The Epic Christmas Blog 2011

The Epic Christmas blog has pretty much become a tradition, so I wouldn't dare break it now.

So.....Here we go!

Christmas was stretched into several weeks this year because of various family members traveling and such.  We kicked off Christmas Festivities with Cory's family.  Cory was able to meet us at his parents house for the weekend, after a week of his job training.  The kids were so anxious to get to Nana and Poppy's and to see Daddy!!

Here are pictures from the weekend:

 More Donuts Please!

 We went to the Christmas Festival Parade

 Back at Nana and Poppy's, Eli and Mason go for the same toy

 Cute little Baby Mason

 Nothing like an Ipad to bring a family together. LOL

After the weekend, we got to go with Cory to Ft. Worth for a week!

While we were there, we made a gingerbread house in our hotel room

 The kids and I spent the mornings out and then we'd hang in the hotel until daddy got back.

 We spent a little time downtown, a place we loved when we were there for Seminary

 We got back home, just in time to celebrate with my family.  My sister-in-law was going to be traveling to Texas, so we met up early to exchange gifts.

There is my tree with the gifts. 

Baby Jamie and PawPaw

 GiGi and Landry

 Later that night, the kids and I went to our church's live nativity and musical.  The kids really enjoyed seeing the scenes this year.  Landry could understand so much better than last year.

That week, Landry had her school Christmas Program.  I posted a video of her singing in an earlier post. She was phenomenal!

 Landry with her sweet teachers, Mrs. Brandi and Mrs. Julie

Next, we headed to GiGi and PawPaw's House.  Cory was able to meet us for the weekend. I didn't even tell the kids he was going to be there.  Their expressions, when they saw him, were priceless!!!  I wish I had captured it, but I was driving.

While we were there, my mom initiated a "snowball fight".  Oh Boy, the kids had fun!  Everyday afterward, Eli would try to initiate a snowball fight of his own.

Santa also made an early stop to our house so Daddy wouldn't miss it

And, what do you know?  I made it into some pictures

While we were at GiGi and PawPaws, some special friends dropped in for a visit.  We all had a ball!

And so we arrive at Christmas morning.  I wanted to make it all about Christ, which was easier since we had already opened all the gifts.  The kids decorated cupcakes and made a special card

We read the Christmas Story and Sang Praise Songs.  It was a very special morning.

That evening, we headed back to Natchitoches to Nana and Poppy's house.  

Three adorable Baby Grands waiting to open presents!

 Guess what one of Eli's was.  ;)  Aunt Charlotte seems to be impressed!

And finally, we have come to the end of this Epic Christmas Blog.  I hope you read it in small chunks to keep from exhausting yourself.  I feel so accomplished to have finished, now I can move on to the dishes :/

Wherever You Are, My Love Will Find You

For those of you who do not know, our family is going through a pretty big transition.  Cory has worked in vocational ministry for over 10 years, but he recently began feeling like God was calling him to step away for a period.  We were overwhelmed with thankfulness when God provided a secular job for Cory almost immediately.  He is always on time.  The job is going well for Cory.  He's learning very quickly (I can shamelessly brag on my husband, right?).  The downfall of this new job, however, is that he is traveling a lot causing him to be away from our family for long stretches of time. This is very difficult for a Dad who loves to be involved in every part of his children's lives and for a wife and kids who love to have Daddy around.  So, we are thinking of creative ways to keep Cory involved in our day to day lives even though we are separated by miles.

Now, I must confess that most of my good ideas or stolen borrowed from other people.  There are some stinkin' creative people out there, and their ideas are just too good not to use.  However, sometimes, just sometimes, I get a stroke of creative genius (ha!), and come up with an idea all by myself!  I'm pretty excited about this one and I wanted to share it because I think other people could use it too, even if your loved one is not away from home.

I made these books and gave them to Cory for Christmas

The quotes on the kids' books are from a book by Nancy Tillman.  I thought they were very fitting.  The idea is that we will write letters to one another in the book and mail it back and forth.  A lot of times we mean to write letters, but in the busyness of our lives, the thought slips our mind.  Also, what an amazing keepsake this will be for our family to treasure in the years to come.  I still well up every time I read a special note from my parents.

This was the first page in Landry's book.  She worked harder on this drawing than I have ever seen her work before.  Can you spot Daddy in the grass?

We were so excited, Monday, when we arrived home to find packages from Daddy in the mail. Here is what he wrote:

I'll spare you all the mushy, gushy details of our letters ;)

But here is a video of Landry receiving hers

And, just for fun, here are some pictures of Cory and the kids the day he left for training. They had such a good time playing and loving on each other!

Skype is also keeping us going!  Landry and Daddy wouldn't know what to do without their "big lips kisses"

Happy 4th Birthday, Landry!!

Dear Landry,

It seems like I was just writing you a letter for your third birthday.  Wow!!  4 years old.  I am so thankful for four years God has given us with you.  You are simply amazing!  Creative, Strong-Willed, Thoughtful, Sensitive, Expressive, Ambitious, Intelligent, and Fun are a few of the words I would use to describe you.  Possessing such characteristics, you can do anything and go anywhere you'd like.  I pray that you follow Christ.  I pray that you use these amazing qualities to bring glory to Him!!!  I am thankful that He has given Daddy and me the responsibility to raise you and point you to Christ, and that He is right beside us sustaining us the entire time.

Mommy and Daddy Love You Sweet Girl!

Add caption

Our Christmas Card

Better Late than Never, Right?

Tis the Season to Decorate

We always try to decorate our tree on Thanksgiving or the day after.  We want to it up as long as possible.  It just adds a certain warmth to our home.  Since we were in the decorating spirit, we did cookies as well.  You can never decorate enough Christmas cookies :)

The first thing we had to do was pry the kids out of the Christmas Tree Box.  Turns out it's true what "they" say about kids and boxes!

 Then Landry dressed herself up!  She chose a leotard and tutu and adorned the neckline with Sparkly Star Barrettes.  I think they add a nice touch ;)

Eli is pouting in this picture because he wants his turn

 I love her intense focus!  Tongue out and all

 Me and my little loves

 We tend to always get a picture of Eli screaming while we are baking.  Poor little guy can't understand why he doesn't get to dump the whole jar of flour. LOL

 Sneaky, Sneaky

 Now it's tree time!

 "Hmm, what to do with all these balls?"  So glad I have switched to shatterproof balls!

Landry thought that all the matching ornaments should hang together as a group.

 I love this one of them together :)

 And Landry needed a little help from Daddy to put the ornaments just where she wanted them

After the trees and cookies, Eli decorated himself a bit.....

What fun memories!!!!