Merry Christmas

One way to keep them quite!

Jerri, Graeson, & Spanky

The Sweetest Boy...unless he's having a terrible 2 moment...

We had a great Christmas today. We woke up really early, thanks to Clay, to see all of our gifts. The boys had a great day watching others open the gifts they had personally selected and purchased for them. They have realized the joy in giving, not just receiving. It's fun to see them grow up and experience the blessings of giving.

After our family time, we loaded the car & went to my mom & dad's to have Christmas with them. We were greeted at the door by Graeson saying in his little country, southern voice "Steppie, Steppie, I got a new 4-wheeder!" The smile on his face was so adorable. We opened gifts, had some great laughs & fun. One of the photos above is of sweet Graeson waiting patiently as I removed those really annoying plastic/metal ties from his gift. It did take me a while, & he finally got bored, but the photo is priceless.

Doris & Verlon drove in & joined us for dinner. We had some wonderful food and fellowship. After Mom's famous pies, and more visiting, Doris & Verlon headed back home. We all sat down for a game of Clue while Tom slept on the couch and Dad & Graeson watched a movie. Jerri won the game by discovering that Mustard committed the murder in the kitchen with a dumbell. After the game, we played "castle" with Graeson then came home.

We then went to Tim & Sherry's for dinner, some of Linda's famous pumpkin roll, & the annual exchange of gifts. We had a nice time visiting with them and hearing about their day. After we made it home, the neighborhood boys started ringing the doorbell to show Clay their gifts & then they had a game that involved some sort of gun.

As I sit here writing this, the boys (including Tom) are watching a movie & laughing. I'm thinking of the day & how truly blessed we are. We have faced some really stressful situations this year and will probably have more to come, but we have each other and most importantly we have God who loves us & who is faithful and above all...He is the Reason for this Blessed Season. I hope your Christmas was filled with love and joy.