CHRISTMAS 2011

This year was SO fun seeing the boys eyes light up with excitement! Mason exclaimed "WOW!" when he walked out of his room to see the presents. Lincoln, who we eventually woke up at 8:10, saw his cozy coupe car and went no further! In and out, in and out of the car he went! Mason ended up opening Lincoln's presents for him... I dont think he minded.

We had such a wonderful, blessed Christmas with so much family and the opportunity to have Christmas morning in our own home for the first time. I loved teaching the boys about Christ's birth (thank you Little People Nativity!) and teaching them the 'why' of Christmas. In a season that is often rushed, stressed, and money-driven, I am so grateful for the boys who reminded me and provided me the opportunity to teach the 'whys' so I too could focus on those whys and forget some of the other stuff.

Along with it being the holiday season, this also marked our 1 year anniversary of moving to TN. WOW! It is marvelous to reflect on the last year and all that has occurred in our lives - and how FAST it has gone! A crazy move, jobless and 'homelessness', a new job, a 'new' home, remodeling, settling into life here, buying another car, along with birthdays, anniversaries, etc. It is really humbling. A lot has changed, and a lot hasn't. Life is so good & we owe all our gratitude to God.

Hope you had a lovely holiday season!!

Baaaaaa

Sweet Mason was a sheep in our manger scene the children put on at the church Christmas party. His costume was a joint-last-minute idea that I will mostly credit Matt's imagination for ---- he was a cute little sheep. :)

Happy (December) Birthday Daddy!

SANTA!

This year we were excited for Mason to meet Santa while assuming Lincoln would be 'that kid crying on his lap'. However, as the pictures attest, our visit with Santa went off without a hitch and we even have some cute pictures to show for it!

Bathroom Reveal

Fact: I've just been lazy. The bathroom has been done for a while!

The bathroom was the most expensive and extensive of our house projects thus far. Also most necessary. Well, it may tie with the carpet for me (as far as necessary). Either way, the bathroom came out fantastic and I love it!

We gutted the entire thing - drywall, shower, sink, toilet, doors, light fixtures... all gone. Kudos to Matt, Matt's Dad (our electrical helper!), our great plumber (and friend), and my sweet Dad who personally helped us for hours upon hours (...days upon days) particularly on this bathroom

project. Hats off to him for ALL the tile work. He did a beautiful job!

Photo Booth

So, really, this should be titled "Tyler & Shai get married!!!", but seeing as I took NO pictures at their reception, these cool photo booth pictures from their wedding will be the highlight (gee whiz, Jordyn). We had a great time seeing the happy couple and are SO excited for them! They had the coolest set up at their reception (and seeing as I dont have the paper that explained all of it in detail, I wont even try to recreate a vision of it for you... but let it be known, it was ultra-thought-out and ultra-cool). One of the stations included the photo booth... and here are our pictures :)

Picking out a tree

Unlike past locations we've lived, it appeared that the only places to get a tree in town were retailers (what happened to little lots stocked full of trees w/lights strung above them?) - so off to Lowe's we went! Mason loved picking a tree and only got a little worried when the worker took it to trim it up for us ("where is our tree???? why is he taking our tree???"). Yay for having a fresh tree again! The past 2-3 years have entailed my little alpine tree being our "Christmas tree" due to compromising since we were often only home for about 2 weeks out of the month of December. We're SO excited to be waking up in our own home for Christmas this year - and yet still getting to be with extended family! Let the season begin!