"Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand."

Proverbs 19:21

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas 2011



We're still recovering from Christmas around here. It flew by. We were so busy that it crept up and before we knew it, it was here.

It can't be Christmas without a photo in front of the upside down tree at church, so here it is. This is one of the few pictures I took this year:


My brother-in-law came to Georgia for Christmas. He moved out to California and it had been a few years since he'd been home. It was good to spend time with him. Of course, the boys were smitten by him and are already asking when he's coming back.

We usually go over to my parents house for breakfast and gifts on Christmas morning. Since Christmas fell on a Sunday this year and my parents' church had service, we had Christmas morning on Christmas Eve morning. My mom cooked a delicious breakfast and we opened gifts. It was loud, hectic, and wonderful- as always!

Later on that afternoon my parents and my Aunt Rita came to watch Shaun sing at the Christmas Eve service at church. It was nice to be in church with them, and Chris and I were able to be in a service together, so that was nice too. I never went to church on Christmas Eve until we came to Free Chapel, and I'm so glad it has become a tradition with us. I look forward to it every year.

The choir was amazing, of course. Jordan was a little bummed that he wasn't able to take part this year. He was a cow during the nativity scene in last year's service, but couldn't make it to the rehearsal this year because we were spending time with Uncle Jeremy. Jordan said his time with Jeremy was worth the sacrifice, but when he saw all of his "barn yard" friends up on stage he sat up in his chair and whispered (loudly), "Hey! I'm supposed to be up there!"

There's always a funny moment, right? Ha ha! There's always next year!

Here's a picture of Shaun and some of the other boys in the choir before the service. Jordan was there, too.

And here's a shot of Jordan in his new boots from Susie and Papa. He insisted on wearing them. I think they were his favorite gifts.


After church we went back to my parents house for my family's Christmas get together. We ate too much, laughed a lot, played Dirty Santa, watched all of the kids be spoiled with gifts. Both of my boys were given Star Wars items from my Aunt Jenny. I'm pretty sure she's their favorite aunt after those gifts!

Speaking of favorite gifts, here's mine:

My Aunt Nancy made all of pillow cases out of my grandmother's old shirts. I couldn't love anything more.

Before the boys went to bed we put out a treat for Santa on the fire place...Aunt Jenny's famous fruity Jello dessert dish. I'm not sure what its called but she's been making it on Christmas Eve since I was a child. It is delicious, and Santa was really pleased to have been left something besides milk and cookies. The boys fell asleep in record time, so Chris and I went to bed early too. We slept in until about 8, when the boys woke up and wanted their presents. Jordan's favorite gift was his new scooter. He'd been wanting a bigger one for a long time. Shaun liked his iPod Touch best. It was already loaded up with his favorite music and movies.

We went out to Chris' sister's house for Christmas lunch with his family. We had a nice meal and got to visit for a long time. We were all spoiled (again) with too many presents.

We headed back to North Hall for Christmas dinner with my grandparents later on that night. More food, more laughter, and togetherness. We all had a good time, ate too much, and opened more gifts than we deserved.

When we returned home that night we were exhausted and everyone slept really well. It was a great Christmas!

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