Hey Peeps,
As you are planning your Christmas list, think about sponsoring a child for Christmas.
I have a cool little widget on the side to link straight to compassion, so it is super easy.
Jason gave me the gift of sponsoring a child 12 years ago and we still support Marta, who is about to turn 18!!
We also sponsored her, in our very lean years of early marriage, so it is possible!
It is such a blessing.
And do we really need another magazine subscription or sweater?
We have finally finished our rounds of Christmas gatherings and it has been wonderful. I have enjoyed being with our family this year and it has been so nice to be in our home. I have savored this Christmas much more than those in the past and I think it has a lot to do with not traveling! In our family, each year is different due to schedules, so we will see what next year holds.
I am looking forward to beginning 2008. I am not excited about the crowd at the Y! Last year, it was crazy! All those new year resolutions which seem to fade by mid February, make for a crowded workout.
The Lord has blessed us so much and I never want to forget to give thanks for all He has done in my life. My life is His to use and I am praying that in this next year, I look for more opportunities to make His Name Great. He deserves all this broken vessel has to give!
May God reveal more of Himself to you as you live out each day in 2008!
We have had a fabulous Christmas week at our house!
We celebrated with Jason’s dad and his wife on Sunday afternoon. The kids had a blast with Grandad and Beth. Bradley got a tball set and about took out a few decorations with it. I don’t know why I thought it would be a good idea to open it inside! Parker got the telescope she has been asking for and Emery got her favorite- High School Musical dvds. It was great. We actually purchased our very first Honey Baked Ham. We fell like we have marked adulthood since we have always had one at Christmas, but never had to actually purchase it! We love living off of others honey baked ham!
Sunday night, we spent with my parents and sister and her family. It was fun. We have 5 kids between us- 9 and under! Let’s just say there were a lot of presents in one room! We also had the token “lost” aka “misplaced gifts.” Don’t worry, we have found them since, but it is somewhat of a family tradition to hear my mom say, “I know there is something else…”
I am following in her footsteps since I also lost Jason’s collection of Chronicles of Narnia that I bought him last year, only to find it last month! I got this great Vera Bradley purse from Kim and lots of clothes from Mom and Dad. Good times!
Christmas Eve, we celebrated with our church family and my parents and Kim’s with a candlelight communion service. It was great. I did have to exit with Bradley and the concourse was packed with the 2 and under crowd! It was somewhat comical! Jason and I watched “White Christmas” which is a family tradition while we put together toys for our kids. We give them 3 gifts on Christmas morning, which are sitting out. Parker and Emery got the Rose Petal Cottage and Bradley got a Little Tykes golf set. They got a few more things, as well!
Christmas morning, the kids came down to see their loot and were so excited! I made some breakfast and after we ate, we opened our wrapped presents. I got Jason a private lesson at the indoor shooting range! We have driven by several times, but not actually owning a thing that shoots out a something that could hurt someone (think google won’t catch on??), we didn’t ever go in! We think it will be fun! He got me some fabulous gifts this year.
If you are a blogger, which most of you are, you have to check out blurb.
They will import your blog, pictures and all, and you can have it bound into a book. He got me a hardback edition of my blog! The pressure to scrapbook is gone! I now have so many memories from the last 18 months preserved in a hardbound book!! Yeah! It has been fun to sit down and read it! So, go now and have a tangible piece of history to give your kids when they are old and you are too! It is really affordable as well!
He also gave me these great silver hoop earrings from James Avery.
For the whole day, we relaxed, opened and played with some toys, watched a movie with the kids and then after they went to bed, watched Ocean’s Thirteen.
I hope we created some new memories and traditions with the kids this year. Christmas morning, Parker got her read to me Bible and asked if we could read the birth of Jesus from it before we opened presents. Ahhh!
Christmas is not done for us, yet! We are celebrating tomorrow with Jason’s mom, her husband, his brother, Papaw and aunt and uncle! We have had so much fun and it keeps going!
On another note, many of you know that Jason injured his leg the Thursday before Christmas playing basketball and his been in a walking boot. We found out today that he has torn his Achilles and will be having surgery soon. We will keep you posted!
Last Saturday ( I am staying up to date on my blogging, HUH?) Jason and I took the girls to the Promise Land- Neyland Stadium, home of the VOLS! I absolutely love Knoxville in the fall and a lot of it has to do with the 110,000 people who come with one goal in mind, to cheer on their team. We got to pass on the tradition last week, by taking the girls to see the game for their first time. I have great memories of going as a child and it was so fun to share it with my offspring!
We met up with some friends! Ruth and her family were there and we hung out
even though, they are Arkansas fans! We also ran into some many other friends from home!
Love this picture of Emery and Maddie
The family outside of the Stadium!
The Pride of the Southland in T formation and the players running through it!
The best college band in the nation!
Love those dimples!
Chaos set in quickly!
Some of her crew!
Have a great weekend!
I just thought trying to get two children to look at the camera was hard! Three was a true test of my patience and sweet voice! Bradley is not crawling at 9 months, but he is a scooting man, so he kept scooting toward me and the camera. In his defense, it was bedtime and he was ready for his bottle. Hope you enjoy!
This was the first picture of about 20 that I took!
As many of you may recall, our oldest daughter, Parker, was set to star, I mean perform, in the preschool Christmas play, as a sheep! You may also remember that she was not wanting to be a sheep because “all of my friends will make fun of me.” Well, all of her friends were sheep as well, so that argument went out the door! She did really well and said her line, but as you can see from her picture, she was not exactly proclaiming the “Good News” with “Great Joy.” Jason is planning on making a video of all their Christmas performances and I will post those later! Here is a glimpse of the sheep in action….
Merry Christmas from our sheep to yours!
I decided to take part in the Christmas Tour of Homes hosted by BooMama. I love to decorate at the holidays and make the house warm and cozy! So, welcome to our home.
Wll, thanks for coming! You were the best kind of guest! I pray that you all have a safe, blessed Christmas and truly celebrate the birth of Christ! Blessings!
