven mits in the kitchen as well. And we got some pretty cool Snowflake candles at the 99 Cent Store. They are great!

And since I already had marshmallows and Rice Krispies, I couldn't help but make another batch of Rice Krispy Treats! This time I added a couple of big spoonfuls of peanut butter. They were pretty darn good - although that slightly takes away from the ooey gooey-ness. But still very delish!

Another thing I love about Christmas is giving gifts. The reason that we celebrate Christmas is certainly not for the gifts but I still can't help but love to give gifts. It probably makes me feel better than the person receiving the gift when I know that it's exactly something they wanted. This year we are pretty tight on money so I'm trying to think of things that I can make for people. Some of the best things that I received for gifts in the past were things that people made. I just felt that someone put so much thought and effort in to the gift. I'm thinking about whipping up lots of cookies, brownies, and rice krispy treats to start with. But I know there's something else I would like to make for people that they can use. I can't wait!! :-)

Now, on to the reason for the season... I don't know where all of you bloggers' beliefs are but I am a firm believer that Jesus Christ is the reason why Christmas should be celebrated. I fully believe that Christ died for our sins and rose again three days later. He was the ultimate sacrifice for us so that we may join Him in Heaven. I truly believe that is the ultimate gift of sacrifice and the least we could do is celebrate His birth. Although, I must say that we certainly don't celebrate His resurrection enough. Perhaps that should change... hmmm...

What Christmas traditions do you love to do with your family and/or friends?