It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas, (inside and out)

I love it when my house takes on the glow of Christmas. I started decorating on the day after Thanksgiving and enjoyed finding new spots for all of my decorations. Over the years we have collected so many special Christmas items and it was so much fun to bring them out and place them in our new home. I have always gazed upon pictures in the Southern Living Christmas Editions of beautifully decorated stair railings but have never had one to adorn with garland. I also have longed for a mantle to hang stockings. Well, this year I did and I just love looking at my stairs and my mantle. Our decorations don't necessarily look like the magazine pictures but they are such an expression of our family which I just love. I had perfect spots for my Nutcracker collection as well as my Christmas Village and the kids loved decorating the trees in their rooms and playrooms.

While the inside has gotten all warm and cozy with the Christmas decor, outside has been blanketed with newly fallen snow (and some REALLY cold temps) which makes it really feel like Christmas. After all my years in Florida watching the palm trees sway it is nice to listen to good ol' Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole while the snow falls.

Here are pics of our decorations ( I had to use my very old pocket camera because my wide angle lens is broken so they are not very clear) as well as a few shots of MY NEIGHBOR'S house.

O Christmas Tree!

Our tree for the playroom which has mostly homemade ornaments from my daddy and nana. Grace did all the ornaments.

Cody's little tree...he wanted turquoise ornaments this year.

Cody's Christmas house which my mom bought him at Walmart when he was just a toddler and every year he wants it displayed in his room. I love how attached he gets to certain things that remind him of special people and treasure times of his life. He loves to reminisce of his early Christmases.

And here is the girls tree, again decorated by Grace.

Now, here are a few shots of my neighbors house. EVERY inch of her yard is covered with some type of light and they have been up since Halloween.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone and the Christmas season is in full swing but before I transition into Christmas postings I had to share our Thanksgiving pics. We had a wonderful time celebrating with our sweet friends the VanKirks. Jim, Jenny and their beautiful children were so kind to open their home to our family and share the Thanksgiving meal with us. God has blessed us with some of the most wonderful friends who love us like family which was and especially wonderful as we spent the holiday away from our family.

Just had to share a pic of my Italian Cream Cake....finally a high altitude cake that didn't fall.

Grace had a Thanksgiving Party at her school and it was so much fun....oh how I have missed school parties.

A pic of my pilgrim hats which were a hit with the kids & the moms.

Pastor Appreciation (a little late)

As our hearts are turned toward giving thanks this time of year, I have been thinking about all of my blessings. My heart has been full of thankfulness for someone who is very special to our family and we had the wonderful pleasure of spending some time with him a few weeks ago as he traveled from Florida to visit with us and celebrate Mike's 50th Birthday. This special someone is known to our family as "Pastor Erick"

A few years ago Mike had the wonderful opportunity to meet the pastor of a new and growing church near our home in FL. His relationship with this pastor began with business as Mike was hired to assist the church in efforts to acquire land for a new church building. Little did we know that this early business relationship would be the beginning of what God had planned to be a beautiful friendship. Over the course of a few years we decided to visit this church and I guess you could say, "the rest is history". Not only did we feel as though we were "home" in this church but our friendship with Pastor Erick and his beautiful family grew and deepened in a way that we could have never suspected. Pastor Erick always made us feel so welcomed and treasured as we attended church and we all truly looked forward to going to services each week. Our Cody couldn't wait to hear Pastor Erick and the girls just loved Sunday School. It was such a sweet place to be and was made that way because of the man who leads the flock. In a day of mega churches where people attend churches and never get the opportunity to know their pastor intimately, I am so happy that I know my pastor and he knows me but most of all I am blessed to call him friend. Pastor Erick is a man who maintains the true meaning of shepherding his flock. He doesn't exalt himself above his congregation but frequently puts himself last. He truly sacrifices himself for his church and is the first one on the scene if someone is in need. He is tender, compassionate and most of all incredibly "real". He loves my family like his own and although he and my husband are very different I love seeing how much fun they have together. Erick's wife, Patty is as equally tenderhearted and loving and I just love to be in her presence. She is such a wonderful example of a loving wife and mom. Their 4 children are just precious and both Patty and Erick share the passions of our hearts for orphaned children having adopted their Jenna from Taiwan. Pastor Erick's recent visit was such a treat and reminded me that although physical distance may separate us, our family will ALWAYS consider Pastor Erick our "pastor" WE LOVE YOU ERICK!

Ballet Girls

The girls started ballet class this year at a church nearby that has a fabulous dance program. Both of them look forward to dance class every week and my heart is beyond blessed each week as I observe my girls learning to dance before the Lord. Here are a few shots of them before class this week.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Well, I do believe that Old Man Winter has arrived. We had our 3rd snow storm of the season this past weekend and I will have to say that while last year I loved it every time the white stuff arrived, this year I am somewhat over it. Maybe, it is because last year I got to stay home in my warm and cozy house and this year I have to get out it in and drive. I am not a great driver and have been known to mow over mailboxes, back into parked cars and take out sides of garages. All of this in sunny FL weather. I am not ashamed to admit that I am a terrible driver and would be happy to have someone else drive everywhere I went. Well, you can imagine my confidence in driving on snow and ice packed roads. Thankfully, we purchased a big ol' SUV which makes it much easier for this FL driver but I would still rather stay at home. In addition to our SUV, we also now own a snow-blower. Never in my life did I think that we would have one of those in our garage but it is there and according to my man it makes clearing the driveway and sidewalks much easier. Well, the good news is ski season is just around the corner which makes the snow-storms worth it for me. I am now the owner of my own skis and boots and I hear the slopes calling my name. Happy Winter to everyone!