Beach Trip with Friends

Sadly things did not work out for us to have our annual 6 family new years beach trip.  Some folks were not able to come at all while other folks were only able to come certain days.  However, Andy  and I were blessed to get an extended time at the beach with friends at different times.  We spent the first 3 days at the beach with Lia and Stacey and their girls.  Our girls loved hanging out with their girls.  They played dress up, performed skits, fed the ducks, went for a walk on the beach and went swimming in the indoor pool.  The parents enjoyed watching TV and playing cards.  Time away with friends is always such a gift that I hope I never take for granted.

 My mom gave Caroline a cute pair of horse shoe earrings for Christmas.  Caroline was putting them in for the first time and accidentally dropped one down the drain.  She came running down the stairs in tears...The sweet dads got to work taking the drain apart to save the earring.  I am thankful to say it was a success!  I had one super excited, super thankful little girl!

Advent Nativity

We received this sweet Advent Nativity from Focus on the Family.  We've never done an Advent family study and this was the perfect one to begin with.  The girls loved doing this every night.  It had scripture that Caroline read, a lesson that Andy or I read and Maggie added the daily piece to our scene.  It was easy for the girls to understand and apply but also thought provoking for Andy and I.

Christmas Round 3

Tonight we gathered at Mom's for our 3rd and final round of Christmas celebrations!  The kids had a terrific time.  Caroline got a fun set of cards for Christmas and all the cousins enjoyed playing card games.  It was so fun to watch and listening to them.  Once Daniel got off work, we opened gifts and enjoyed a light dinner.  All the grandkids were excited with their gifts from granny and their cousins. 

Happy 50th birthday Lee Jr.

Today we also got to celebrate my Uncle Lee's 50th birthday!!!  What a blessing it was!  Several years ago he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  While the tumor is still there, they have been able to manage it and the side effects it causes with medication. Happy birthday Uncle Lee!

Christmas Round 2

 We headed over to Ms. Susan's for round 2 of Christmas.  We enjoyed yummy snacks and opened gifts from Peep!  Everybody was super excited with their gifts!!

Christmas Morning

This was the year...we've been lucky...it was bound to happen and this was the year it did!  The girls woke up at 4:30!  I heard them talking in Maggie's room.  I tried to convince them to go back to sleep but it wasn't happening.  They were SO excited.  My only regret was that I didn't take more video.  They were so sweet and SO excited about everything they got.  It was precious!

 Waiting for the ok to enter the den

 This year we did things a little different.  We opened our gifts from Santa and played with them until breakfast.  After breakfast, we opened gifts from each other.  A few hours later we opened our stockings.  I LOVED spacing things out to make the morning last longer.

We are blessed!  We are thankful for Jesus' birthday and the chance to celebrate Him! 

Christmas Eve Bedtime

It was pretty late by the time we got home tonight.  The girls were tired and ready for bed, as were we.  I purchased a sweet book for the girls and Caroline asked if she could read it.  Maggie wasn't interested in it one bit.  However, Caroline was a trooper and read it anyway...sweet girl!  She made a snack for Santa and his reindeer and even wrote him a note.   We are all excited and ready to see what tomorrow brings!

Christmas Round 1

We started our Christmas celebrating with family tonight at Tomi Jean and Greg's.  It was a fun, sweet but sad time.  We definitely missed our Mema...hard to believe it was our first year without her.  Even harder to believe that it was our second Christmas without Mr. Andy.  This year everyone drew names...everybody opened one gift.  We started with the kids and worked out way to the oldest adult.  It was a sweet time and I think everyone was really pleased with their gifts!