Time away for new years

Hey everyone. Happy new year. Here's a bunch of photos from our new year's holiday. Sarah and Russell go home tomorrow and we are a bit sad about that, but very pleased that God has lent them to us this summer.The time together as family has been priceless. There are a couple of photos here that show Evelyn eating solids. She is eating this rice cereal stuff that tastes disgusting but apparently it's the best food to start with. We have started feeding Evelyn pears as well. She thinks its very yummy.

I am looking forward to watching a one day international on the 7th of January and seeing the New Zealand cricket team thrash the West Indies. I will make sure I put photos on the blog of the game.

We hope all of you are well and excited about the new year. Katie and I have decided that 2009 is a year to be grateful. It is easy to forget how much God blesses us and occasionally it is healthy to reflect on all we have and all he has done.

We hope you do the same

Brook, Evelyn, and Katie

A night out with Russell and Sarah and Peter

Hi everyone. Last night Katie and I got Sue (katie's) mum to baby sit so we could go out. We took Sarah and Russell to the Fisherman's table and Pete came along too. It was a beautiful night and so we took a bunch of photos together. Heres a few of them for you to browse through. Tomorrow we are heading off to Te Horo for new years with Phoebe and Matt and Russell and Sarah. We are enjoying our holiday but are aware of the challenges of 2009.

Katie will be going back to school in February and so we will be balancing work with baby. God's got it sorted though and we will trust in him. We hope your all doing well

God Bless

Brook, Evelyn, and Katie

Christmas and Holidays

Hi family and friends. Sorry that it has taken a little longer than usual to update the blog. We have been busy spending time with our much loved family and hanging out with Sarah and Russell. We had a fantastic Christmas day at Neil and Sue's and were thoroughly blessed to be together as a family all in one place. Christmas is a wonderful time to remember how much there is in our lives that we can be grateful for. We are most grateful for Jesus' life and how he laid it down for each one of us so that we could find true hope.

Here is a whole bunch of photos including Evelyn's first tramp (bush walk) through the hills of Tawa. Thats right, bush walks in Tawa! Is there anything this suburb doesnt offer? There are also a couple of great individual shots of Evie here and some cute pics with Uncle Peter, Aunty Sarah and Uncle Russell.

Please notice the shot of our house at 19 Roy St. This gives you a really good view of what true paradise in Tawa looks like. We hope the new year fills you with hope and new dreams.

Love from Brook, Evelyn and Katie

Brooke and Evelyn - friends

Hi family and friends. Yippie! Katie and I have both finished our work for the year now so we can focus solely on our beautiful daughter (and my awesome brother and sister in law who are over from the US for Christmas). There are a bunch of photos for you to see here. The little baby in these photos laying next to Evelyn is cute little Brooke. She belongs to Becky and Jonny (some close friends of ours). I have really connected with Brooke. I think it has something to do with sharing the same name with her. Any way, there are a few other cool shots here of Katie, Evelyn and her parents waiting for Sarah and Russell to arrive from America, and uncle Ben giving Evelyn some tummy time.

Christmas is close now and gives each one of us the opportunity to remember the hope that Jesus' birth brought into the world. Having Evelyn has taught Katie and I alot about hope and she is just another precious human. Jesus was and is the Son of the living God. His hope points directly to heaven and reminds us of a father and friend who loves us beyond human reason.

Be filled with hope this christmas.

Brook

Fun in the sun

Summers here and we are loving it. The family had a great weekend together especially because Katie and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. Granma Stiles looked after little Evelyn while we went out for a lovely dinner on Saturday night. During the week my Mum and Dad came down along with my precious and special Grandpam seen here holding Evelyn. we think Evelyn has found her favourite toy in the form of a little soft toy rat that we affectionately call Rattie! Evelyn loves to go to sleep with Rattie over her face and loves holding rattie in her hand. We have also had fun this week buying toys for Evelyn for Christmas. i am re-living child hood all over again. God is so good and Katie, Evelyn and I feel very blessed.
We just cant wait for Sarah and Russell to arrive on Tuesday.

We hope all is well for the rest of you

Good tidings

Brook, Katie and Evelyn

A trip to the beach

Hi guys. This week Katie has been busy doing some contract work and I have been working hard to tie up all the loose ends at work before our Christmas break together. So today we decided to have some time out and drive to the beach with Evelyn. It was a great family time together. Here are a bunch of photos from today and a couple of extras we've taken earlier in the week. We hope Christmas greets all of you with fond memories of 2008 and great hopes for 2009.

God bless

Brook, Katie and Evelyn