MERRY WONDERFUL WHITE SNOWY CHRISTMAS!!!

Wow! That word sums up 2009 for the Warren family! 2009 has been a year of miracles! During the past year, we have been generously blessed by the Lord, by our families, and by our friends. We have been humbled by the miracles the Lord has shown us and strengthen by the power of prayer!

We started the year off by announcing that we were expecting triplets! From that point on, the entire year seems like just a blurrrr! Ginger was put on bed-rest at the start of February and by March she was put in the hospital (where she would remain until the babies were born).

Jade was left with the task of preparing the nursery, setting up cribs, changing table, and rocker. The hospital was about an hour away from home so Jade would travel up a couple of times a week to spend time with Ginger. During this time, Jade was working, going to school, going to church, and keeping up with the house. He was working triple time!

During the 3 months Ginger spent in the hospital she was generously cared for by a wonderful staff. Dr. Kroska and the nurses blessed our lives in so many ways. They made a stressful situation easy to bear. They celebrated milestones and cheered us on every step of the way. On May 28th at 30 weeks 4 days our beautiful baby Atlas (Ella) finally needed to shrug. The weight of her brother and sister were just too much for her. So the trio made their grand entrance into the world. And grand it was! The operating room was full of people to make sure everyone got the very best care... and we did!

Ella entered the world weighing 2lb 14oz and measured 15 inches long. Joel was 3lb 5oz 15 1/2 inches and Grace was 3 lb 1oz 15 1/4 inches long. All three babies spent exactly 6 weeks in the NICU and then came home on July 9th. The first few weeks home were challenging and filled with sleepless nights! We were blessed tremendously by CynDee (Jade's mom) who took 6 weeks of FMLA to help take care of the babies.

She spent several nights rocking and caring for the little ones so that we could get some much needed sleep. She is actually the ONLY reason Jade and Ginger got any uninterrupted sleep. We all have great love for CynDee! The members of our church also brought us dinner for several weeks. Jade and I were so grateful the first night the babies were home. We heard a knock on our door and saw an angel standing there. We cried over our dinner that night and felt gratitude that can never be expressed in words!

At the end of August, Uncle Joel and some other dear friends traveled to Minnesota to be present at church when the babies were blessed. It was a wonderful weekend filled with many tender memories. Shortly after that, the babies started sleeping in longer stretches. By the start of October they were sleeping through the night. This made all the difference in the world. Since then, we've enjoyed first smiles, rolls, giggles, and teeth! Each step reminds us of the miracles that have taken place in our lives!

In November, Jade and Ginger celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary! Jade ended 2009 in grand style by graduating from St. Cloud State University with a masters degree in business administration (MBA)! He is still working for Great River Energy. Ginger is currently only working at home! :) She'll go back to work as a nurse or a paramedic next year.

From our home to yours, we send well wishes, hoping that everyone can clearly see the hand of the Lord in their lives as we can in ours! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2010!

Love: Jade, Ginger, Ella, Joel, and Grace!