Christmas 2015 - Fredericksen Christmases

Yep - Still posting about Christmas!! I'm not even ashamed...

We left home for our Christmas 2015 adventure on the Monday before Christmas. We visited and spent time with Trent's parents on that night and during the day on Tuesday before Melodie and Russ and the girls came over for supper and presents! 

Samuel was all dressed up and ready to celebrate his first Christmas!
He looks like he has a little balding going on in this picture, though! :)

Of course, we had a delicious supper!

Since we were opening presents in the evening and Samuel had to go to bed, he got to open all of his presents first! (well, I opened them for him!) The girls helped get him his presents and helped open them and took pictures with us and the gifts that they got their little cousin! 

Samuel got a super soft bear blankie from Taylor and the super cute Mustache Baby book from Jenna and he got a couple other books from Aunt Mel and Uncle Russ.

He got new jammies from Nana and Papa as well as some books, some Christmas ornaments to commemorate his first Christmas, and some bath toys!

He knew already how much he was going to love having those jammies in the rotation ;)

After all of Samuel's presents were opened, everyone paused to take a picture with Samuel before it was off to bed for him! Samuel was very spoiled and got some great gifts that he will use for many years to come!! 

Daddy and Samuel right before bed!

Samuel had a bit of a rough time going to sleep that night, but thankfully every one was very patient and waited for me while I got him to sleep. Then it was "go time" again! Everyone got great gifts and it was so fun to watch Taylor and Jenna open their presents!
 

 Time for the BIG presents!!

The next morning, we all headed up to Webster City to see Trent's Grandma and spend some time with her. We had really good soup and sandwiches for lunch, hung out for a while and exchanged a few presents before heading home later in the afternoon.

The Angry Russian on the way to Webster City

Nana and Samuel

Nana's funny

The Great Grandkids with Great Grandma Fredericksen

Baby's First Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, family all gathered at Jan and Chucks for a great Christmas celebration. Of course, we had great food and great conversation and Samuel got a lot of snuggles!!

Hanging out in the swing

Then Christmas morning came and we had our traditional breakfast that Trent's mom makes of French toast and fruit cups with sausage and bacon and toast and eggs! Yum! Then it was time to head out to go to spend a few days with my family.

The time went way to fast again this year and I absolutely love spending the holidays with so many family members! This year, it was also so great to talk about and reminisce about the events of  Christmas last year when we told Trent's parents that we were going to have a baby and when we spent Christmas Eve in the Emergency Room and then spend this Christmas with Samuel there! It was just perfect!! 

Samuel's Dedication

"Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity." 1 Timothy 4: 12 (NLT)

The verse above is what we picked for Samuel before his dedication and it is one that we hope will guide his life until he is old enough to choose his own verse that speaks to him.

We chose this verse because we want Samuel to know that the scriptures in the Bible are meant for him. They aren't reserved for adults or for him when he gets older. We want him to know that God is speaking to him, and he's never too young to be an example of God's love.

This verse also gives us a specific way to pray for him. I do hope that we can be an example for him so he can do the same for all others that he meets. I want him to be that little kindergartner that is kind to everyone else and includes everyone and isn't afraid to show God's love his whole life! The thought of it makes my heart smile already.

We dedicated Samuel to the Lord on Sunday, February 7, with many of our family members there to support us. We first went to the church service and then all gathered in the chapel for the baby dedication. Samuel was one of five babies dedicated that morning.

First, Pastor Mark Ashton gave a message and then all of the families gathered up front to have their babies dedicated one by one.

One by one, Robert Murphy, one of the pastors at the church, took the babies, said the meaning of their first and middle names and then said a prayer for them. He spoke to each baby, impressing these wishes upon them.

Hearing Robert state the meaning of Samuel's name and pray directly for Samuel, made me happy and brought tears to my eyes. We put a lot of thought into Samuel's name and hearing it said aloud made that even more special to share that with everyone there. We named Samuel, Samuel Davey, because it is a family name. Samuel is the name of Trent's Great Grandpa and Davey because that is my dad's name. We also wanted a Biblical name, which Samuel is, and it means "asked of God." We definitely prayed for Samuel before he was conceived and before he was born and we were blessed with a perfect little boy that we continue to pray for now.

We were lucky to have almost 20 family members and friends there to support us as we committed to raising Samuel as a child of God.

Samuel's Grandparents

My friends, Denise and Julie, from my Bible study were there to support us. 

After the dedication was over, we all went back to our house for lunch of soup and sandwiches, cake and ice cream and some good quality time. I absolutely loved having everyone there. It was such a great day with so much to celebrate!

The cake I made for Samuel.

 

Me and my baby

Loving on his new lambie from Aunt Mel, Uncle Russ and cousins Taylor and Jenna 

Kisses from Great Grandma Kock

You are loved and supported by so many, Samuel Davey.