Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Twas the day before Christmas and Mommy tried real hard to get everything done, but she still had much to do to get ready for Christmas day and lots of family coming... But she took a break anyway and watched "Space Chimps" with the family and headed off to Christmas Eve service at Church and then to some good friends, The Swiggards, house for Christmas soup, lots of yummies, gifts, and fun!

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:8-12

Braden's Pokemon Party!

Braden's 6th birthday party = Pokemon Madness!

In the middle of all the Christmas festivities... we paused to celebrate our precious Braden! We had a fun time celebrating Braden's 6th birthday with lots of fun, friends, and food. The kids got to decorate boxes to keep all their Pokemon cards and other treats in, there was a Pokemon walk, Hot Potato, Pinata, and Braden's favorite... a dance competition! Who knew that Braden had so much break dancing abilities? :) All the kids got a prize for their best dancing skill! Braden's choice of food: pizza, skittles, holiday marshmallows, BBQ chips, cake (that we baked and decorated together at 10:30 the night before his party!) and ice cream! He got some fun presents... but most of all he enjoyed his friends and adding to his Pokemon card collection! Happy birthday, Braden! We love you so much!

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Our Small Group Christmas Party!

As with tradition, we had another Caroling Hay Ride! How fun to take a hay ride around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols! As always, the night was filled with awesome food, fun fellowship, a snow machine, Christmas movie for the kids, and did I mention the food? :) Always so fun to get together to celebrate anything, but to celebrate our Saviour's birth is even better!

Sharing the Christmas message!

This Christmas season was filled with all sorts of fun programs to praise the name of Jesus! The boys had a great time being shepherds in our church's Christmas Program. It was an amazing morning of praise and worship led by the children!

At school, Andrew, along with all the 2nd through 5th graders put on an fantastic production of "The Christmas Country Spelling Bee"! What a clever way to tell the story of Jesus' birth. The next morning Braden, along with all the Pre-K 3-1st graders entertained everyone with a very cute program called "Christmas Hide and Seek"! Leave it to children to put on a program that touched the hearts of all in attendance! I praise God for allowing my kids to be a part LSA where they can proclaim the name of Jesus at Christmas and every day! :)

Our Little Winter Wonderland!

December 10th brought our family great joy! IT SNOWED IN TEXAS!!! It had been getting colder throughout the day and my Mom and Tom called to let me know that we might be getting snow. I was thinking flurries, but still way excited! We called my Dad for his birthday and Colton kept telling him that he was going to build a snowman. I had my reservations... Anyway, Tom was working late and we were getting things ready in the house for all our Christmas company when I looked out the window and began screaming, "It's SNOWING"! Colton was in the bathtub and jumped out and said, "I'm ready!" It was so cute! Anyway, we hurried into PJ's and our winter coats, hats, and gloves and ran outside. The boys had a ball! How awesome to see snow in our own yard! Braden had the idea to get dark paper and magnifying glasses to see if each snowflake was really different from the others. What fun! After a while the boys got cold and we headed inside for prayers and bed. I went on with my "Millions of Things to do" list and then looked outside again. Snow had covered the whole yard! Wow! I called Tom and he was on his way home not feeling so well. After he got home and had something to eat we decided to wake the boys up to build a snowman. It was 10 o'clock at night! We NEVER do this! But it NEVER snows in southern TX! We bundled up and headed outside again. The boys couldn't believe their eye and off they went making the biggest snowman in TX! It was going to be 4 balls high, but kept falling over. We ended up with a snowman that was as tall as me and Andrew with Andrew's TX hat and all! SNOW MUCH FUN! This was Colton's 1st time to see real snow and his eyes were so wide with awe and wonder! When Frosty was finished he just looked up at it with such amazement and said, "That's my Frosty the Snowman!" Like all the books and movies had come to life before his very eyes. For a moment I had that Disney magic in my heart and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Then the boys had a snowball fight and Colton kept saying, "I got you!" Andrew and Braden quickly made their own little snowmen and each of the boys got to make a snowball to keep in the freezer. We made them go back in about 11 p.m. Andrew thought it was the best night of his life! We all had a fantastic night! You can see the pure joy in our faces in the group family pic in the slide show on the blog (for those of you get this update by e-mail). We will remember this special night for a long time to come!

Thank you, God, for the unexpected blessing of snow and awesome, middle-of-the-night, family time!

Having SNOW much fun in TX!