Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, also Edward's birthday, was a busy day for us.  We left Tennessee at 8:00 AM for our seven hour drive home. We arrived home at 3:00, needing to leave for dinner/church by 4:00.  With all of that, we managed to unpack the car, change clothes, and get ready for church on time.

Our handsome boys 

 Our pretty girl

 The crew

 Our family

 We were able to open Christmas presents from the kids to each other, as well as the gifts from Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Andrew.  Madison loved her American Girl Molly dress!

 Alex was excited about his gifts, too.

 The boys have been enjoying their new Wii games.

 Alex was DELIGHTED to receive his "Food Lion Lion" as he calls it.  He loves the commercials on tv that Food Lion has been running with a real lion "talking" to the customers.  He talks about shopping for the lion all the time.

 He's had the lion with him constantly since Christmas.

The stockings were hung...

I have to share our church story.  Our family was asked to light the Advent candles at church on Christmas Eve.  Madison and I had speaking roles, and Edward was going to have the boys light the candles.  As Madison and I were in the pulpit, speaking to a few hundred people, the boys were just down from us at the candles.  With the Advent candle, there are five to light.  Edward helped Alex light the first two, put him down, and picked up Luke to light the next two. As Luke was lighting his candles and I was in the pulpit speaking, I noticed out of the corner of my eye Alex falling head first down the stairs (in front of the whole church).  I kept on reading, as I tried to figure out what to do. In a split second, Alex popped up, walked back up the stairs, and stood in his place again. None of us laughed, but it was hard not to do so!  The stairs had a runner on them, so he didn't fall on the actual marble, but we figure he was rocking on his feet and just rocked himself foward too far. Really??  Alex is so funny,and we'll never forget being asked to light the candles.  A lot of our Sunday School class was sitting right up front, and they all started chuckling, knowing our family, but the rest of the congregation seemed to keep it together.  Merry Christmas  :)

After church... 

 Christmas lists

A snack for Santa and his reindeer

More from Tennessee

Our camera lens is in the fritz, so we had pictures both on our camera and on our phone. Here are the remaining photos from Tennessee.

 

 Mackenzie

 Knox

 Luke

 Alex

 Kaitlann

 Madison...all the kids had sorted the gifts and were ready for action.

 Luke was so excited to get hunting boots from Nana and Pop. He had to try them on right away.

I brought a gingerbread kit to decorate, and it was the hit of the afternoon! 

 We sent Madison and Edward out for more décor, and while they were gone, the decorating continued.

 

 Alex was so proud of the peppermint side.  He did the whole thing.

Finished!  The Tootsie Roll fence only lasted about a half hour...it slowly disappeared after that.

 

The decorating staff

Tennessee Christmas

We traveled to Tennessee a few days before Christmas to see Edward's family. We had a nice visit, and the cousins really enjoyed seeing each other.

The first night we were there, we met the Jones Family for dinner at a local restaurant. Edward's dad passes away over 10 years ago, so we do not see his side of the family as much as we would like. We had a great time with his aunt, uncle, cousins, and their families. Mackenzie , Madison, and Kaitlann enjoyed all the time they spent together.

The highlight of the trip seemed to be this gingerbread house. I brought all the stuff to make it, with the exception of a quick trip to the store Edward and Madison made.

Kaitlann and Luke

Mackenzie and Alex

It was quite a masterpiece!

Saying good-bye

We stopped at Bass Pro, which is just a few miles away.

Madison wanted to visit the Titanic museum again, so she went with Luke, Edward, and Nana. Alex had no interest, so we went across the street to the outlet mall.

Luke, on the way home.

Thanks for the great visit!