Christmas 2015

What a wonderful Christmas we have had! We enjoyed decorating our home right after Thanksgiving.

Claire made and decorated cookies with her little cousins.

Claire and I went to see Miracle on 34th Street and had a wonderful time together.

We made a quick trip to Asheville to Grove Park Inn. The National Gingerbread Competition was over, but we still got to see the amazing submissions.

We always sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and have a birthday cake.

Christmas Eve with my side of the family.

Our family sends balloons to my dad in heaven every Christmas Eve. This is our 6th Christmas without him, and it really never gets easier. Oh, what it must be like to celebrate Christmas with Jesus!

Our cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

The annual "waiting on the stairs" on Christmas morning.

Reading the Christmas story from the Bible

Our traditional Christmas morning breakfast

Celebrating with Brian's side of the family on Christmas afternoon

It's a "bowhawk"!

The day after Christmas, our little cousin Emma Jo came to play.

We made one last trip to Dollywood for the year!

We are so thankful that Jesus was born and then died (& rose again) for us! Our family had an absolutely fabulous Christmas. We are so blessed!

Catching Up From Christmas

I realize it's January. I am so behind. Very, very behind.

So I decided to just dump all of the December pictures into this one post and call it done. I'm very sure they will be out of order, but let's just pretend that doesn't matter to my slightly OCD self. 

We enjoyed our Christmas tree all month.

 Sheldon and Shelby joined us on December 1 and left on Christmas Eve. We enjoy having them around, but sometimes they wear me out.

 Parker had the flu. Bless his little heart. Fortunately, we caught it fast, and he didn't feel too badly for very long.

 This is what you do when your brother has the flu. Model every item of clothing in your room.

 Claire played Vixen the Reindeer in her school play. She was supposed to be extra sassy, and she nailed it!

 Claire's Christmas party

 Guess who else got the flu? Thankfully, she didn't get very sick either. Somehow, Brian and I have escaped it so far.

 We had Elf Night at our house where we watched Elf the movie and did some elf related things. It was fun!

 We had fun watching the play A Christmas Story in Jonesborough. This was after the play in the photo booth.

 We drank a lot of Russian tea.

 Our Christmas service at church is one of my favorite traditions.

 The kids and I went to see the movie Annie. It was really cute!

 We did a Christmas lights scavenger hunt. Max the Furry Murray even went along and enjoyed the ride.

 Christmas Eve with my side of the family is always fun. Here are the ladies:

 And the men:

 Christmas Eve

 Our cookies and milk for Santa

 Looks like he stopped by and ate them!

 Our birthday cake for Jesus

 Waiting on Christmas morning to come down the stairs

 Parker and Claire loved all of their presents.

 Our special Christmas breakfast

 We spent Christmas afternoon with the other side of our family. I didn't get a lot of pictures unfortunately!

 We also went bowling one day during Christmas break.

 Starbucks!

 Girl's Night Out was fun for Claire and me while Parker was at a Christmas party.

 Another movie ~ Night at the Museum 3

 New Year's Eve!

 Skating was interesting since they are both still learning. I was very proud of them for trying so hard.

Celebrating straight A's! Way to go Parker and Claire!

We had lots of good family time, and also loved just being home to rest and relax before heading back to school. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!