just for laughs

It's just the sweetest sound in the world! Can't get enough of it!!!

To my baby girl

Cradle song

by Sandi Patty

I watch beside your cradle

Your face touched by the moon

My heart just aches and trembles

With all my love for you

Your eyes shine like your Father's

That nose looks just like me

I stare in awe and wonder

At such a mystery

How God can touch the love of a man and wife

And blossom it into the breath of life

Just look at this life

Our eyes are filled with dreaming

We want so much for you

But we might fail you often

Before your life is through

Only your Heavenly Father

Can hear your every prayer

When we are just a memory

Your Lord will still be there

So on our knees we pray this cradle song

That you'll always know the Lord will keep you strong

We want you to understand

You rest in His loving hands

For you are Jesus' little lamb

Christmas pictures

Earlier this week we got the opportunity to get some Christmas pictures taken of Hannah and of us as a family. I work with a gal and Kev and I have become good friends with her and her husband. Her husband has a passion for photography and we were his willing guinea pigs! He captured some wonderful moments and I thought I'd post some of them here. Hope you all enjoy!








Hannah sitting in my lap

Chewing away, as usual

Hannah and her Daddy

sitting in front of the tree

Daddy's favorite

A note from my heart

Every other Friday I go and join a group of wonderful women for a time of prayer. Our sole purpose for meeting together is to pray for our nation. We are living in a time of change. I wish I could say that this change is all for the better but I fear that it is not. What have we done to this gift that we've been given? This country was founded on God. Our money still says "In God we Trust" and yet we try and leave Him out of every decision made when He is the One that should be consulted first! I'd love to say this is a new epidemic sweeping our nation, but it's not. Abraham Lincoln was quoted saying

"Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us"

The situation may have been different in his time, but the end result was still the same. We as Christians have a responsibility to lift our country up in prayer. There are so many of us nation wide, why are we so silent?

There is a Christian radio station in our area that I listen to on a regular basis. This time of year they play Christmas music and the other day while driving along I heard this song. It's by a group called Casting Crowns, the song is called "While You Were Sleeping". I've posted the Lyrics here.

Oh little town of Bethlehem

Looks like another silent night

Above your deep and dreamless sleep

A giant star lights up the sky

And while you’re lying in the dark

There shines an everlasting light

For the King has left His throne

And is sleeping in a manger tonight, tonight

Oh Bethlehem,

what you have missed while you were sleeping

For God became a man

And stepped into your world today

Oh Bethlehem,

you will go down in history

As a city with no room for its King

While you were sleeping

Oh little town of Jerusalem

Looks like another silent night

The Father gave His only Son

The Way, the Truth, the Life had come

But there was no room for Him

in the world He came to save

Jerusalem,

what you have missed while you were sleeping

The Savior of the world

is dying on your cross today

Jerusalem,

you will go down in history

As a city with no room for its King

While you were sleeping

While you were sleeping

United States of America

Looks like another silent night

As we’re sung to sleep by philosophies

That save the trees and kill the children

And while we’re lying in the dark

There’s a shout heard ‘cross the eastern sky

For the Bridegroom has returned

And has carried His bride away in the night,

in the night

America,

what will we miss while we are sleeping

Will Jesus come again

And leave us slumbering where we lay

America,

will we go down in history

As a nation with no room for its King

Will we be sleeping?Will we be sleeping?

United States of America

Looks like another silent night

This is still a country with a purpose and a calling, I pray that we as a country would remember on whom this place was founded. We serve an awesome God and He is worthy to be praised.

My love, my husband

Yesterday Kevin and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary. Well, kind of. Truthfully we did more of the celebrating on Monday because we knew that Hannah had a Drs appt on our special day that would involve several vaccinations. Since she had such a hard time with her first set we decided that she probably wouldn't be up for much that day, so we got to spend the evening together as a family.

It's hard to believe that it's been 2 years already! At times it seems like just yesterday I was walking down the isle toward my best friend, then there are other times when it seems like we've been together forever! I couldn't ask for a better partner to go through life with. He's a wonderful husband, attentive father, and a great friend. Kev has a wonderfully annoying habit of putting everyone else before himself. He's the kindest person I know.

We've been through a lot together these past 2 years, both good and bad. We've gone from a family of 2 to a family of 3. We've gone on trips, made good friends and built a home together. All in 2 years!!! So being part of the blogging world, I couldn't let this momentous occasion pass without a word or two.

Kevin, I love you very much. You have given me the most precious of gifts. A true friend, unconditional love, and a beautiful baby girl. I cannot and do not want to imagine my life without you in it. I thank the Lord for you every day and pray that He continues to watch over you and our family. I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for us in the years to come!

I love you, bear.

~Annika

The Christmas program

I wanted to post a little blog about the Christmas program that I took Hannah to last Sunday. Her cousins, Carrson and Briea, participated in their school's Christmas program. Carrson and Briea go to a Christian daycare center and every year the teachers work with the kids and put on a wonderful Christmas program for their families. This year both Carrson and Briea had speaking parts and were up on the stage for the entire show.

They both did wonderfully! We were a little worried about Carrson as he developed a small case of stage fright right before the program was supposed to start. However, our worry was in vain. Once he got out there he did wonderfully! His class started out the show with a little poem to welcome everyone. Each child was a letter that spelled out welcome, Briea was the E and Carrson was the '!' at the end. However, after he ended the poem and welcomed everyone, he decided to place himself next to his good friend Shaun so they spelled "WELCO!ME". It's things like that that make those programs so precious.

Both Carrson and Briea new all the words and motions to the songs. They did a wonderful job and we couldn't be more proud.

I'd like to add a special note that Briea was wearing a beautiful sparkly dress that twirled fabulously with matching sparkly shoes, which she pulled off fabulously. ( we all know that sparkles can't be pulled off by just anybody). Carrie, thank you so much for inviting us to be a part of such a wonderful day. I can't wait til it's Hannah up there in her sparkly, twirly dress.

To end this blog I've posted the lyrics to one of the songs that the kids sang. I'm not sure who wrote the song, all the lyric sites I found simply said that the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir performed it. A truly wonderful reminder of what Christmas is all about.

Happy birthday Jesus

I'm so glad it's Christmas

All the tinsel and lights

And the presents are nice

But the real gift is You.

Happy birthday Jesus

I'm so glad it's Christmas

All the carols and bells

Make the holiday swell

And it's all about You

Happy birthday Jesus

Jesus I love You!

Christmas is coming!

The holiday season is now in full swing and I'm loving every minute of it! It's my favorite time of year, but I have to admit this year is different. We have a little one in the home, and although years from now I know she won't remember her first Christmas, I will. Along with many families this year, our Christmas will be sparce in the present department. Kev's Christmas present to me this year was an extra 6 weeks home with my baby. It's the best present I could ask for, but calls for some extra care in the finance department as these 6 weeks we are living on one income instead of two.
I've been watching on the news how our economy is suffering and what an awful Christmas this is going to be. While the troubled economy affects us all in one way or another, it shouldn't have an impact on celebrating Christmas! One of the things I want to make sure Hannah knows is that Christmas is a celebration of the Savior's birth. It is not about the gifts she may find under the tree. The true gift is Jesus! When I think of all the traditions I want to pass on to my baby girl, I want to make sure she understands and LOVES the true meaning of Christmas. That's something a suffering economy has no impact on.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not parish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Give Thanks!

Alice, Riley, Hannah and Kevin


I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This year has been a whirlwind and full of many blessings for the Hoffmann family. Among the many blessings we find ourselves so thankful for is, of course, family.

This Thanksgiving was spent at my Aunt and Uncle's home in Davis. A great time was had by all! Hannah got to meet her 2nd cousin Riley, who is about 8 months old. It was amazing to see this little guy sitting on his blanket playing with toys and interacting with everyone. I just kept looking at Hannah thinking, "that's going to be you soon!" Hard to believe how quickly they grow.

My prayer is that this holiday season finds you all healthy and happy. I hope that you all take the time daily to count your own blessings and think of all the ways the Lord has blessed your lives.



"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.”

~Edward Sandford Martin