Christmas with Grandma

We celebrated Christmas a little early since Grandma was here. And the kids didn't mind at all.



John David was so excited to see what Grandma gave him.



He is all about Iron Man right now.



Cutest Iron Man ever!



Sarah was pretty thrilled to open her present too.



She loves her new headphones!



Katie doesn't look as thrilled as John and Sarah, but she was.



She loves her new password journal from Grandma!



And Aaron loved his gift from Mama too. It's his priesthood line of authority framed.



She and I have secretly been working on these this past week. We made them for my brothers and brothers-in-law too. They turned out so nice!



And a Christmas apron for me to do my Christmas baking in. Thanks for the thoughtful gifts Mama!



After opening gifts, we took Grandma out to see some Christmas lights.



She and Katie were being silly in the back seat. We sure enjoyed having Grandma here. It was so much fun to have her here this time of year, since she has never been here for Thanksgiving or Christmas. We sure love you Grandma and look forward to your next visit!

Guess who's back?

Freddie made his first appearance of the Christmas season this morning.



And he even brought a note and some treats for us! What a thoughtful little guy! We love you Freddie!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We finally got our Christmas tree up tonight. After lots of trial and error, we finally got the tree all lit up. The kids were so excited!



Especially John David. He was all about putting the decorations on the tree.



And of course, the girls were excited too.

They had a race to see who could put the most ornaments on the tree.



I just love this time of year, and I'm so glad my kids do too.



My favorite picture of the night was this one of John David putting the musical nativity in his room. He was so excited about having the baby Jesus in his room. Priceless.

Dear Daddy,

Three years today...but it seems like much longer sometimes. Time has lessened the pain, but the hole is still there. Today is Thanksgiving and Mama is here with us. I sure wish you were too. You would have loved Johnice's cornbread dressing we ate at our Thanksgiving lunch today. And we had a Turducken tonight when our friends came over. You would have liked that too I bet. I wonder if you celebrate holidays there? Or birthdays? Or are you just too busy for such things? I wonder. I thought it would be harder having mama here today, but it has been okay. I talked to her and tried to make sure she was okay, and she seemed to be. I hope she really is. She has been amazing since you have been gone. It has been hard for her, but she has done really well I think.

I wonder if you know how much I have struggled with so many things lately? I wonder what your advice for me would be? Sometimes when I am trying to go to sleep I think about you in hopes that you will visit me in my dreams and we can just talk and you can tell me everything is going to be ok. I wish you could write me a letter. I wish I could just see your smiling face and hear one of your corny jokes. I wish you could give me a father's blessing. I wish.


You know something that I have worried about is my children forgetting you because they were all so young when you died, especially John David. But, a month or so ago, he was at the freezer getting a popsicle, and out of the blue, just said, "Grandaddy likes popsicles." I said, "Yes, he does. Grandaddy LOVES popsicles!" I wonder how he knows that? He was only 9 months old when you died. I wonder. I hope you know I still miss you every single day. I hope you know how much I love and respect you. I hope you know how grateful I am to be your daughter. I love you always Daddy!

Lynetta

Thanksgiving Day

We spent the better part of Thanksgiving Day over at Kent and Johnice's house. After our delicious, traditional Thanksgiving feast, we enjoyed the beautiful day. The men played horse shoes.

I enjoyed this beautiful view from the hammock.



That is....until my kids joined me and we all ended up on the ground. Oh...the joys of a hammock.



Aaron tried to sneak in a few Zzzzzs.





But eventually the cousins took over the hammock.



We enjoyed Maw Maw Mire reading "Pete's New Shoes" to us.



I love that John David sat and listened to the whole story.



Then we played tug of war.



John David really got into it.



Everyone was having a blast.....until the rope broke. That was quite entertaining to watch, but I didn't get a picture of it because we were laughing so hard.



And we enjoyed my mom's company for Thanksgiving this year. It's the first time she has been here with us on Thanksgiving. We loved having her here, but she (and her dressing) was greatly missed in NC.



But the best thing about the day was just being together! I love my family!

Counting our Blessings

It's that time of year again when we decorate our thankful tree with the things we are grateful for.



I'm so glad that we all enjoy doing this every year.





So many blessings! Life is good!

Sharp Shooter

Katie decided that she wants to do 4-H this year. She said she wanted to do shooting, but when she found out her friends were doing archery, she decided that's what she wanted to do that with them. Today was their first day. She did pretty good for her first time. And she loved it! Now she wants her own bow for Christmas!

It's always fun when Grandma comes!

Grandma came to visit us today. We are so glad she's here to spend some time with us because it means we get to stay up a little later, maybe miss a little school, be silly together, and even go shopping at the mall and buy overpriced candy at the candy store.



After all....that's what Grandma's for right? To spoil the grandkids while she can? Exactly!



Fun times!

Veteran's Day

Today was the Veteran's Day programs at school. The kids read poems and sang songs--my favorite was the Armed Forces Medley. It's always nice.



This year, our sweet friend, Emily, interviewed Aaron and made a poster about him to display at the program. It was pretty cool.


And, of course, he had to sneak in hugs from his girls while he was there.





We are so grateful, not only for our favortie veteran, but all who serve and protect our great country!

Aaron's second birthday

Today was the Marine Corps birthday, so I made my favorite Marine a cake, and he invited some of his Marine buddies and friends who have served in the military over to help him eat his cake.



He claims this day as his own birthday.

He looks pretty good for his age....don't ya think?!

Who's the boss?

We had a little showdown here in Youngsville tonight. John David has decided that he is the boss around these parts. So when I told him to stop doing something tonight, he began telling me, "No Mom! I'm the boss!" When I told him that Daddy and I are the bosses....well, he didn't appreciate it one bit and commenced the tantrum of the century. So we told him to go to his room until he could calm down. He stayed back there crying for a while and finally calmed down and came back into the living room. Aaron and I were in the kitchen talking, but overheard him talking to Katie and Sarah and trying his hardest to get them to go into the kitchen to tell us that he was the boss. We laughed as we heard the girls tell him no over and over, but finally Sarah relented and came into the kitchen and said, "John wants me to tell you that he is the boss." Then John David came into the kitchen too, and looked at us to see what we were going to say. When I told him that Daddy and I are still the bosses, he was genuinely heartbroken. He started crying again, but not the tantrum kind of crying....it was a serious my-feelings-are-hurt kind of cry. So we hugged him and finally were able to console him when we told him that when he grows up and becomes a Daddy, then he can be the boss. And it worked. At least for now. What a funny kid!