We made it!

I've been waiting for this day for several weeks now, and it is finally here! I'm off work for 2 weeks and 1 day and I have no school for almost a month. I've been waiting to update the blog, and sleep in, and take a nap, and catch up on my sewing projects, and I have lots of activities planned for H and I! We are all desperately in need of a break!

Here are some pics of us getting ready for Christmas







H had a lot of fun helping us decorate the tree this year. It has been fun to see him get excited about Christmas and understand a little more about it. He's had several opportunities to meet Santa and until recently it did not go well. He recognizes Santa and points him out anytime he sees him on TV or in decorations, but at Jeff's Dad's Christmas party Santa showed up and gave each child there a present. For the first time H actually sat on his lap and after he opened his present he went back and told Santa, "Tank You" - it was adorable!



H's daycare had a Christmas pageant this year and H's class was supposed to shake bells and sing jingle bells. We've been practicing jingle bells for weeks now and H's teacher tells me that he is always the loudest singer, so I was hoping to capture him singing sweetly... instead....



Here he is before the song started and before he spotted us in the crowd, and after...



He spent the entire song wresting with the teacher to run away and crying. Poor kid, maybe next year.

Jeff and I got a group together from our church this year to go to a local homeless shelter and host a Christmas party. I didn't get any pictures of it, but we had such a good time singing Christmas Carols, sharing the hope of Jesus, and passing out presents to the residents. While we were there one of the residents had a gift he wanted to give us and he sang, O Holy Night, and he had the most incredible voice - it was truly a gift to worship with him. As we were leaving Jeff & I were talking to a man who told us that another homeless person had just been shot and killed at a bus station just a few blocks away and he was telling us his story of how he ended up in the shelter and how grateful he was to be there. It is always so humbling to hear the stories of others and such a blessing to see how God chooses to provide for them and the joy and hope they have in spite of really difficult circumstances. It was so much better than a white elephant gift exchange and I think we started a new tradition at our church!

We went to Jeff's company Christmas party last night and took a picture together before we went. Sadly, we realized the last picture we took of the two of us was our anniversary last year. oops



Merry Christmas Friends! Wishing you a season full of Joy in Jesus and opportunities to share his glory and greatness!