It's CHRISTMAS TIME

Ryan and I after he finished preaching at the annual Christmas Sunday service at GBS.

Katie posing for the camera, which is certainly not her favorite thing to do. She dislikes cameras!

Jason and Kara

Jason, Kara and Katie

Ryan posing for a picture - he doesn't care to have his picture taken either. Just a little get-even for all of the pictures he takes of us...

Ryan was the statue in the Christmas program for God's Bible School and posed for a photo. It was very interesting because several people thought he was a real statue until he moved.

He was scary looking up close~!

JaLayna in her great-grandma Watters dress.

Close up of JaLayna

Jaxon, JeNessa and Mamaw having a few bonding moments.

I rearranged my living room and decided to put pictures on here for my family.

More living room pictures ~ The grandfather clock fits so perfectly in this corner.

Moved my piano into the corner, creating a lot more room in the living room. Notice the snowmen under the piano.

If you know me, you know that I love Christmas. It does not matter to me if I get gifts or not, I just love Christmas. I collect snowmen...lots and lots of snowmen...in my office, in my sun room, in my living room, I just love snowmen. I have spent so much time decorating and redecorating this year. Moving things around in my new office, trying to figure out where things look the best and now, here it is, three days past Christmas and I am still on an adrenaline high. I never look forward to taking all of my decorations down. I love it when the children are all together and having a good time. There is nothing that makes me happier than to see that my family is together. I never want to get to the point though that I overlook the real meaning of Christmas and need to constantly remind myself to not get carried away in the hustle and bustle of the busy crowds in the mall. You may think I am crazy but that is one of the highlights of my year when I go to the mall the day before Christmas and just walk around and watch the frantic people. Actually, I went to the mall twice on the 24th and just loved watching the people scurrying here and there. Steve and I always used to do this. Rarely did I buy anything of significance a day or two before Christmas but that is generally when Steve started his shopping. He loved the thrill of trying to find just the right gift at the last minute. I could go to the mall and just sit for a long time and be totally entertained by just watching the weary shoppers.

Christmas time also brings families together and allows them to reflect on the past year. I love to hear the kids laughing and telling stories of things that happened in their past. Like, "Remember when we used to come down here in the basement and light the fireplace and lay down here and roast and Princess (beagle) would pant like crazy but was too dumb to move away from the fire?" Those memories are priceless. Last year was the first time we were able to sit down and watch some of our old home videos, from when the kids were all small. It was hard to hear Steve's voice and reflect on the happiness of the days gone by, but in a strange sort of way, it brought healing. This year, with Ryan's help, I have been getting these old VHS's transferred to DVD, so we can preserve them without losing the tape or the means to play them, since DVD's are 'the in thing' right now. These are priceless to the boys (and to me). Precious memories.

I know it has been awhile since I have posted so I decided to send out some pictures. I am not professional in my photography skills, like Ryan is, but at least you can see some of the pictures of the past few weeks.

On the way home from Thanksgiving at my parents, we stopped in Findlay, Ohio and met Andrew and Jennifer and the kids. We had my mother-in-laws baby dress that was over 80 years old (It was used for Bonnie's older sister). We met in Wendy's and put the dress on her there and took LOTS of pictures. They turned out so cute. Jaxon and JeNa loved meeting Uncle Ryan and Mamaw in Wendy's. We had a blast. Then on Christmas, Andy & Jenn came to Michigan so we were able to get the picture of JaLayna and her great-grandma Watters together. This was a special picture and one to be treasured.

This weekend has been momentous for us as we have really enjoyed being together and having our family photos taken professionally. The photographer met us at a designated location and spent 1 1/2 hours with us. He was great and we had a very fun time having the pictures taken. I will give you the link when the pictures are up on his site for us to view.

Watch for a post on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Ryan's birthday is Monday and Jason's birthday is Tuesday. I will post pictures of the boys on these days.