Matthew 6:33

"Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all else shall be added unto you."

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

A very, very long Christmas post

We went to Huntsville for Christmas which has been our tradition since we have been married.  And like any other year we had a GREAT time and each one of us was truly spoiled.  My parents and brother cooked and had all kinds of yummy food to eat, we had fun outings at night, activities for grown-ups and kids to do during the day, good times of rest, a special cake and birthday party for Jesus, and lots and lots of fun treats on Christmas.  Two extra special activities were getting to go to the movies with Dan and my brother Kevin; this was the first time I had gone to the movies since before Nathan was born.  Its just not what I do when I have spare time but I sure did enjoy it.  And then my brother and I went running together one morning.  He has lost over 50 lbs in a year and is now training for a Triathlon so you know that excites me.

Having fun around the house

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Fishing with Papa and Uncle Kevin at the pond behind their house

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Kevin and I making a Gingerbread House and then Nathan helping me decorate it.  Grammy didn’t want Luke to feel left out so he got to put sprinkles on Gingerbread cookies.

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Going to the Winter Wonderland Party in downtown Huntsville with Nathan, Grammy, and Uncle Kevin. It was pretty cold so Dan and Papa volunteered to stay home and put Luke down.  The party animals had fun and the other guys enjoyed having a quiet evening at home.

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The next night my mom bought us tickets to go to the drive-through light show at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens.  Its amazing every year but this year they added 4 extra miles to the show.  Thanks mom!

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Hiking at Green Mountain (in the cold of course).  My family are such troopers because every year I drag them up here because I love the setting and hope to get tons of amazing pictures.  However, every year at Christmas time its freezing(go figure) and everyone is bundled up and freezing which limits any picture opportunities.  All said and done it was still fun even though it was a quick visit.  Maybe I will learn next year that going to the top of a mountain in December isn’t going to deem you favorable picture results or happy campers. 

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Birthday cake for Jesus: Nathan and Grammy made the cake, I decorated it and then on Christmas morning we all sang and blew out the candles.

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We opened one gift on Christmas Eve which was a tradition my brother and I grew up doing and then on Christmas morning after cake we did stockings and all other crazy festivities of presents!  Lots of fun, lots of noise, and lots and lots of fun things for all of us.  I pray Jesus was glorified even amidst the chaos!

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WHEW! That was a lot of pictures.

Well I don’t supposed any one other than devoted family members are still reading but just to end this post I thought I would include the poem I wrote for Nathan.  I read it to him on Christmas morning before we blew out the candles on Jesus’ birthday cake. 

“It’s a Happy Birthday on Christmas Day”

We give gifts

God gave His Son

He came from Heaven

He came as One

One little baby born on Christmas Day

Next to the animals lying in the hay

A star shone brightly in the sky

And angels were singing way up high

It was a time for all to celebrate

For we will never forget that special date

It was a day when God became man

He was born as a baby in Bethlehem

He came as a baby but grew to be King

And then one day gave up everything

It was out of true love that day

He died and washed our sins away

Yet three days later He rose again

He conquered death and covered sin

Now all year long we can talk to Him

He loves us all and calls us friend

Yet there’s something extra special about Christmas Day

So lets all sing to Jesus “Happy Birthday”

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