Merry Christmas

We have had such a great day and pray that you have too! Have I mentioned yet how much I love this time of year? We started our Christmas celebrations a bit over a week ago when we celebrated with the Stark side of my family on Saturday night then the Nettles side on Sunday afternoon. We exchanged gifts, played Christmas Bingo, ate a lot and got lots of fun pictures. The kids love spending time with their cousins and grandparents. It was a weekend full of laughter and smiles for them.

Last night we went to the Brook Hills Christmas Eve Communion Service with Jere's parents. It was a special time for us to spend together and really focus on what we are celebrating. I loved the message that the pastor shared. This is a great time to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus and to reflect on what He has done for us, yet we need to also look forward to His return and what He has planned for our future. Our walk with Him is not only about what has already been done but what is yet to come. We sang the song "In Christ Alone". Not one that I think of normally at a Christmas service but can I just say.. I was again moved to tears in singing that song loudly and clearly and meaning every word of it! The sound of that full sanctuary (people standing because the seats were full) and the voices of praise and worship being lifted up was one to behold. Joy to the World the LORD is come!!!

After the Communion Service we went back to Jere's parents and opened gifts with them. It was a fun night for all of us. Then we headed home to get ready for Santa to visit. The kids went to bed amazingly well, although Alyson was pretty worried that Sophi would bark and growl at Santa and scare him away. Thankfully, all went well!

This morning, Aly was up at 6:45 ready to head downstairs. She woke everyone up in her excitement and we headed down to a morning full of squeals and "open this please". Jere's parents came to have breakfast with us then Maga and PaPop stopped by for lunch. After hours of playtime, things have settled down. One of our neighbors made us a lasagna for dinner tonight and we are sharing it with some of our other neighbors this evening. Jere and Alyson have gone to share Jesus at the Firehouse Shelter as they cook and serve the men in the homeless shelter. What a blessing it is to be able to do this. It has been a blessed Christmas Season for us and we hope that you have all been able to enjoy family, friends and our Savior as we have. Hugs!!!

Hope you enjoy some of the pictures we took! Sorry - I know there are a bunch!

Christmas Vacation

So looking back, my last blog was titled "My Weekend Part 1". At this point, I can't even remember that weekend. Sad - huh? So I'm skipping part two and just starting over today. Today was Aly's last day of school and is Jere's last day of work until 2008. I can't even begin to express the joy I have in these facts. Looking over my calendar, out of the last 13 days, there have only been 2 that the whole family has been home for the night together. I guess today makes day 14 because Aly just left to spend the night with some of her grandparents. We are all exhausted and are looking forward to being home. I asked Drew today what he wants to do while we are on vacation. His response, "I just want us to see a rainbow.". I want that too so if anyone sees one in the area with our upcoming rain forecast, please let us know. :)

Some things I love about this time of year:

Receiving Christmas Cards in the mail
Christmas Songs
Listening to my kids sing Christmas songs
Lots of pretty lights
Snowmen
Good food to eat
New Recipes
Pumpkin muffins
Coffee Cake Candles
My black fuzzy scarf
My new reindeer slipper socks
Cold weather in small doses
Christmas movies
Laughing until my sides ache
Fun get-togethers with friends and family
Snuggling on the couch eating popcorn and M&M's
Flavored Hot Cocoa
And most importantly, CONSTANT REMINDERS OF WHO WE ARE REALLY CELEBRATING!!

I also had to share this photo. I walked into the living room and there was the battle between the Star Wars characters and the participants in the Nativity scene. Of course Baby Jesus wasn't there "because babies can't fight"!

My Weekend - Part 1

Ever have one of those mornings that from the time you open your eyes, you know your day is going to be about choices? Good versus Evil maybe? I started off on the "Dark Side". Saturday was my day to "sleep in". Now in my family, that means possibly until 7:30 for me. My sweet girl, who I have a hard time waking up almost every morning, decides to come in my room at 6:02am to see if she can get into bed with us. For most, this isn't a real problem. For me, once I wake up, I don't go back to sleep. I tried though for about 30 seconds then Sophi started scratching the side of the bed for some attention. After ignoring her for about a minute, she starts to bark. Of course, I didn't want Drew to wake up so I told Aly to take her out. Unfortunately, she doesn't want her to take her out, she wants me to. The more I thought about it, the madder I got. How selfish is that really? Then it almost seemed like I really heard a voice saying, "Ronda, you can start your day off mad and continue to let this ruin your day, or you can love on those that are changing your plans and glorify Me through it." I'm so glad that it was a choice that didn't take long for me to make. It turned out to be a wonderful day.

Our preschool minister at church and her husband put together the most wonderful "Craft Closet" for our preschoolers. I brought Drew and his sweet friend Abigail and we had so much fun. The kids ran from station to station making foam ornaments, candy cane mice, pine cone Christmas trees, glitter ornaments, homemade hand print wrapping paper and photo ornaments. It was so much fun!!

After we got back home, Aly and I were off to help decorate her float for the Christmas Parade. This year she chose to ride with her Brownie troop rather than march with her Baton group. Smart choice! It was a long parade! Several of us moms rode with the girls. I'm not sure that I can sing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas", "Rudolph" or "Jingle Bells" for the rest of the year! :) It was fun though seeing friends that I haven't seen in a long time, even if it was only to wave and wish them "Merry Christmas". By the way, her Brownie troop float won 3rd Prize in the Parade!!! Must have been the home-made look. I think they thought the kids made it themselves. :)





After we finally made it through the traffic and got home, we were too tired to even think about cooking dinner. We decided to try out Hungry Howie's Pizza (in Alabaster) after strong recommendations from our neighbors. Some sweet friends joined us and not only was the pizza very good, but we had a great time visiting and catching up with our friends. It was a really wonderful day!!