Christmas Joy

This Christmas was quite the joy. It started with a little get away with Andrew to our favorite near by spot, Resort at the Mountain. Massages, great food, an evening spent by the fire; we sure treasured this alone time before all of the family get togethers.

Christmas day brought quite the surprise. This little beauty below joined the family.

 

Her name is Eliza Pearl. Andrew's Aunt & Uncle, Myrna & Karl (& little Isaac), became this little one's loving family a few days before Christmas. They brought her home and surprised everyone on Christmas day. What a blessing and gift she is. The best Christmas gift ever if you ask me. I think the rest of the family agrees. 

Holding Eliza on Christmas day made me think of baby Jesus born that holy night. It made me think of how I too have been adopted into Christ's family. He loves and cares for the fatherless, just as Myrna & Karl have loved, cared for, and adopted sweet Eliza into their family. Adoption is a beautiful picture of Christ's love for us. 

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Andrew and I later celebrated Christmas with my folks, my sister, my brother in law, and their son, Reid. He's 7 months of sweetness. He's quite impossible not to adore.

 We sing happy birthday to Jesus each Christmas morning. This year, I brought gluten free cinnamon rolls for our "birthday cake."

 

 

Next year, I hope we have the whole clan in town. We missed my brother, Jensen very much. Next Christmas, his fiance, Amanda, will be part of our family. Can't wait! 

I hope each of you had a beautiful Christmas!

iLife.... playing catch up

Too late to post about Christmas? Playing a little bit of catch up here..

 My in-laws sure know how to celebrate Christmas. Magical, I tell ya...

1. Cookie baking day// 2. cookbook from 1950 used every year

3. Andrew's new pjs from me... I've been wearing them every night since// 4. Andrew's parent's house

1. Sibs // 2. Cousin Isaac 

3. I love my Grandma // 4. Painting of us by a friend (gift from Andrew)

5. Mom, me, Aunt, Sister, Grandma // 6. Dad and his new fishing gear

 I was blessed to see every member of my entire family on all sides in a span of 4 days. Just realized that! Wow! The neat thing is that my family spreads all over the country and we were all able to make our way together over Christmas/New Years. A few days prior to Christmas, members of my immediate family were in 4 different states, technically 5 (since my sis moved across state lines that week). Anywho, great times were had by all. And most importantly, we were reminded of Christ's birth. So thankful and blessed to have a loving savior.

My favorite part of Christmas was when my sweet hubs came to say goodnight (I was a bit of a party pooper and needed to go to sleep earlier than the rest of the clan after working the night prior) and wanted to pray together and thank God for this year's blessings. So grateful for his kind, godly spirit.

Okay, all caught up. Now I can move on with January. Can't believe it's 2013....

Our tree is still up... On today's agenda to de-christmafi the apartment...

Family Carribean Cruise Vacation | Part 1

What a week we just had! My sweet Mamaw (or 'grandmother' for you non-southern folks) took the entire family on a Caribbean cruise. How many is the whole family you ask? A whopping 26! This includes 3 great granddaughters and 14 cousins, plus aunts & uncles, and the head honcho, Mamaw. With the majority of my family living in a different state, it was a very special week to all be together without a single person absent. What a blessing. 

Below is the first sampler from our trip. In black and white. Just to whet your appetite... Tomorrow you'll see the beautiful colors the Caribbean has to offer.

 

I'll share more details from the trip in tomorrow's post. I sincerely hope that you enjoyed your holiday season. How meaningful it was to welcome the new year with family.  Now back to real life...