Hello world! All is well in the Witt house this afternoon. My plans for shopping with mom got scrapped, so I come to you now fully relaxed, because Balian is sleeping and I have a hot cup o' Joe at my left hand. Sacha is at the church, practicing- partly for his Christmas Eve solo and partly for his upcoming audition. The house is quiet, and my ears are still ringing (a happy ringing), and my heart is still soaring from not one, but two most excellent services of Lessons and Carols at St. John's this morning. Oh, how glorious the sound- voices raised and joined together singing favorites such as Mary Did You Know?, Emmanuel, Let Us Adore, Lift Up Your Face, and of course... the lovely Christmas anthem This Child written by yours truly and her talented daddy. No- we have yet to record it, but I have a haunting feeling that a Christmas album may be in the works! I have people asking me often if we're planning on recording another album, and the answer is most definitely YES! The hang up is usually the money issue- the first album we recorded cost nearly $10,000.00 to produce. I know- yikes, right!? Best money we've ever spent- and many of you contributed to our cause, which really means that you contributed to the cause of Christ Jesus- to sharing His story with the world through our ministry, and we still can't thank you enough for that. Honestly, if I had my way (and what I really feel is God's will), we'd be sharing our music in new places each and every week. Hopefully, we will begin to be able to do this again soon. If you're ever interested in having us share a time of worship at your church, please let me know- we'd just be overjoyed to worship with you. I've gotten a bit off base here- back to Lessons and Carols... The traditional service was so, so beautiful! The Chancel Choir was just magnificent, and the soloists and instrumentalists were, too! The Men's Chorus was just lovely, as they always are- Sacha, his grandpa Willi and my dad all sing in that group. The Women's Ensemble sang for the first time this season. I am pleased to be a part of this wonderful group of women of all ages. We sang a stunning arrangement of Breath of Heaven, on which I had a solo. I so love that song, and just as my dad said when he asked me to sing it, it has a whole different meaning to me, now that I am a mother and really can imagine myself in Mary's shoes. After today's worship, we headed to Sacha's grandparents' house for lunch... Balian cried and played and then conked out- he had a BIG day at church. He will soon have an even bigger day, as he is to be baptized on January 9th- the day we celebrate the baptism of our Lord. What a special day that will be! We are looking forward to sharing that day with family and friends... but we have to get through the rest of this week before I can think about that!

 We had a pretty eventful weekend. Rachel (Sacha's sister) graduated from nursing school on Friday! We are so proud of her! We went to her graduation ceremony on Friday night, and then went back to Gretchen's house for a fun party. Everyone wanted to hold Balian, so Sacha and I got to do something we hadn't done in forever... play bartender! That was fun... brought back fun college memories and thoughts of friends. Oh- and momma (meaning me) got to have a cocktail! Champagne cosmopolitan anyone? Oh! And how could I forget to mention that Balian had his very first meeting with his Great Grandaddy Ted and Great Nana Velma Witt on Friday afternoon. It was so sweet to watch him with Ted and Velma... and I know they enjoyed the time they got to spend with him, and with us. We spent our Saturday Christmas shopping, and wrapping presents later that afternoon. It was so nice to have Sacha home with me and Balian ALL DAY! This is a rarity on a Saturday anymore- he's usually working. Balian had a nice long nap, and we cooked dinner together and just had a very nice, relaxing evening at home... oh, we watched Sherlock Holmes- not one of my faves, but I was trying to be a good wifey and oblige my husband. If we hadn't watched that one, he would have wanted to watch Twilight!

That's about it for this wrap-up. This coming week will  be very busy, as we ready ourselves for Christmas Eve, and also prepare for Christmas Day. We have a little shopping left to do, much baking do to, and we still have to practice our musical offerings... and have I mentioned the 10 week old baby who happened upon us and now lives with us? Every day is an adventure, and we wouldn't have it any other way! Hope you all have a wonderful week. I leave you with a few new pictures to look through & pass the time.

Xxxxx..... O

 All dressed up in his puppy suit...

 Ready to head out with mommy...

 Cuddle time with daddy- AKA- Balian's personal body pillow

 Balian and daddy by the tree...