Merry Christmas!

Decorating Christmas cookies at home

Taylor, Evie, Raeghan and Norah play Hungry Hippos on Justin's birthday

Our 2nd new little buddy, Po. The girls love the guinea pigs!

A blurry picture of Justin with his birthday pie :)

Evie and her Uncle Logan watch a movie together at the Mese house

Merry Christmas! I'm sure you and your family are getting ready to celebrate this awesome season. We're celebrating twice! Since Justin has to be on call at camp the day before Christmas and work the day after Christmas, we decided to take our trip to Kenai for a Mese family Christmas a little early! We'll celebrate on Saturday with a meal and gift exchange with my parents & family and then we'll have our own family Christmas up at camp on the 25th. It's kind of exciting to have our own little Christmas day, and hopefully start establishing some new traditions together. Both the girls are extremely excited and it's so fun to see them grow up and experience that joy & wonder that I felt as a child at this time of year!
In case you hadn't heard our news, our family is growing! Baby Hostetter #3 is on the way and will join us sometime around the middle of August. We are so excited and feel it is yet another blessing from God and we are so thankful for the wonderful gifts we've had from Him in the last few months. It cements for us the feeling that God has indeed called us to Victory, and while we know it won't always be easy, it is His faithfulness in the present that will help us trust Him when hard times do come.
We celebrated Justin's 31st birthday on the 15th with friends, dinner, and dessert. I'm so happy to be married to him, and know that he is a gift from God!
Norah has surgery to insert tubes in her ears scheduled for January 9th. We are thankful to have found a good doctor/surgeon and we're just hoping she holds out and doesn't get any more infections between now and then.
While visiting here in Kenai we have had cold & stomach bugs (of course! It never fails! :( ) and have also gotten to enjoy a Christmas singing service with our church family at Calvary Baptist. We've got hockey games on the agenda and tomorrow night Justin is planning a Mission Impossible night for the Calvary and local youth. Thanks to everyone for reading, and for the prayers and support! Have a very Merry Christmas!

Some ways you can be praying for us right now:

-For my energy level and responsibilities as mom...morning sickness has come early :(
-For Norah to stay healthy until her surgery, and prayer on January 9th for a quick, smooth procedure
-For the guest groups scheduled to be at Victory around Christmas time, that their souls are fed and they draw closer to God during their time at camp

December 5th Update

Thanksgiving fun on Index Lake

4 o'clock moonrise

Overflow from the lake has made accidental 'ice sculptures'

This is what Norah does to Evie when Evie falls asleep

Evie showing off the advent calendar she helped me make

'Tis the season for pumpkin everything!

Norah decided Minnie needed a bath...using the toilet and her toothbrush

Our new little buddy. He's a guinea pig and he has many names at our house! Norah calls him "piggy-pig"

This morning at Victory it is 8 below zero and windy. It's not surprising that I don't want to leave the house today! If we got a little bit of sunshine in exchange for the cold it might be worth it, but even though it's been clear almost every day lately, most of the buildings on this side of camp are too far in the shadow of Teepee Ridge and the sun doesn't rise above it from about November 1st to February 1st. So we are (or I am) definitely feeling the effects of a long dark winter--and it's just the beginning! :( My lovely mom bought me a happy light and I have been sitting in front of it daily. For those of you who haven't heard of a happy light, it's a daylight-simulation light. It's supposed to lessen the effects (low spirits, low energy) that a lack of sunlight can cause. So I'll let you know how it works!
We had a wonderful thanksgiving. Most of my immediate family was able to come up to Victory-- it was about a 5-hour drive from Kenai-- and our awesome friends the Meeuwsens offered us their house to use for extra sleeping space and to cook our big meal in! My family is definitely bigger than average and we always appreciate a little extra elbow room. We spent 4 days together and enjoyed lots of board games, floor hockey and ice hockey, 4-wheeling on the lake, and of course eating! Maybe we'll make Thanksgiving at camp a yearly tradition, who knows?
We were in Anchorage on Monday and saw an ENT specialist about Norah's ears...unfortunately she fits the criteria for needing tubes, and while the choice is still up to us, through prayer and talking to the doctor we've decided that we will go ahead with the surgery. It was comforting to know that it's not a very long procedure, but it will require general anesthesia, which I hate the idea of. We will hopefully know soon the specific date and we would appreciate prayer.
God has truly opened the floodgates of His blessings lately and we are so thankful! Aside from getting to 90% support in the last month, we've had a few surprise blessings that can only be attributed to God and His grace. We hope that you're able to focus on Christ and his love this Christmas season, and pass that love on to others. Thank you as always for your support and prayer!

Some ways you can be praying for us right now:

-Continued health as there are cold and stomach flu bugs still going around camp
-For Norah's ear tube surgery- peace for me and Justin, and improved ear health for Norah
-For the weather to warm up so we can get some snow! If we don't get some snow for insulation soon, there will be a lot of pipes that will freeze around camp and a lot of extra work for our maintenance crew.
-For Justin and the program team; they are beginning work on the summer Bible study. Pray for God's leading as they choose how to write the studies for young people and that the studies will have a positive impact for Christ.