Merry Christmas!

Enjoying traditional Mexican food dinner on Christmas Eve Day. Mmm, chips and salsa, enchildas, mmmm!

A Visit to Santa

Right after school one day, we got Beth home and changed then off to see Santa at the mall. The letters had been written, with their biggest wishes.

All the way there, Jacob talked about what he would tell Santa. But, as we got there, he chickened out. There was nobody else in line, so Beth got some great chat time with Santa.

I tried to get Jacob to at least hand his letter to Santa, but he wouldn't have it. Since there was nobody waiting, Santa walked with the kids over to the special letter delivery system. They put the letter in a slot and pushed a button. Then, there were lights and sparkles as the letter poofed into his big bag.

Even if Jacob wouldn't chat with Santa, I'm glad they had the extra time with him. Beth made sure Santa knew her wishes and that she'd been a good girl. Maybe next year Jacob will be ready.

5 more days to see if their wishes come true!

Who is this one for?- Wordless

Elf Shennanigans

Tinsel, our elf on the shelf, joined us in 2009. He's been pretty good about keeping a close watch on the kids. The first year, we thought he was a goner when Kevin accidentally shot Tinsel with the marshmallow gun. Thankfully, he still had his magic and made it to the North Pole that night, returning to us the next year. This year, however, Tinsel has been getting into a little trouble.

Looking around and hearing stories about other elves, it seems that they must be talking when they go back to the North Pole. There seems to be more mischief from the elves than the children!

These little things, moments of Christmas magic and joy, make Christmas so much fun!

Meet Joy

Wednesday night for AWANA, Beth had to dress a piece of fruit for "Fruit of the Spirit Night". We remembered about 30 mintues before we had to leave for church. I think we did pretty good for finding things in the craft supplies at the last minute. Turns out, Beth won 2nd place!!!! Certainly brought lots of joy home that night!

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

By having Jesus in our hearts, these are the qualities Christians aim to exhibit. Some days some are easier than others. When we fail in these fruits, God still loves us. I am glad to serve a merciful Savior!

The joy of the season

So I'm really stinking at this blog thing. I would say that thanks to Facebook, my family is all caught up on the daily cuteness of the kiddos, but I haven't updated pictures there either in a while.

Well, for now, enjoy this little peek of our Christmas season joy.

My folks came up Thanksgiving weekend, arriving after my 10 hour shopping adventure with friends + a 3 hour nap. We enjoyed more shopping, playing games, decorating the trees and relaxing by the fire.

I'm looking forward to more enjoying the moments of the season soon