Renovating over Christmas

Here are some pictures from renovating the front room over Christmas. I don't have a good picture of the finished product yet- it's coming!

Before...
We love this room because it's so sunny and it's so big! But it was definitely in need of a face lift. It was just a cream color with this one coffee-ish color wall.


Matt, the handyman, had to replace a part of our ceiling that had leaked a while ago. He did a great job!


The hardest part of that job was the sanding. Poor Matt!


The painting begins....

Be watching for the completed pictures to come in the next couple of days!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here are some pictures from our Christmas and New Years!

Christmas Eve in Millerton



Over the New Year's weekend we had a few visitors. My mom and dad came to spend the weekend with us and we also got to dog-sit "Bubbles"! She is a chinese pug that was having her very first time away from home with us. She was so well-behaved and cuddly.

When I was growing up, we had a Chinese pug with us and this was a typical scene at our house.

We got to celebrate Christmas with my mom and dad that weekend too. We surprised my dad with an old chair that we had refinished for him. It used to sit in his mom's house and was in need of a facelift!

Some favorite presents -I'm holding a roasting pan and Matt's holding an Old Testament Commentary -can you see him drooling? :)

Making breakfast New Year's Day -what a good looking chef!

Pre-Christmas

Before I post all of our pictures from Christmas and New Year's, I wanted to make sure that I got these pictures in -Christmas pictures are on their way soon!

These were 2 more pictures that my mom just gave me on the weekend of Matt and I after the dedication service at church for Operation Christmas Child.

This one is from P.E.I. Matt had to go over for a day for business and I got to tag along. Matt had never been across the Confederation bridge (Over 13 km...approx 8 miles long) -an engineer's dream!

Back to Bethlehem

This past week and weekend, Matt and I got to play "Mary and Joseph" in the Christmas concert at our church. We got to do this last year too and always have a fun time. It's a great part -no lines, we just get to sit there during the concert looking "thoughtful" :0)

(More updates below...sorry I've been so out of touch lately everybody!)

Christmas in Bathurst

After enjoying "The Living Christmas Tree" with mom and dad in Moncton the last weekend of November, Matt and I headed to his mom's house in Bathurst for an early Christmas celebration. Barb and Roger have gone to Florida and will be there through the winter, so we had to bring Christmas to their house before they left! We had a great time celebrating with Roger's two sons and their families as well.

More Operation Christmas Child Pictures

Thanks for the pictures Tara! Here is our small group HARD at work during collection week!

Ann and Jodi had alot of fun making those "odd" sized boxes fit...

Operation Christmas Child -Collection Week!

Well -we made it! Matt and I survived our first Collection Week as the new Local Collection coordinator team here in Miramichi! We were practically living at the church last week receiving boxes from the surrounding community. It was a great time getting to meet people from the different churches in the area, as well as people from different schools and other organizations who got involved.

A teacher in one of the middle schools got excited about the program just last week. She sent notices home and had the students bring in different items that could be packed into a shoebox. In just 2 days, the students had collected over 3000 items to donate! This was just one of the many stories that we heard throughout the week.

Our total was a new record for this little town of Miramichi, New Brunswick. We sent 1672 shoeboxes to the near by processing center today! Praise the Lord!




Our small group was a HUGE blessing last week -they came in one night and packed over 400 boxes. Then on Saturday they helped us to get all of the cartons up onto the stage for our Dedication service on Sunday night and then helped to pack everything up and get ready to go after the service! We are blessed with such great friends who are so supportive!





More pictures to follow soon....

What's New With Us

Hey everyone! Matt and I have been super busy this fall with work, Sunday School and Operation Christmas Child. I would appreciate your prayers as the collection week for Operation Christmas Child comes next week. It will be a busy time getting all of the boxes together and sending them to Moncton to the processing center.

Here are a few highlights from the last 2 weeks at the Esson house!

A friend from small group needed to be away for a couple of days, so we kept Hershey for her -a chocolate lab puppy with LOTS of energy!

Last weekend we headed to Fredericton to see Paul Brandt do a concert to promote Operation Christmas Child. We then headed to Portland, Maine the next day with Tiger and Sharon to catch the Phillips, Craig and Dean/Selah concert! We had a great time shopping and eating out and the concert was incredible! We were so glad that we were able to go!

Tiger and Sharon had never been to an Olive Garden before -they loved it!

Also, my sweet nephew Andrew turned 5 last Thursday -he's a big "Cars" fan.
Happy Birthday Andrew!
(If you're wondering, Jen has a "Cars" tatoo on her cheek...that was a big highlight of the party :0)

Weekend with Scott and Dee

Matt and I got to spend some wonderful time with soon-to-be parents, Scott and Dee Kohler! They left McAdam on Sunday afternoon and arrived in the Miramichi in time for supper. We had a fun time catching up with them and learning about their ministry in McAdam. I was able to give them a "big tour" of the Miramichi on Monday and Dee and I were able to get a few hours of scrapbooking in! We are blessed with these friends! Thanks for coming guys!

Dee loves the leaves in Millerton!

Mommy and Daddy to be....yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Matt and I had a great Thanksgiving! We were lucky to have two dinners -one at Grammie Esson's on Sunday and then another one at Matt's mom's on Monday.

When we drove to Bathurst on Monday, we took our time and enjoyed some hiking and the beautiful fall colours here.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

At Papineau Falls

At Little Sheephouse Falls

At Grammie Esson's House

Operation Christmas Child -just a reminder!

Hey everyone -I have had such a good time working with this ministry here in the Miramichi this past month. Here's a reminder for you to save a shoebox, pack it up and get it to a local collection center by Nov. 18!
You can find all of the info online
-including where you can drop it off in your area! :0)

Love to you all!

So, how did you two meet?

Well, I thought I would write a little blog about how Matt and I met. We get asked this question a lot and I love telling the story over and over again! It is most definitely a testimony of God's faithfulness in our lives!

I was working at Tri State Christian School in Galena, Illinois and Matt was attending Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa. I lived in Dubuque as well-it was only about 20 minutes from Galena.

In the second grade curriculum that I taught, I was to teach them about "Oceania", including Papua New Guinea and Australia. One of the objectives in this unit was to try and teach the kids about overseas missions -in particular, teach them about the work of New Tribes Missions in Papua New Guinea! I had not officially met Matt at this point. I had heard about him and knew that there was a fellow "maritimer" at Emmaus, but we had not yet made a connection.

I actually ended up calling someone else from the school first that I knew had worked with New Tribes in Papua New Guinea to see if they would be willing to come and speak in my class to the kids about their experience. That person wasn't able to make it and gave my phone number to Matt! (Thanks TJ !!!)

Matt and I connected on the phone and he said that he wouldn't mind coming to speak to my class. We also found out all of these things that we had in common while we were talking -like where we were from and the people we both knew. We decided to meet on a Sunday afternoon to discuss what he was going to talk about. I met him and as soon as I got in the car to go home, I called a friend and said WOW!!!!!!! What do you know about this guy??? :0)

Matt was supposed to come to my class on a Wednesday and actually broke his leg on Monday afternoon! But he still hobbled in that morning and made a great presentation to the kids!

On Thursday night I was trying to think of some clever ways I could thank him for coming to my class and to really get his attention. I tried baking cookies and they burnt, so I figured this HAD to be a sign that I wasn't supposed to get Matt's attention. (The Lord's plans always prevail in the best ways!)

The next morning when I got to school, there was an email from him thanking me for allowing him the chance to share about his experience and wondering when we could see each other again!!!!

A week later we had our first date and the rest is history.....

I am so blessed with my Prince Charming -my Matt!

What are your stories of meeting each other?

Broken Leg!

Matt and my second grade students -Feb. 25, 2004



At Emmaus Spring Banquet April 2004

On the Carleton River Tour in Fredericton -Summer 2004

Summer is coming to an end!

Well -it is definitely getting colder around here and the leaves are starting to change colour. Matt is asking for things like chili and pumpkin bread...he's also excited for me to start substituting again! The next few posts are a recap of some of our summer days....



I was able to get to Fredericton 2 weeks ago to spend the day with Dee! She is a great friend that has been around for awhile. Her and her husband Scott are living a few hours away in McAdam and working at the Baptist church there (for more info, click on the link to the right to see their blog!)
Dee and I also got married on the same day last year and have enjoyed helping each other through the first year!
(Thanks for the picture Dee!)