Merry Christmas

With the celebration of the gift God has given our family, we are reminded of the greatest gift God has ever given...His Son Jesus Christ. Let's remember to give the Lord the glory due His name for providing a way to have a right relationship with our Creator...through Christ. Tis the reason for the season! Merry Christmas everyone!

Back to the cold of Iowa

Hello everyone. Steph, Brenna, and I had a great time in Florida with my sister and her family. The flights down and back went really well...Brenna was a rockstar and slept most of the time...she was a hit with the other passengers. We spent a little time at the beach. The weather was a nice change despite Monday being one of the colder days the area has had so far...65 degrees. It got down to the upper 40's at night. It was fun seeing where Matt, Lydia and Micah live. Matt does an awesome job teaching and you can tell he is passionate about it. Lydia and Matt had a Christmas party to attend on Monday night for her work. Steph and I got to watch Micah for the evening. We played hide and seek, had a pillow fight, I gave him a bath, read him a book, then watched him basically put himself to bed...Lydia has a routine down for bedtime that Micah follows to the T. We had a blast in Florida, but wish it was for a longer period of time and warm enough to swim and snorkle...maybe next time. Check out the new pics at dropshots...remember the password is 7771. You can see some of Brenna's holiday photoshoot too courtesy of Aunt Lydia's skills...enjoy!

Florida here we come!

Last year Steph and I purchased tickets to fly down to Florida to visit my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. We weren't able to go since Steph's Grandfather passed away that same week. We were able to retain vouchers good for up to one year. Yesterday I checked with Delta to see what date we had to use the vouchers by. They said Jan. 5th. I checked on some flight prices and found that tickets are pretty cheap prior to Christmas. Needless to say, we booked our flights last night and are heading to West Palm Beach, FL this Saturday through Tuesday of next week! Talk about spontaneous! I guess we didn't want to loose out on the money we already had down for the tickets. It will be great to visit Matt, Lydia, and Micah for a few days. They are super excited and pumped to see Brenna. And it's always nice to have a bit of a tan for those Christmas parties. We'll be glad to get away from the cold for a few days and enjoy some 80+ degree weather. Pray that Brenna does well on the flights at only 2 months old...pray for mom too for that matter! ;)

Things are going well on stage.

I hope some of you have been able to come to Cornerstone's Christmas production already. I've really been enjoying the time with the other cast members. We've received some great feedback from people who have come to see the show. There may be a few tickets left if you haven't come to see the show yet. "It don't mean a thing if you aint got that swing..."

Much to be Thankful for!

I just wanted to take some time to give thanks to the Lord for all He has done for us over the last 4+ years of our marriage. Steph and I couldn't be happier as a couple, and now, with the addition of Brenna, as a family. Praise God for life, breath, and everything else. We are truly blessed.

Remember the 80's?

Stephanie and I had a friend turn 30 last week. His request was that all his friends come dressed in 1980's style costumes. We had wine, cheese, and the fellas smoked cigars out on the deck while the gals laughed at each others' side ponytails. Some people thought Steph looked like Deb from the movie Nepoleon Dynamite...you can judge for yourselves. Happy Birthday Michael...stellar party!

Breaking out the dance shoes!

Hard to believe, but I will be participating in this year's Christmas Production at Cornerstone. I got wrangled into being part of the "company" of actors and actresses due to the need for some swing dancers. Actually, apart from the huge committment of time while being a new parent, I'm pretty excited to serve in this type of ministry...and I really enjoy swing dancing. The story takes place in the 1940's and is about a business man who works all through Christmas Eve and has several run-ins with some unusual magical characters who help him get his perspective back on life. I play a character named Charlie...just a regular office guy who's pretty pumped about Christmas, along with his coworkers, to the point that we all break out in song and dance. A gal in our church wrote the story and will be producing and directing it as well as acting. She also wrote the 9 songs...it's a musical. Please enter the following link into your browser to get information regarding the dates, times, and to reserve your tickets...there will be 10 different service times to choose from. This will be a great opportunity to reach out to the community. We're anticipating that over 6000 people will come this year. Hope to see you there. Family, friends, clients...you are all invited!
http://www.cornerstonelife.com/stories/christmas2007.php

A Family Walk

The weather was really nice the other evening so we decided to take a walk around our neighborhood. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Van Cleave and others for the stroller...it works great!!

Steph's Career Change

Now that the baby is here, I'm looking forward to being home fulltime. My last day at Fringe Benefits Design was Oct. 12. I was there for 3.5 years...can't believe how fast that went. It was a wonderful job! My plan is to help Jared with his job this spring some. I'm pretty excited about being home with Brenna and watching her develop.

Celebrating one year at JDR

October 2nd marked the completion of my first year in real estate as a Realtor with The JDR Group. I've really enjoyed the business and have had some great success. Thanks to all of you for supporting me over the last year. I look forward to doing what I can to provide top notch service to my clients. See more information and my listings at www.jaredvancleave.com.

Brenna's First Bath

Brenna had her first bath at home today. We set up shop on the kitchen table. Although there was some crying, overall she was cooperative and in the end, glad to be clean. Mom thought she smelled great!

Our new addition

Hello everyone,
I want to introduce you to the newest addition to our family...Brenna Joy Van Cleave. Born 10/16/07 at 9:23pm at Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames, IA. Brenna weighed 7lbs. and 7oz. and was 21" long. What a blessing to have this little bundle of joy in our lives.