My Little Kiddos

This post got lost in the shuffle, somehow.  Just pictures of my cutie pies.

This is how Lily came to me one morning, just after she woke up.  Two backpacks, a bucket, two phones and she was wearing her dress-up high heels!

Our attempt at Princess Leia buns.

These pictures are from my work's Christmas dinner.  It was held at the Pauls Valley Train Depot.  The kids loved climbing on this horse.

Closing out 2013

 After Christmas we spent the rest of the week in Lawton.  The weather was pretty nice and the kids played outside a lot.  Everyone got to shoot arrows and explore.

 Friday, we got to meet Comanche County Sheriff Stradley.  Cam got finger printed; their staff was so friendly!

 Cait and Cam were sworn in as junior deputies.

 Overall it was a restful and enjoyable way to finish off the year.

A wonderful Christmas

Christmas Eve seemed to fly by this year.  JC worked so he could take time off later in the week.  Two of my sisters and their families came over for a little brunch and after naps, we cleaned up, ate dinner and I wrapped presents.  We let the kids open their gifts from the Tulsa grandparents and by then it was bedtime for the little ones.

Christmas morning arrived and JC and I were having a quiet moment when out pops Cam.  Lily and Cait followed pretty soon.  We finally woke Bren some time after 9 and spent some time reading our advent book (Jotham's Journey), we sang Happy Birthday Jesus and the kids opened gifts from mom and dad.

 We went over to my mom and dad's for brunch with Jessica and her family.  We exchanged gifts with them and then came home for the girls naps.  Well, Lily's because after Cait and daddy laying down for an hour, Cait came out to the living room and daddy stayed in bed sleeping!  We watched The Christmas Story and played with our gifts.

 Back over to my folk's house after naps for a beautiful, delicious dinner and MORE gifts.  It was like a tornado with all of my sisters (first time in 9 years!!!), spouses and kids and everyone unwrapping gifts and playing!

After all that fun and excitement, we loaded up and headed down to Lawton for EVEN more Christmas!  The girls slept all the way to Lawton and when we arrived, they were bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to open their presents.

Thursday we spent the day with John & Paula and their kids.  It's so fun to see the kids play so well together.  Our kids are so blessed with many cousins!

We had a wonderful Christmas with all of our family.  We are so rich and our hearts are full.  Thank you, God, for allowing Jesus to be our final sacrifice.  Thank you Jesus for all you gave up for us when You came to earth.

Imagine the glories of Heaven, the golden streets, the pearly gates, and the angelic music. Christ gave all of it up for us. If it had been you, would you have left Heaven to save an ungrateful, unloving, traitorous people? And yet, that's what Christ did. He left the glories of Heaven, set aside His own glory, and came to earth to be born in a dark, dank, foul smelling stable. What a contrast and rude awakening that must have been for Christ! The King's first earthly bed was a feeding trough that still had the residue of cow saliva. What humility! What love! Jesus gave up everything for us.

Annual Cookie Exchange & Christmas Brunch

 An ice storm came in the weekend before Christmas.  Tree limbs split under the weight of the ice.  Fortunately, the roads never got too bad but the ice stayed for days as the temps were below freezing.

 Every December my mom's entire Oklahoma City family gathers at her house for a huge cookie exchange and dinner!  It is one of our Christmas highlights!  The guests are my grandparents (mom's parents), her three sisters and their families and their families (plus boyfriends), my sisters and I and our families, my sister's friend and her husband and Granny and PawPaw.  The kids got all dressed up but Lily did not want to pose for a picture.

 Look at all these YUMMY cookies!!!

 The kids eating dinner.

 Gramma always makes these fun mice that the kids just LOVE!

 The next day we had our annual Christmas brunch at church.  The girls went up to sing with daddy during the carols that he lead.  It was a beautiful service and time of fellowship!

Christmas & New Years '12

I have to laugh at our Christmas morning because it started out unlike most houses.  I was up first around 8 and then Cam woke around 8:30.  He came out and laid on the couch without speaking.  I turned on cartoons for him and sick Cait woke after 9 and joined Cam.  JC and Lily woke closer to 10 and then I finally stuck my head in Bren's room to wake him.  After I fixed breakfast of sausages and cinnamon rolls, we read the Bible and slowly began opening gifts.  It was nearly noon before a present was opened!!!  It was nice not to be in a hurry.

Lily was most interested in the wrapping paper and Cait felt so bad that she didn't even want to open anything.  (She had been puking for 24 hours)

It was fun to wake up to a lovely dusting of snow.  Not a massive Christmas storm but a white Christmas nonetheless.  A perfect afternoon for a fire!

We packed up the sick kids and spent some time at my mom's house.  Mom and dad made a delicious Christmas dinner and we had fun with my sisters and their families.

Wednesday morning we headed to Lawton to spend some time with Granny and PawPaw.

The girls were sick most of the time there but it was nice to have more help during that time!  Not exactly restful but it was nice to not have all the housekeeping to do!

We had a fun time visiting with the Tinkers while we were in Lawton.  We always enjoy our time together.  I love how the cousins play together!

After church in Carnegie, Cam got a ride in our friend's Tow-Mater with dad.  He thought that was pretty cool!

We came home Sunday night so JC could go to work on Monday.  We ended the year with a "bang" at Grammas and Papas.  They made lots of yummy snack foods and bought poppers for the grandkids.  

We are so blessed to have so much family and I am thankful that our kids are growing up with lots of cousins.  They love playing together and it is a blessing to my heart!  Even though Bren is a lot older than everyone, it is fun to watch him play with -and pester- all the younger cousins!

Happy New Year!