November & December 2011

Grace has pulled a couple of keys off my laptop making it difficult to type.  Sometime this spring, I'll be graduating to a new laptop, so until then, I'll continue to keep my typing to a minimum.

We've had a wonderful couple of months filled with festivities and family time.  We've enjoyed celebrating old traditions and making new ones.  I feel like I need to get my calendar out to remember all that we've done.

~ November 2011 ~

We spent Thanksgiving Day enjoying dinner with mi familia.  I love to devour all the amazing dishes we don't eat any other time of the year.  I love the scent of pumpkin pie while I sip coffee and watch the kids play.  Sometimes I have to force myself to sit and watch the kids play.  I get caught up in doing all that I need to do.  I forget that they are growing...quickly...and I need to relax and enjoy it before these days become memories.

The Friday after Thanksgiving, we made our annual trek to South Georgia to enjoy the weekend meeting at Irwinville Primitive Baptist Church.  Brother David Montgomery was blessed to preach, and we were blessed to be there and hear it.  The children had a blast with their cousins and friends...as always...

~ December 2011 ~

Christmas traditions have become very near and dear to our hearts.  We don't have consistent Thanksgiving or Christmas traditions with our extended families because not everyone lives close to one another. So while our family gatherings change from year to year, what we do in our little family has remained constant. 

Early in December, we went out to the tree farm to get our tree.  For the past few years we've cut down our tree, but we convinced the kids to help pick out a Frasier Fir tree this year.  Last year, the one we cut was too brittle and the limbs weren't strong enough to hold the ornaments.  They were content with enjoying the farm, drinking hot chocolate, and choosing a tree to take home.  One day, after the children are grown and gone, I may get an artificial, but we want one of their childhood memories to revolve around that Christmas tree farm.

December 15-17, we went to South Georgia for our Christmas celebrations with Deron's side of the family.  We enjoyed visiting with his grandparents Friday morning, a bonfire at his sister's home Friday night, and Christmas brunch on Saturday morning at his parents' home.  There was plenty of food, but with all my nephews getting so big, we may have to up the amount of food for next year.  I've always heard the teenage boys can eat, but good grief!  We ate, played games, drank Grandma's Christmas sherbet punch, sang Christmas songs...which Deron always has to goof around with his extra fun renditions..., opened gifts, and ate some more.  We always "eat real good" when we get together.  Christmas at his folks' is very special for all of us!

December 19, we constructed our gingerbread houses.  This is the first year we used a kit instead of graham crackers and hot glue.  They stood up for all of three minutes after the decorating was completed... Daniel said the best part was the "smashing" at the end!

December 21-23, we celebrated Deron's birthday and we began Christmas celebrations with my side of the family.  My parents' gift to us was an old fashioned Christmas experience in the cabins at a local state park.  It was wonderful!  We let the kids make ornaments to decorate the tree, watched Christmas movies, opened and played with gifts, baked and decorated cookies, and we drank coffee on the screened in porches.  Deron got me a french press coffee maker for Christmas, and it takes coffee to a whole new level.  Despite the rain and cold weather, the boys slept on the porch, and they didn't get sick!  The sun came out the day we left, and the kids didn't want to go home.  I didn't want to go home either...

Christmas Eve, we rented a movie and ate pizza.  We rode around to look at the Christmas lights and to vote on our favorite...until Grace had to go potty...  It wasn't a long ride, but we've been doing it every year so it counts as part of our tradition.

Christmas morning, the kids got up at 4:30...it was a long day...a good day...but a long day.  The kids played until the last possible moment they could.  Then, we got ready and headed out to church.  We went to the movies with some of our church family and went to bed as early as we could.

December 27-30, my sister and nephew came to stay us before they had to go home.  He's gotten so big since the summer and has also gotten so vocal.  He's got the sweetest sounding voice.  We enjoyed seeing them and can't wait to visit them next fall!