Christmas Eve, Part 1

It's finally Christmas Eve and the kids are so excited!

We let them open a present from Daddy this morning.

They all got some Legos and quickly went to work building.

We also let them open up presents from Grandma.

Then we went to Vidor to celebrate with Amy and her family. Sarah played her new Christmas song for us on Aunt Amy's beautiful piano.

Then we opened presents, visited, and ate some Gumbo!

We love spending some time with our Texas peeps!

We Made the Good List!

Today we went to visit Santa at the mall to put in our final requests. John David was so excited to see Santa and sit on his lap. Now we are making cookies and getting ready for the big guy to stop by tomorrow night! Merry Christmas!

Harvest Time

This afternoon we went to Kent and Johnice's to pull up the carrots.

Turns out.....they didn't do quite as well as we had hoped.

In fact, they were kinda sad looking.

But they tasted good!

But it was a great experience for the kids, and we're so thankful for Maw Maw and Paw Paw including us in the garden fun!

Christmas Outfits

I decided to make the girls matching skirts for Christmas this year instead of buying Christmas dresses. 

I happened to find this cute tie for John David for a great price and decided to go with the red chevron theme. Yes.....I admit....I am slightly addicted to chevron.

But just look how cute they are!

I just want to smooch this cute boy's cheeks!

My beautiful Katie is growing up so fast.

And my sweet Sarah! 

Love these sweet girls!

My how I love this good lookin' bunch!

one down.....one zillion to go

But I'll get there eventually! I finished my first semester in the Pathway Program today. I made two A's. YES! I have to admit that going back to school wasn't nearly as hard as I had anticipated it would be. In fact, I have really enjoyed it. I feel like I look at school completely different now. Before, it was a chore....something I dreaded. Now, I really look forward to the challenge and learning new things. And I absolutely adore this inspired Pathway Program. Not only am I getting a great education, but I am getting a great education at a very affordable price. And not only am I getting a great education at an affordable price, but I  am getting a great, affordable education, in the convenience of my own home. And not only am I getting a great, affordable education in my home, but I'm also getting a great, affordable education in my home, with a gospel perspective.....which is the best part! I have learned and grown so much this first semester and am so grateful to be part of this amazing program! Looking forward to next semester....even if it means I have to take a math class!

Christmas Smiles

I tried to get some pictures of the kids tonight before we left for the ward Christmas party.

I just can't understand why its so hard to get all three of them to smile "right" at one time.

One of them either has a cheesey grin, or eyes closed too much, or fake smile.

So I gave up and told them to make silly faces. Haha! Perfect! This is going on the Christmas cards.....if I ever get around to Christmas cards, that is.

Katie's Band Concert

Tonight was Katie's Christmas Band Concert. It's so amazing how far they have come in just one year. They sounded great! I'm so glad she decided to do band, despite my original feelings about it. It has really helped her in so many ways. Way to go Katie! You are remarkable!

Christmas Oranges

Tonight we enjoyed one of our favorite Christmas traditions. We read Christmas Oranges. We absolutely love this story. But we also enjoy eating the chocolate oranges as we read the book. Love making sweet memories with my sweet babies.

Aaron's Birthday

Today was my sweetheart's birthday. Sadly, I had to leave him tonight to go to class. 

But his Mama and Daddy brought over his favorite treat for his birthday.....bread pudding.

This man loves some bread pudding, but his favorite is from LeBleu's Landing. So my family celebrated him without me tonight. I told Katie to make sure to get some pictures for me, and these are the ones she took. 

Not sure why she kept cutting his head off, but beggars can't be choosers I guess. At least you can see how happy he is to have some bread pudding. Happy Birthday honey! Thanks for being so awesome! I love you forever!

Hunting with Daddy

Today John David and Aaron went out to the Pietz's property to hunt wild hogs. John David was beside himself with excitement.

Aaron said John David climbed right up in the stand like he belonged there.

They didn't see any hogs, but they found signs that they had been in the area. However, they had a great time being in the woods....and just being together.

The 'Christ' Tree

While we were sitting in church yesterday, Katie leaned over to me and told me she had a great idea for a FHE lesson. I love it when it's her idea to do something for the lesson!

So she asked me to get her a few supplies and she taught the FHE lesson tonight. She talked about the true meaning of Christmas and the different names of Christ. Then we made some paper ornaments and wrote the names of Christ on them and things that remind us of Christ and decorated a paper 'Christ' Tree.



I absolutely LOVE that she came up with this idea all on her own and wanted to teach it for family home evening!



She is such sweet and amazing young woman!

And a great sister too! My how I love these sweet kids of mine!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Today we got to work putting up the Christmas tree and other decorations. I really love this time of year and decorating for Christmas. So do the kids. They were so excited to put everything up.

I do love this beautiful, sweet girl, and what a hard worker she is. Most of the lights on our pre-lit tree don't work anymore, so she put all the lights on our tree. She's so awesome!

And this little guy was so excited to decorate the tree. He wanted candy canes on the tree this year. So Aaron bought three boxes and John David put them all on the tree.

And since Adam and Rachel are in town, they brought sweet Maggie over to help decorate our tree.

The kids were so excited to have her over here helping decorate.

John just adores Maggie.

After they finished putting the ornaments on the tree, they played Just Dance.

It was quite entertaining to watch these two.

Uncle Ammon came over too, and played with the kids.

The kids had a great time playing together.

What a cute bunch!

Then we turned out the lights and watched Polar Express, and drank hot chocolate.

Perfect way to end a cold winters night!