Blessed beyond words is the only way I can explain 2013. Blessed as a family, blessed with friends, blessed by our extended family, blessed with health, blessed by our church family, blessed by our work families and blessed by our clients and so, so much more. We find ourselves looking back and thanking God for all we have been given in 2013 and looking forward in great expectation of what he has ahead for our lives.
You wonder how parents get wrapped up in indulging their children - spend Christmas morning with a four year old. The look on their face is priceless, the magic is amazing to watch and the excitement is infectious! What we are learning is that all those feelings can also come from things other than toys on Christmas morning. It is all about the anticipation and creating the excitement. The excitement of holding a candle on Christmas Eve, seeing family from far away on a computer screen, playing as a family, the challenge of putting money is every red kettle you see and just living in the moment. Billy Graham once preached that "Advent is a call to wake up." For our family I see it as just that. Waking up from the day to day routine to see and anticipate the real reason for the season. To find time to anticipate the birth of Christ together and teaching our children how to be just as excited as they are about toys on Christmas morning about a story that is 2000 years old that changes live still every day. This year we did just that. We spent time together, with friends and we woke up from the every day to anticipate Christ coming. We hope your family had the same experience and we look forward with anticipation to 2014.
Christmas Morning
For our family documenting purposes (i.e. I don't keep a baby book so this is the reference for years to come) Drew was ecstatic to see Santa delivered a scooter, bow-and-arrow and a digger. Owen didn't really understand that the large red chair like the one he loves so much is Drew's room was his until we cleaned up later that day. He was thrilled it came to his room! Along with a fisher price car carrier and the coveted "Wheels on the Bus" little people dancing bus.
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| Duck Dynasty bandaids in the stocking were a hit! |
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| Trying to figure out how to get the toothbrush out of the stocking. |
So, once again, we have to amend the rules for Mr. Justin. As you may recall last year he gave us the Georgia football uniform, complete with pads and helmet a week before Christmas. These were the gift of the year and Drew was only partially interested in Santa after that. The rule this year was he couldn't deliver gifts before Christmas. So Christmas morning Drew opened his gifts from Mr. Justin. He was ecstatic to find a (pretend) pump shot gun complete with very real noises and shells.
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| Don't shoot people or dogs! |
Owen enjoyed 1st breakfast, 2nd breakfast, snack, 1st lunch and 2nd lunch before a LONG nap!
We were thrilled that Kevin's law partner, John MacNeill, and his family joined us for lunch. Although we missed Becca, Ramsey was a huge hit with Drew! Kevin cooked a fabulous beef tenderloin. (Special thanks to my pre-Christmas shopping buddy Rachel Wiygul who waited in line with me at Fresh Market for the meat. We were #26 in line!)
And then the post-Christmas adventure.
We realized on Monday before Christmas that we were starring down 5 days of being at home with two children with temperatures barely breaking the freezing mark. My sister Pam had not been able to go home to Arkansas for the holidays so we decided to head to Dallas for a visit to relieve the stir craziness! We had heard of a place called Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. Indoor water park, amusement hotel, arcade, etc. Everything you need all wrapped up in a nice hotel! All I can say is WOW!
And last but not least, duck and sausage gumbo a New Years cooking tradition. This was our best batch yet. I think we ended up cooking 5 gallons!
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