Merry Christmas!

Oooh!  Santa Came!

Looks like everybody was good this year :)

And he got it - the ONLY thing he wanted...

a CrAzY Cart

Memaw's Christmas Decorations.  Jon was wondering WHY Mr. Clause was so big and Mrs. Clause was not so big. Hmmmm.

The Master Christmas Chef!

Yep, that's a Dr. Who trench coat.

Papaw!

Memaw!

Jon is happy :)

Blondie LOVED her new little bed - especially since we ripped up all the carpet and put down hard floors.  Thank you Memaw!

Freedom - a bear and legos!

Glory - "stuff you can build"  

Almost time for Christmas Dinner!

Ready to eat!

Oooh, those candied yams...

And a little log splitting for these two.

And we ALL got our after Christmas Dinner NAP.  Some naps were a little longer than others.  :)

Merry Christmas little family!  

Merry Christmas Eve!

A gingerbread house in the making!

Time with Memaw!  She took them to see Star Wars and did some cooking with them.  Memaw sent Glory home with a baker's dozen of my favorites - "Martha Washington's Candies."  I caught the possessive adjective baker's, but didn't know what it meant.  I asked Glory, "you mean she sent twelve?"  

"No, she sent a baker's dozen, which is thirteen."  

"Oh!  I didn't know that!  Learned something new!" 

Glory said, "I learned quite a few new things while I was there."  :) :) :)  That made my heart happy.  And the Martha Washington's made my heart happy too.  I was the only person who ate them, and they were all gone by the next day.

Two wise men waiting for their turn in the nativity.

"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother and they bowed down and worshiped him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh."  Matthew 2:10-11

My favorite wise man.  I pray he is wise enough to recognize signs of Jesus in his life, know the joy of Jesus, look for Jesus, find and see Jesus, bow down, worship Jesus and open his treasures to present them to Jesus.

We love donkeys!

My favorite girls!

We like lamas!

Some of our favorite peeps!

My favorites above all others.

The masterpiece gingerbread house is complete!

The Game of Things - one of her faves.

Merry Christmas! Ready for Santa Clause!

Brandeis Christmas Choir Concert

Joy sang a solo at the Brandeis Christmas Choir Concert - it was awesome!  You can watch it here:    I Wanna Hippopotamus for Christmas

She was practicing for a totally different song for over a month, "O Come O Come Emmanuel" but due to a miscommunication issue, she had to change gears to a fun, upbeat song of her choice four days before the concert.  She chose her song and asked for a tutu.  Memaw came to the rescue on the tutu and voila!  She had her solo ready to go!  I'm so proud of her and thankful for my mom!

And, Memaw, this is why we do NOT say "HIPPOPOTAMUS" when taking a picture. :)  So blessed to have BOTH grandmothers at this event!

Sweet friends!

Freedom thought he was going to miss the concert, but his boy scout event finished just in time and his den leader brought him to the concert just 2 songs before Joy's!!!  This is after the concert and Joy realized her brother made it!