December Festivities

We had a nice day today (12-20)visiting Oma, Grandad, Aunt Martha and Kyla today! We met in Canton and had lunch at a great little place called Canton Square Bakery and Cafe. If you are ever in Canton it is worth a stop. It is right across from the court house. Poor Max was sick so he and David could not come.

Since we would not be together for Christmas we met in the middle and exchanged our Christmas gifts to take back and open on Christmas day. I wish I had my camera.. there were so many great photo ops there at the courthouse with the Peanuts characters and other Christmas decorations. The kids are going wild with excitement!! But I can't put the gifts under the tree yet because Joshey has been ripping them open prematurely

Oh that reminds me....I need to send out Christmas cards. It's probably too late to get there by Christmas. I am so bad about that. I don't think I did it last year. I printed out a cute picture last year but never mailed them. Maybe I could put them in this years late card. HA! When will I get it together?!! Oh probably when the kids leave the house. Or at least when Joshey is about 5...I keep telling myself.

After we left Canton we decided to go make a quick trip to the zoo and take advantage of our season passes. The weather was in the 70's today...perfect for zoo walking! We all had a great time. The kids were disappointed that Santa was not in his workshop(Even though they have seen him twice already this year), but they did get to make some cute Christmas tree ornaments there.

We have had lots of festive holiday merry making this month, going to several Christmas parties, looking at light displays, and visiting Santa. Here are some pics of the kids visiting Santa at the courthouse.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154180&l=285c2&id=1384546354

We have really been enjoying listening to Handel's Messiah this year. I sang it each year in High School so I have fond memories of it. I think it is becoming a Christmas tradition..(smile)..It is so fun to see Callie dance around the house singing, "For unto us a child is BOR, hu, hu, hu, hu, hu.... N. If you have heard it you know what I mean! I have it on a playlist on youtube so we can watch all the parts together here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DDDEEC5BDB4BFFE5

Christmas is just in four days and I still need to buy some last min. gifts!!!

New Creation in Christ!

On December 7th we celebrated Callie's baptism! Justin and I are so thankful for her desire to follow our Lord's example and be baptized. It was in the 40's when we left the house that morning and our church has an outdoor baptistry...so it was COLD but memorable. Thankfully the water was heated. Memaw, Pawpaw and Uncle Mike were there, along with our church family, to witness the event. We went out to eat afterwards to celebrate!

Before she was baptized Justin and I gave her a little cross necklace to commemorate this special day. Now she can look back on that and remember that she was baptized wearing it and perhaps pass it down to her daughter on her baptism day. Too precious!

This was such a beautiful day for our family and I will always cherish it in my heart. It was so special to us that Justin was the one who baptized her! As I watch my beautiful daughter's faith continue to blossom, I am humbled at the important task we have as parents to teach them about the Lord and his ways.

To view more pictures of this event click here to go to my facebook album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154331&l=e4365&id=1384546354

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Part 2

The last four months.....

Oh my goodness....it has been 4 months since my last blog. Isn't that horrible. So if there is anyone out there actually reading this I thought I better update. So I pulled my cyber rear over here and actually logged in to do it.

I would like to put a plug out there for facebook. I have recently joined and absolutely LOVE it. It is so fun and easy to find long lost friends and family on there. It is also very easy to stay connected and communicate with all of them. So much easier than reading through a million blogs all the time. Anyhow I only accept people that I know as friends on there. So if you know me...search for my name on facebook.com.

Now for my update:

In August James had a wonderful swim party with a giant water slide thanks to Daddy:

Justin also took James for a Father/Son camp out to Caddo lake this month. They both had a wonderful time. Justin took some gorgeous pictures of the Lake!

I have to brag about how beautiful my flower garden turned out this year!!! Thank you Oma for all the wonderful seeds. I am hooked now and have to plant them every year!

October was a fun filled month:

Fishing with Daddy at Lake Gladewater

We went to a neat festival in Jefferson called Buckskins and Bar-B-Q where they had old time reenactments. We then had fun walking around Jefferson looking at the sights and eating ice cream at the old general store!

The kids went on a camping trip with my Mom and had a lot of fun.

Justin and Callie went to a Father/Daughter dinner at our church.

Halloween was especially fun at our church's festival called Farm Fair. James and Callie were both leopards and Josh was Tigger. MEOW!

In November we met some friends in Shreveport. The kids had fun playing at Chucky Cheese and we had a nice visit with our friends. We also walked around the Shreveport river walk area for a while. Here is a picture of the kids in a neat indoor botanical area.

We just had a wonderful Thanksgiving time visiting with family. My family was here at our house for Thanksgiving day and then we went to Dallas on Friday to be with Justin's family for the weekend. The kids really enjoyed playing with their cousins.s!I just learned to crochet hats! Doesn't she look cute?

This school year is off to a good start. We just completed our term 1 for the year. Our year is broken down into 3, 12 week terms. We are now in the midst of doing an Exam week where we review what we have learned during the first term.

Callie and James really enjoyed the home school soccer that they participated in the first part of the year and are really enjoying their violin lessons. I am also loving the lessons because I am learning along with them!!

And last but not least... today was Justin's birthday! We went out to eat and came home to celebrate with cake. My Mom, Step-dad and brother were here to help us celebrate. We put on a little violin concert for them for entertainment. "I can't believe I'm 36!! "