I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!

Today, we had planned to be with Jarrod's family in Black Mountain to celebrate Christmas early. When we originally planned the get together, we had no idea that a foot of snow would fall the night before. With some help from Jarrod's brother we were able to get up the mountain safely, and we had a great time! It's by far the most snow I've ever seen and it was GOOD snow! It's also the closest that we'll probably ever come to a "White Christmas", so we enjoyed it while we could. We built a HUGE snowman and had a snowball fight. I'm pretty sure Mason won that battle...he's quick, sneaky and has a great arm for a 3 year old!! We also enjoyed some great hot chocolate, thanks to Aunt Tiffany, some wonderful food, thanks to Gran and Papa, but most importantly we were able to emjoy the true meaning of Christmas. Thank you Gran, Papa, Uncle Ryan, Uncle Hunter, and Aunt Tiffany for our presents and for a wonderful day! What a great way to start off this great Christmas week!!
Look at all that SNOW!!








Our snowman!




The kids and their new presents:

December Madness

I have been a slacker with the blogging lately and that's because we've been going 100 miles per hour for about 3 weeks straight it seems. December has always been a crazy month for us, but this year has been especially busy. I guess the older our kids get the worse it will be, but it's been so much fun. This is by far my favorite time of year, and to watch my children and watch their excitement is something I will always treasure. So, what have we been up to exactly? Well, here's the run down....

The first week of December, we literally celebrated Mason's birthday for that entire week. It started on Thanksgiving and continued until the next Friday. We finally had his party with all his friends at the "jumpy place"...as he calls it. Then, the very next week, his best friend Caleb, had his birthday party at the very same place. Last Sunday, I took MacKenzie to see the Nutcracker which was a first for me, but the second time for her!! Jarrod took Mason to see his first movie in the theater. Somewhere inbetween all of that, we've managed to go to a couple of Christmas parties and gotten together with some great friends. The kids also had their Christmas program at school which was classic. This was the first year they were in a Christmas program, and it was priceless! MacKenzie was a shepard (or in her words, a "girl shepard) and Mason and his class sang some great songs.

Here are some pictures to highlight all the fun:
Mason's birthday party:




Mason's best friend, Caleb:


Mommy and MacKenzie before the Nutcracker:

FBC CDC Christmas Program:

Santa Claus Came to Town!

...And my children hated him!! Last Thursday night the hospital held its annual tree lighting and Christmas event. It's a great event for the kids to do crafts, have their face painted and listen to some great Christmas music. It's also a great way to see Santa...if only my kids liked Santa. They were all very excited about seeing him and talked a big talk. First they saw Rudolf which completely freaked them out and Mason hung on to my leg and yelled "no, no, I don't like Rudolf"!! Once we finally got into Santa's room they really freaked as soon as they saw him. So instead of having a great picture of the kids with Santa...this is what we got!!

If you can't see it very well...I'm dying laughing at the madness, Mason is crying uncontrollably, and MacKenzie...well, she's just plain MAD!

Happy Birthday Mason!

I can't believe that 3 years ago yesterday, we were at the hospital welcoming our sweet baby boy, Mason. He's such a big boy now and he's so much fun! He's celebrating his birthday for an entire week! We had a mini party for him during Thanksgiving so the grandparents could participate in the birthday fun. Then, for his "real" birthday yesterday he got his presents from mommy, daddy, and MacKenzie and he got to go to his favorite restaurant..."Quesadilla"...which is what he calls the Mexican restaurant. On Friday we'll have his party for all his little friends!!

Thanksgiving 2009

We had 29 family members at our house for Thanksgiving! It was a little chaotic, but so much fun. Jarrod fried two turkeys and everyone brought their favorite dish to share. We also continued our Thanksgiving tradition to see who would win the "Big Turkey" award. My step-brother, Michael, won this year as he gained almost 6 pounds before and after dinner. Mason won in the 12 and younger category!! We also celebrated Mason's birthday a few days early!

We have so much to be thankful for...we love all of our family members!!

Playing in the Leaves

There's just nothing better than kids playing in the leaves without a care in the world...

Jamie and Courtney's Baby Shower

So, I'm a little behind on this one...but 2 weekends ago we can a couples baby shower for our great friends, Jamie and Courtney. Their first baby, Jackson, will be arriving anytime between now and December 3rd!! Congratulations, Jamie and Courtney, y'all are going to be GREAT parents!!

The parents-to-be


The proud Daddy!


The glowing, mama!


This is awful...I'll get that child something orange, soon!! :)




Kimberly and Caroline...I love these girls!


Terry and Jess