Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. We did our family Christmas Thursday night. We have decided to carry on one of my family's traditions and read Luke 2 before we open presents. It is a good reminder of what Christmas is really about. Of course, the kids really did not understand much of it, but they sat still for it and our family prayer. I love instilling our faith in them. The kids opened our gifts for them and the gifts from my side of the family. Thanks to all of you for your wonderful gifts. I will send out thank you notes soon.

Friday afternoon, after Joey got home from work, we packed up the van and headed to Germantown to spend the Christmas weekend with his family. We had a great time. The highlight of the trip out for Bailey was turning her carseat to face forward. She can finally see DVDs when we play them. Connor enjoyed a "special drink" on the trip. They are both starting to do much better on longer car rides.

The time with Joey's family was wonderful. Bailey loved Grandma and Papa's dogs. Connor was a little wary of them. Aunt Carley was a big help showing Bailey the dogs and how to pet them. We had a great family dinner Saturday afternoon. The kids enjoyed spending time with all their aunts and uncles and their cousin Cruz. Joey and I got to meet up with some friends Saturday night after the kids went to bed. It was so great to fellowship with them.

Sunday morning, we opened presents. The kids were much more into, since they had practice Thursday. They were even kind enough to help us open our gifts. The big gift we got was from Joey's parents. They got us a swingset for the backyard. Can't wait to have it up so the kids can burn energy and take good long naps.

We drove home Monday after lunch. Thankfully, the kids slept a little on the ride home. They were worn out. We had a wonderful Christmas. We praise God for all the blessings He has provided for us this year. We look forward to seeing what He has in store for 2012. Hope everyone has a great and safe New Year's Eve. We will be ringing in the new year in high style, SLEEP!!! God bless!!!

Pinnacle Mountain State Park

Last Saturday, we took the kids to Pinnacle Mountain State Park. There is a playground there that I have been taking the kids to when we go just the 3 of us. There are several nice things about this park: no water for the kids to try to walk into, great equipment, and we usually have it to ourselves when go since we go so early. There are also walking trails that you can go for a hike on. The playground is designed to look like it is made from tree trunks and rocks. On the support for the big slide, the tree trunk has a raccoon carved into. Connor is always asking to go see the raccoon. He gets so excited to go see it and can find it right off. We decided to show the playground to Daddy. Connor was so excited to show Daddy the raccoon. He kept on saying "Da raccoon" all the way up there. Here are a few pictures from our trip. I did not get a picture of the raccoon, however.

We also went for a quick walk. The kids enjoyed seeing all the leaves, trees, sticks, and rocks. We had to cut our time short as it started to rain. Despite the rain, we had a great time at the park as a family. God bless you all!!!