Christmas 2009

I pray that everyone had a very Merry Christmas.  For those of you that weren't able to be with us for Christmas this year, here is a video montage of pictures from Christmas morning created just for you.  We love and miss you so very much! 

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you:  You will find
a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with
the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men
on whom his favor rests."
Luke 2:11-14

Santa...Please Stop Here!

After we got home from Jonathan's grandparents on Christmas Eve, the two older girls wanted to get our house all ready for Santa.  Poor Katybugs wanted to go straight to bed.  She's still trying to recover from strep and croup. Maddy made some special Reindeer food in her preschool class, and she was so proud of it! 

Even though it was raining, Maddy still wanted to sprinkle the reindeer food on the lawn so they would be sure and stop at our house!

And she was so sweet to share with Lily! 

Next was setting out the cookies and milk for Santa.  Santa asked for chocolate chip cookie bars this year! 

Lily and Maddy were so excited and didn't want to miss Santa coming so they were eager to go to bed! 

Such sweet smiles from my Christmas cuties! 

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. 

The Lord be with all of you.

2Thessalonians 3:16

Baking Beauties

Wednesday night was baking night for me and my girls!  They chose gingerbread for their cookies this year.  We love the book Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett and Maddy of course made sure we didn't peek in the oven until the timer went off (If you haven't read the book it's a must-read!)

Katy was the most excited!  She wanted to show everyone what our cookie cutter looked like!:

Lily was so careful when pressing the gingerbread "girl" cutter into the dough:

Lily and Maddy decorating with "spicy" red hots:

And the best part of course was decorating with yummy frosting!

Katy went a little crazy with the Christmas sprinkles!:

And here are their gingerbread girls:

I love you my baking beauties!  You are such a blessing to me! 

I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

Matthew 16:28

Home Sweet Home

On Sunday, December 20, we attempted our first Gingerbread house by ourselves this year and it was quite an experience.  My mixer finally gave out on me after 8 1/2 years of use, so Jonathan had to mix up the icing by hand.  The girls waited so patiently. 

You can tell Katy is saying, "Gingerbread..."

Parker was serious about eating the candy! 

The icing was very runny, so the house was barely holding together while the kids put the candy on.  They didn't mind at all though because they were having lots of fun!

Katy loved licking all of the icing that was getting all over her fingers!

Jonathan had to hold the house together so they could decorate it!

I love the look on Parker's face in this picture...he's ready to climb on the island and dig in!:

My sweeties were so proud of their Gingerbread House!:

But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. 

Joshua 24:15

Maddy's Tellin' It!

On Friday, December 11th, we went to see Maddy sing at the annual Nativity Pageant & Christmas Concert at West Hills Baptist Church Preschool.  She worked so hard and was so very excited that we came to see her perform.  Here she is leaving the pew on her way up to the stage (she had to give her Mommy a big smile!): 

The four year old classes performed two songs.  The first one was Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Traditional; Kristal Bell Method) and each child was given a handbell to play.  (Maddy is in the center of the front row.)

The children were to play their bell when their teacher held up their color card.

Maddy held the bell close to her while she waited again for her turn:

Maddy was so serious and made sure not to miss her color!

The second song was Tell It! by Cindy Berry

We were so proud of Maddy! And I just love watching little children sing songs that tell about Jesus!  Is there anything more precious? 

When they had seen him,

they spread the word concerning

what had been told them about this child.

Luke 2:17

Oh Christmas Tree

After our home photo shoot for our Christmas card, we let the kids put their ornaments on the "kid" tree that we have upstairs.  They were so very careful to put their ornaments in just the right spot:

Does he look guilty or what?

The finished tree! 

They did a great job!  I love how they're all in one spot, but they are so proud of it!  Can't wait to keep adding their homemade ornaments from church and school!  They are my favorite! 

He (Jesus) said to them,

"Let the little children come to me,

and do not hinder them,

for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Mark 10:14

Say Cheese!

Ever since Lily's first Christmas back in 2003, we have made a photo Christmas card to send out to all of our family and friends.  After the Christmas of 2006 I promised myself that we would from then on go to a professional portrait studio to have them take a picture of the kids because it was so stressful!  Well, things have come up this year (Parker's suppressed immune system, numerous Dr. visits/copays, hospital bills, etc.) that led us to once again do a home photo shoot for our family Christmas card.  I knew it was going to be a challenge, especially with Parker's age and him not wanting to sit still!  I gave Jonathan the camera and I tackled Parker.  Every time I sat him down I quickly got out of the way so Jonathan could snap the pictures.  Here are just a couple of the MANY photos we got...

Parker thought it was a game at first and kept lunging toward the camera!:

Then he thought it would be fun to tackle his sissies!: 

Then the 3 girls wanted to tackle Parker!: 

And this is when Parker had enough fun for one night! 

I am very thankful that we were able to get a picture of all 4 of them smiling and looking at the camera for our card! 

Merry Christmas to all of you! 

 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 

We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14