Merry Christmas

What a wonderful Christmas we had. We went to my parent's house for Christmas Eve lunch and then opened presents. I think everybody got something that they really wanted. We had to hurry off from my parent's house to head to the Christmas Eve service at the church. It was so good. I think we had close to 210 in attendance. We went home after the service and all the family came over for soup. I had made potato soup with shrimp and Melanie had made taco soup. It was very good. The kids got ready for bed soon after but made sure Santa had his cookies and milk. Christmas morning was fun. The kids received a Wii from Santa and they were so excited!!! They played it all day long and the next three days it stayed on all day. We have had good visits with my brother, Stacey. It is so nice to have him home. I can't believe that it is Friday already. We have one more week of sleeping late and having no schedule. I have to go back to work next Friday. And the kids will have to go back to school on the 7th!

We are headed to Mamaw's!

Waiting for Santa!

Brice and Shelby playing baseball on the Wii!

Shelby and Eli playing boxing. Eli still remains the champ at this game!

Boxing again....

Christmas is in the air

Some of the things we have done to get ready for Chirstmas day are: Shelby's band concert, Eli's Christmas Party, shopping for gifts, wrapping presents, watching Christmas movies, cooking, wrapping more presents, visiting with family, etc, etc, etc.

We went to Philip's parent's house last weekend to do Christmas. We had lots of fun but the visit was just too short. We are planning on going back after the first of the year. We gave Phililp's mom a digital camera. She hasn't had a camera for a few years and I know she will enjoy it. I have to go back to teach her how to get the pictures printed. Shelby's concert was good. I'm not sure how many 6th graders are in the band but it was a lot. They played 3 songs and it was all over very fast. They will have another concert at the end of the year. I'm not sure if Shelby will continue with band. I don't think it is her passion and I'm not going to push her to do it. It has been good for her, though. Eli's Christmas party was fun. Brice was able to go with me because he was finished with his exams. They played a few games and ate lots of food.(mostly sugar, of course) My brother, Stacey, came into town on Friday and boy were we excited. Eli had him all to himself on Friday night. Brice and Shelby had a party with the youth group at church. Eli and Stacey played games and we ate at my parents house. On Saturday Stacey and my parents came over and we decorated Christmas cookies. It is always fun to do this. It makes a mess but it is worth it. We will be going to to my parents house today for Christmas. The kids are all excited about presents. We will have to wait to open gifts until after lunch. It will be hard to keep the kids happy until then. Tonight we have our Chrismas Eve service at the church. It is always a special time.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Born to be Wild

One of our church members and a member of our Biker LifeGroup let Philip borrow his Harley. Philip has had a blast on it. He took the kids for a short ride yesterday and I took some pictures. He tried to get me on the thing but I don't think so. I've said I'll ride when my sister rides Woody's. I guess he thinks if I ride I'll be more willing to let him get one. He keeps telling me how long the gas lasts. I'm not concerned about the price of gas, I'm concerned about his safety... Well, it's fun for him. (and the kids) It's so cool when your dad rides a Harley...

Celebration Sunday

The first week in November we celebrated at LifeBridge Church. We purchased 15 acres of land in Madison. This is no easy feat since land is so hard to come by and when you do find it, it is so expensive. God found our land and God provided money to purchase the land. We owe nothing on it!!! We had a Sunday to celebrate. We had three buses waiting before church started to take us to the land and have a worship service there and a prayer walk. My brother in law built a beautiful wall to represent where LifeBridge's building will eventually be. It was a wonderful and worshipful time. When we got back to the school/church the Biker LifeGroup had a wonderful lunch for us. We had hamburgers and hotdogs and we had inflatables for the kids. It was so much fun and we can't wait to see how God works in the next few years.

The buses waiting in front of the school.

The wall that Woody built.

Philip telling the LifeBridge story.

Some of the people who were there.

Some of the band playing and singing.

The great picnic!

Our 2007

Our Year in Review

I spent way too much time working on this, but it was fun. Enjoy!!

Deck the Halls

We got our decorations out on Saturday and Shelby and Eli helped me put up everything. We decorated the tree next. Shelby and Eli were all into helping but Brice could care less. He did come out of his room and put a couple ornaments on the tree. I guess it's that time when it's just not cool to decorate a Christmas tree. I don't think I was ever like that. Correct me if I'm wrong, Mom. I just remember every year wanting to help my mother. I guess that's the difference between boys and girls. At least Eli will want to help for a few more years. Anyway, the lights look good outside at night and the tree is pretty. I love to sit in the den at night and look at the tree. Soon I will wrap my gifts and put them under the tree. The kids are anxious for that too. They want to shake those boxes...

Eli is finding just the right place for his ornament.

Shelby is serious about her job.

Brice... A.K.A. Scrooge!!

Eli took a candy cane from the tree and "accidentally" dropped it on the floor. He had to eat it after that.

Lori "rearranging" the ornaments. For some reason they all get put on the middle section of the tree.

Thanksgiving Day is a Happy Day

I remember the song that Brice learned when he was in preschool... "Thanksgiving Day is a happy day when we say thank you, God". We had a very good day and ate way too much. We started out at my mom and dad's house with turkey and everything else. It was so good. We missed having my brother there. He will be home for Christmas. We are all so excited to see him. It has been since July that we have seen him. The kids are ready for a visit with him. (so are we) We stayed for awhile and then picked up and went to Philip's parents house. Gloria made Eli's favorite ("real" grits and bacon) Mine and Brice's favorite (rice pudding) and Shelby and Philip's favorite (shrimp curry) It was all so good!! We spent the night there and came back on Friday night. We had a lot of fun being out of school and off work. I enjoyed sleeping late (7:30) and playing with the kids. At our LifeGroup last night we did an exercise with the kids where we made a family poster of things that we were thankful for. On our poster we put: Freedom, pets, a bed to sleep in, our church, our home, Christmas, communication (Brice chose that), clean clothes, vacations, health, God, our car, friendships, food, family, education, and money. We have so much to be thankful for this year! It was fun to make this poster. I'm sure we will keep it for awhile just to remind us of all things we do have.

We are getting ready for Christmas and winding down school. I've told the kids that they better buckle down and get serious about their grades. They are so not wanting to be back in school. And I am so not wanting to get up early every day. Have a great week!!!

The family taking our yearly Thanksgiving Pictures

It's not every day they will sit this close together!

This is the true picture of the kids!

My Mom and her daughters

Melanie and WoodyZach and Hannah (growing up too fast!)

Getting that turkey ready for eating!