Saturday, December 30, 2006

Rob & Rachel.... all the way from Washington D.C.


Rob, Jason's former roommate at Grove City College, PA, flew in from D.C. with his darling girlfriend, Rachel! We're enjoying our time with them. They are GREAT game players!

HOMEMADE SWEET ROLLS & PIZZA!


















Can you put the sweet roll pictures in the correct order????

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Picture #8

Thursday, December 28, 2006

GO BANANAS!

Thanks to Mom and Dad Lanning and our Uncle Jerry & Aunt Connie, we were generously given a Canon PowerShot A530 Digital Camera! Wow! We still can't believe it! We may need a week of vacation to read the manual! So far, we've taken 5 pictures.... kind of random, but hopefully you'll enjoy them.

The Michigan blanket that Jason is holding up is a fun Christmas gift from Rachel!

About the bananas......
Have you ever bought bananas for 10 cents a pound? I did yesterday at Kroger.... and ended up with 7
2! I froze a bunch of them because they make great milk shakes!

I was given a bunch of snowmen decorations for Christmas presents from my piano students. They brighten up the apartment! Now we just need snow...




Saturday, December 23, 2006

Hildebrand Studio's Newest Student

Aunt Elizabeth is giving Brock his first piano lesson!

It's so fun to be home with Rebekah and Ben and especially Brock!

Uncle Jason loves to try and make him laugh!

Saturday, December 02, 2006

2006 Christmas Letter



Merry Christmas 2006
Volume 4

Year In Review: 4th Christmas letter, 3rd anniversary, 2nd year in Lapeer, and 1st Christmas with no school loan!

Family & Fun News!
***Sweet, baby Brock Benjamin Godfrey was born on Sept. 19, 2006, thereby officially promoting us to Uncle & Aunt! Elizabeth flew to South Carolina for an extended weekend in October and bore witness to Papa and Nanny Lanning’s testimony that indeed he is the perfect baby (and Rebekah and Ben are WONDERFUL parents!).
***Daniel’s beautiful fiancĂ©, Candice Whitley, is an ideal addition to our family gatherings and quite possibly the sweetest Southern belle! We “Lanning sisters” approve - a first for three very protective sisters! Their Georgia wedding is planned for March 24, 2007.
***Jason’s cousins, Graham and Kirstee Hildebrand, also found their future mates! Graham and Julie were married July 22, 2006, and Kirstee and Tim will be married January 6, 2007! We also enjoyed a wonderful weeklong 3rd anniversary vacation in May with Jeremy & Jen in Jacksonville, Florida! The rest and relaxation by the pool was just what we needed! They were so hospitable and flexible with our “busy” daily schedule: to and from the pool.
***We enjoyed being with Rachel & Matt at Gull Lake in July! They always have many stories to share about Taiwan!
***Dad and Mom Lanning celebrated 30 years of marriage in September and Dad & Mom Hildebrand celebrated 35 years of marriage in June! What wonderful examples of life-long commitments!
***The Lanning family became a bunch of “bloggers.” (If you don’t know what a blog is, neither did we last year at this time; basically, it’s a diary on-line!) Although Jason and I aren’t as creative or consistent as Rachel, Candice, and Mom Lanning, we manage two or tree new posts per month. Check us out at jasonandliz.blogspot.com. If you suffer from insomnia, this might be your cure!
***Our friends, Mike & Sheri White, accompanied us to Manton & the Traverse City Cherry Festival for the July 4th weekend! They also invited us to a pre-season Pistons game in October that included VIP passes, 2nd row floor seats, and an amazing pre-game dinner and half-time dessert buffet!

WORK : RICKARD, DENNEY, GARNO & ASSOCIATES & HILDEBRAND PIANO STUDIO
Jason is plugging along as a Lapeer area attorney! He continues to “learn the ropes” and take on more responsibility for projects and cases that the office handles. He enjoys coming home for lunch! The piano lesson business for Elizabeth is booming! She is very blessed to have about 50-60 students who come throughout the day. Twice a week in the morning she accompanies the choirs at Lapeer East High School; she also teaches piano lessons at the Seeds o f Faith home-school co-op every other Friday.

DEBT??? – Goodbye!!
Last year we mentioned that one school loan was paid off and we had one to go… well, as of June 2006, we became officially debt free! Now we hope to save for a down payment on a home! The ’96 Sunfire’s life span terminated last year after Christmas, but the Lord graciously provided a 2002 Chevy Impala— with much thanks to Paul Deal of Grand Rapids who finds deals on cars like Elizabeth does with grocery coupons!

CHURCH !
Once again, a big blessing for us as a couple is serving and attending Hunters Creek Community Church in Metamora. Jason has taught Junior High Sunday School for 1 ½ years and we regularly have 8-14 seventh and eighth graders in attendance; we also help lead the Wednesday night Junior High Word of Life program and serve on the Missions Committee. Elizabeth continues to play the organ and piano on Sundays as well as lead the 1st-3rd grade Sonshine choir.

Isn’t it great to celebrate Christmas? We give praise and glory to God for giving His precious gift to us- His Only Begotten Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ! Maybe 2007 will be the year that Jesus Christ returns to the earth and takes those who have trusted in Him to live with Him forever in Heaven!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! We’d love you hear from you!


Love, Jason & Elizabeth