Keeping Christ in Christmas

O.K., wait a minute, I'm "Church of Christ," right?! For those of you fellow members of the Church, I know that there is no evidence that Christ's birth occurred on December 25th, and that there is no biblical reference to a celebration of any such day. Yet, I am not truly comfortable with Christmas being merely a secular holiday, although that is certainly its origin. I believe that we are to honor Him in all that we do, and December 25th is no exception. Jesus's birth was truly a miraculous event, but His life was THE example that we should strive to follow every day. His death, His sacrifice so that we have the opportunity to spend eternity with him, was His ultimate gift. And then...the resurrection...WOW, His promise fulfilled. As we all spend Christmas with our families, let us remember Him, not only for His birth, but all that He is. He lives; Praise Him!

May you all have a very Merry Christmas!

The Visit with the Big Man Himself

Santa's Village

Sunday night after church we visited Santa's Village in Huntsville. The Constitution Village is transformed into a Christmas fantasyland. There are snow machines making it "snow," a candy cane forest, and even live reindeer!

Mrs. Claus reads us a story.


Jingle Bells, anyone?


I love a good story!


Christmas Around the World


Decorating a cookie. "Now just what do I have to do before I can eat this?"

Christmas Lunch and a New Playground!

The whole family was able to attend the boys' preschool Christmas lunch.

Here are William and his friend, Lan.


See the tree I made?


Are they twins??


The kids got their big Christmas present a little early. Billy and Emily's stepdad put it together in one afternoon! We have really been taking advantage of the warm weather.

Busy season

Rebecca is amazed at the artistic talent of the elephant at the circus.


Celebrating Granddaddy's birthday!


Rebecca takes part in the Athens Christmas Parade! Here is a little glimpse of our FCC (Families with Children from China) float that was built in one evening!


Wow, that parade was awesome!


William sports some Christmas stockings!

Three months ago today...

We welcomed a new daughter into our family. All of our lives have been changed forever. It is truly miraculous to watch Rebecca. She continues to grow and blossom; she has made some tremendous strides in such a short time. For some reason God chose us to be her family, and for that we are so grateful.

Thanksgiving...a bit late

O.K., it's nearing Christmastime and I haven't yet made any mention of one my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving!! I guess since I don't have to cook the meal, I really enjoy it as a stress-free time. I don't think I made a single picture at my mom's on Turkey Day. I think we had a record attendance there, so it was just enough getting caught up with everyone. This is a little cliche, but we do have so much to be thankful for!

We had an early Thanksgiving with Billy's Grandma. Here she is with 4 of her great-grandchildren and 2 of her grandchildren, Devin and Emma. (Billy is her oldest grandchild!)

Devin, Henry, and William had a great time running around playing with sticks and doing whatever it is that boys do.

And finally, we eat!!

The boys took part in their preschool's Thanksgiving program earlier in the season. Cute, but a little fair-skinned for native Americans!

Fall Fun

Last weekend we had a wiener roast on the banks of Sugar Creek that runs through my grandfather's farm land. We also roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. The kids all enjoyed taking turns getting rides on the 4-wheelers. It was a little chilly, but the warmth from the fire felt great! We even got a bumpy hay ride to and from the site!




Here are Nannie and Mema keeping watch (or staying warm rather) by the roaring fire.

Busy Weekend

We were honored by a visit from the Kemps. Zoey (the cutie in the upper left) seemed to love all the craziness, although in this shot she looks like she is having second thoughts!

Here's a view of what Henry hauls around in his suitcase, all around the house!

Here are the boys getting a moment with the busy birthday girl, Jasmine!

The easy-going Vivian is staged once again for our amusement!

Here is Rebecca at Jasmine's birthday party. The party was at a skating rink, but the play area is where Rebecca spent most of her time. You should have been there to see Rebecca try her hand at skating! Oh, I wish we had got a picture of it! She was jello on skates!!

Portraits

We went last weekend to have a family portrait done as well as Vivian's 18-month and Rebecca's first portraits. Here is a sampling:

Getting better...

Everything is really getting better. I think it is partly because Billy doesn't have any call right now and is off on weekends until some time in December! The children are all getting along much better, although I still have to break up a fight or two (or three) every day. Rebecca's English continues to improve. She has started speaking a few sentences this week. We've been to the ENT doc and we're still trying to clear up an ear infection that has been ongoing since we got her. We are hopeful that her hearing will not be permanently affected. Please pray with us for that. Rebecca also has had to have glasses. (See her beautiful photo below!) Henry seems to be making himself at home (finally)! He has had such a hard time with all of the changes over the past few months. He often says he wants to go back to our old house, our old church, and his old school. He had regressed some in his behavior, but I think now what we are seeing is just good 'ol Henry. For those of you that know Henry well, you know that it is still not easy!

I am just in awe when I look at my four beautiful children and know that God has entrusted us with each one...

Vivian and Rebecca at Dr. Bob's office


William hiding a smile


Uh-oh, I see trouble in about 14 1/2 years...


Henry has been lugging his treasures around the house in a pilot case all week long.


Rebecca's new eyes...

More Halloween pictures

Rebecca as "Glenda, the Good Witch"

Princess Vivian (Need I say more??)


Just the boys... (Haven't you ever seen a Power Ranger in sneakers?)


Rebecca all dressed up for her doctor's appointment today

Trick or Treat!

Surprisingly, Halloween went off without any major incidents. The kids all had a great time trick-or-treating. They all wanted to help themselves to handfuls of candy from the neighbors' bowls, so once we got the rules straightened out, all went pretty smoothly. Rebecca wanted to go inside everyone's house too.

Better lock your door, here we are!

Getting ready to go...


We woke up this morning and all we could think about was CANDY!