Merry Christmas

Stationery card

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35 Reasons

35 Reasons I love you, Justin (for your 35th Birthday)

in no particular order...

1. Your steady personality
2. You get more handsome every year
3. Traveling with you (and our boys)
4. You are always willing to pick up slack in the house
5. Even though you are a great husband and father, you always desire to be better
6. You allow me time to myself when I need it
7. Star gazing with you in countries around the world
8. You are a runner
9. You put up with my desire to move furniture on a regular basis
10. Caleb Andrew
11. Levi James
12. You make me laugh
13. You hate coffee, but you are willing to sit in coffee shops with me while I enjoy it
14. Our very detailed financial spreadsheets
15. You have never raised your voice to me
16. You put up with my version of crazy
17. Tithing is always first in our budget
18. The way you play with our boys
19. You are never embarrassed to carry my purse in public or get lipstick on yourself from kissing me goodbye
20. You drop us off in front of the church on Sunday mornings so we don't have to walk down the street and go into church sweaty
21. Getting away, just the two of us
22. You love your family and put forth the effort to stay in touch with them
23. Your faith in Christ
24. You still think I'm beautiful and tell me often
25. The Word of God is important to you and you make reading it a priority
26. You are teaching our sons what is means to be a man
27. You show our boys how to love a wife
28. You do not allow our boys to be disrespectful to me (or anyone else)
29. You don't care much about material things
30. You gladly eat whatever I cook
31. You are passionate about the outdoors (even though we've lived in major cities full of concrete for almost 10 years with no mountains in sight)
32. You think through decisions carefully and with prayer
33. You care about the poor and needy and take action
34. You let me talk about deep things at 11pm
35. Through all life's ups and downs and crazy twists and turns, you are by my side.  For always.

I love you more than you know.  Happy Birthday, Babe!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

I still have China pictures to post, but I figured I'd get these up here before it's Christmas! The Singapore American School has a pumpkin sale/patch every year. It's not the same as going into a big field in Texas and picking out pumpkins, but we're so thankful to have the opportunity to have a pumpkin patch in Singapore!

Levi showing off his tiny pumpkin:

My 6yo...how did he get so big?

All my handsome boys:

There was even hay!

Caleb and his friend, Pierce:

Happy Fall, Y'all! or, you know, whatever.

Spiritual Legacy

This past Sunday at church, we were encouraged to thank those people who have made an impact on our spiritual lives. Today is my birthday, so I thought it appropriate on this day to give thanks to God for the people who have had the biggest impact on my spiritual life.

Dear Dad and Mom,
I was one-week old when you first took me to church, and I cannot count the number of times we went to church during the years before I left your house. Three times a week for most of my life! I cannot thank you enough for instilling in me a love of God, a love of His Word, and and a love for teaching others. My earliest memories include witnessing Dad's baptism and having Mom as my Bible class teacher. From an early age I knew that Mom's favorite Scripture was Isaiah 40:8, and most of the Bibles I own were gifts from you (what greater gift to give?). Those pictures are etched on my heart and are a huge part of who I am today.

I learned from you at an early age to help others. It was just a part of who we were as a family. Many people lived with us a various times, and without words being spoken about the importance of giving to others (not just monetarily, but of our time and resources and spare rooms!), you taught me what it truly means to help those in need. I learned to have mercy on others from you. I learned to bring in those who need help from you. Every year I unfold more of the gifts you have given as I realize why I am who I am. It's because of you and the values you taught me as a child.

What a legacy I have, that you guys decided before I was born 32 years ago that, "as for me and my house we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)." (And how blessed I am that another family in a neighboring state was raising their son under the same covenant, and that one day God would bring us together to form a family and make that covenant for ourselves.)

I am so grateful for what you have taught me, and that my children have a spiritual heritage generations deep. There is nothing more precious that I could pass on to my kids.

I love you both so very much. And I thank God for you.

Happy Halloween!

This is our second Halloween to celebrate in Singapore. We went up to Woodlands again, and it was just as crazy as last year, if not more so.

My Buzz and Woody.

Woody and Buzz with Granddad at the Singapore American School

The MADNESS that is trick-or-treating in Woodlands!

Granddad got a balloon! (Feels a little like "Where's Waldo?" doesn't it?)

August in Singapore

August has been a busy month for the tiny red dot. First, we celebrated National Day, and the boys sported their "Let's Celebrate Together" shirts.

And now the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are going on (until Thursday). We headed down to Marina Bay the other night to get some pictures of the Olympic Flame cauldron. It's in a cool glass tube, and looks like a little fire tornado.

This is as close as we could get:

8 Years of Marriage

I never could have imagined 8 years ago that Justin and I would be living in Singapore with our 2 kids on our 8th anniversary. But God knew, and He has been preparing our family for this season for a long time. I can see that now, and our lives here are full of His blessings. Justin and I were both in Singapore 10 years ago on a mission trip to SE Asia, and it still amazes me that God used that shared experience to prepare for this time in our lives.

I love you, Justin! You are an incredible husband and father, and we are so blessed to have you as the leader of this little family. Marriage is hard work, but it's totally worth it; you are worth it.


If you're interested in "Our Story" of how we met, fell in love, and how I almost totally ruined Justin's proposal...you can find those posts below. I wrote them a couple of years ago, so they're in the archives.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Egg Hunting

On Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt here at our place. It was so fun to have our friends over and party! Caleb had on normal clothes before the party started, but before the egg hunt, he went into the bathroom and changed into his Superman Halloween costume and refused to take it off. So, that's why he's wearing it in the videos below. Crazy kid. ;-)

I apologize that my kids were running around in circles...watching the video camera follow them might make you a little nauseated. ;-)

Singapore Easter Egg Hunt 1 from Jennifer ReflectingHim on Vimeo.

Singapore Easter Egg Hunt 2 from Jennifer ReflectingHim on Vimeo.

Happy Easter!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" ~Luke 24:1-6

Camille has a great post about our Easter egg hunt yesterday. Go read it!

Happy Anniversary to My Parents!

Today my parents have been married for 33 years. They married when they were only 18, just out of high school, and had me and then my sister when they were 20 and 23. I always loved having young parents; it was fun.

My parents took me to church when I was a week old, and we were there 3 times a week most of my growing up. I am so grateful for the faith they established in me at a young age.

I learned the importance of family from my parents. My dad worked out of town a lot when I was growing up, often for months at a time. I remember going to visit him where he was working on several occasions (a lot of those jobs were putting roofs on prisons, so Dad has some great stories!). And whenever my dad had hobbies that took him out of town, we went with him. My mom made sure that whatever we did, it was as a family.

And, just like every marriage on the planet, my parents' is not a perfect one. But when they stood before their family and friends in 1976 as 18-year-old kids and said, "I do," they meant it.

That is a great legacy to have.

I love you, Mom and Dad. More than you know.

Happy Birthday, Levi!

How is it you went from this...


to this...?

We love you, sweet boy! You have such a personality now, and you try to copy your big brother all the time. We think it's so cute when you put your hands over your ears and say, "It yowd!"

You have the biggest smile that makes other people smile, too. Everyone thinks you and Caleb are only one year apart because you are such a big boy!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Levi! You are so loved.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Today we're celebrating Caleb's 4th Birthday!! He's getting so big.

Caleb,
We love you so much! You have such a tender heart, are quick to give hugs and say you're sorry, and you're such a good big brother. Yesterday when we were discussing your allowance and how part of it every week will go into a "giving" jar to give to others who don't have as much as we do, you wanted to fill 4 more jars for kids who need it. You make us so proud. We hope and pray that you always have a compassionate spirit and reach out to others.

We love you, big boy...Mommy and Daddy

Merry Christmas!

May you be filled with JOY!

"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." ~Luke 2:10-11

Many blessings,

Justin, Jennifer, Caleb, and Levi

photo courtesy Uncle Josh

It's Christmastime...Here's How I Know

1) We are finally putting up our tree. Ornaments are disappearing left and right, and I find parts of them on the ground and go in search of the culprit (Levi).

2) I am spending an obscene amount of time saying, "That does not go in your mouth." (Maybe that doesn't mean it's Christmastime, but Levi was just in here with two wooden ornaments, one of which he put in his mouth, so I think it counts.)

3) IT SNOWED TODAY!!! In SE Texas! Amazing. It didn't stick, of course, because it was about 75 degrees sometime yesterday, but it was pretty neat nonetheless. We definitely don't see that often.

4) Our tree is now, after 20 hours or so, only decorated on the top 2/3 of the tree. Christmas with toddlers, it is a joy.

5) I finally made our Christmas cards and ordered them at CVS. They were ready last night, but it's been too cold for me to want to dress the kids warmly, bundle them up, drive in the sleeting rain to CVS, get the kids out in the stinkin' cold, try to keep them from touching EVERY.THING.IN.THE.STORE, hurry back to the car in the stinkin' cold sleeting rain, and drive home to address them. If you're expecting a Christmas card from us, it'll be a while.

6) My put-together, organized, pregnant-with-a-toddler-in-tow sister had her Christmas cards out last week. Show off.

7) The Christian radio station here is playing Christmas music 24/7. I love that! Not that I ever hear it because I only listen to the radio in the car and we don't get out much (see #5). When we do get out, I have a 3yo and a 1yo in the car. I don't hear much of the radio.

8) We're doing a Jesse Tree this year, so each night we read a little devotional and open that day's ornament. A group of us got together and made one day's ornament (25 of them) and then each got to take home one for each day. We are loving doing this with Caleb. It's such a great way to reinforce the Bible stories and prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth!

Guess What?

Our family has GREAT news to share!!!! I'm so excited to finally be able to tell everyone!!

In other news, I'm 30 today. Weird.

My parents are so young I vividly remember my dad turning 30 (I was 9!). It feels a little strange today, but that may be due to the serious lack of sleep I've had over the past few days since Levi seems to think sleep is not a necessary thing. We were up so many times last night and nothing was helping. He'd lie down for a minute and sit up and scream. Then he'd repeat the process for hours on end. We *think* he's finally cutting a tooth (or all of them at once). It's miserable for him and for us. I hope they just pop on through and let us get on with our sleep lives.

Good Friday

I woke up this morning singing this song and thought I'd share it here. Amazing Love, indeed, that you my King would die for me!




I’m forgiven because You were forsaken,
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.

(Chorus)
Amazing love,

How can it be

That You, my King, would die for me?

Amazing love,
I know it’s true.
It’s my joy to honor You,
In all I do, I honor You.

I’m forgiven because You were forsaken,
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.

You are my King
Jesus You are my King

~Chris Tomlin
"Amazing Love"

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Justin! You're a wonderful husband and father.

What would we do without you?

We love you!!

Happy Halloween!

Caleb with his "puh-kin" that he got at school

"Grandma, I got my Halloween shirt!!"

our happy, smiling boy

not so happy, here :-)

daddy and Caleb carving the pumpkin

the finished product (a little blurry)

for comparison's sake...the top two pictures are of Caleb when he was one-month-old, the bottom two are Levi today. They look a lot alike.

Caleb is super excited about going trick-or-treating tonight. He's been telling me all day, "Mommy, I go neighbor's house, say trick-or-treat, and get the canny!" :-)

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

I can't believe my baby is two years old today. Where did the time go? It's surreal being pregnant again because I remember when it was Caleb we were waiting to meet. And tomorrow he'll be a big brother.

Caleb, when you came into this world, I became a mommy. And I'll never be the same. I love you more than words can say, my sweet one. Your daddy and I pray that you will grow up to be a strong man of God, and that you'll teach your children to know and love him, too. Caleb means "bold" and "faithful," and we pray that you'll be both, to God's glory.

Happy 2nd Birthday!!