THE HOLIDAY BLAH'S...

I love Christmas.

I LOVE Christmas.

But I hate after Christmas.

I hate taking down the tree,

putting up the lights and decorations.

It's just so depressing.

So, I'm protesting!

I'm keeping the decorations up forever!

Just Kidding! Seriously, I hated taking it all down, but I'm glad to have the house back. With such a small home, and such a large tree...it eats up our space. But this year, we've got more space than ever! We have officially moved the kids into their own bedrooms, and all of the toys have now left the living room (plus or minus a few they keep bringing back), and the toys are all in their own rooms now! I almost feel like I have a new house with all the walking space! It's awesome!

So how was your Christmas? Ours was great. Although, we had a lot of sadness surrounding us this year. On the Friday before, Jonathan lost an Uncle. He was elderly, but it's one of the last Uncle's he has, so it's sad. And on that same day, my cousin, Ricky, was killed in a car accident. He was in Calera, and apparently had a seizure while driving, and the accident killed him instantly. He had just started having seizures, and his neice was just diagnosed with epilepsy the same day, so we're wondering if it's all related in that part of the family now. I had not seen him in at least 15 years, but it was so sad to see him at the funeral. Please pray for that family, as they are having a hard time dealing with the sudden passing of Ricky.

Then on Saturday, a friend I work with lost her dad to pancreatic cancer. He fought a long hard battle...but the Lord healed him forever with a perfect body on December 22. It's definatly been tough for my friend, and my heart goes out to her. I pray you will lift her up as well.

Between all of that, I had to take my son to the doc on Christmas eve because he got so sick with "the crud" as the doc put it. He was running a low grade fever, and had major congestion. He was plain miserable. But we soldiered on through and he was actually much better on Christmas day....just a little groggy. On the way home from the doc on Christmas eve, I witnessed a massive car wreck unfolding before me, just 3 cars ahead on the Expressway. Cars spinning, flipping, and lots of smoke! I was praying the whole time "God please spare us from this!!!!!" When everything came to a rest, a SUV was lying upside down on the side of the road right next to my car. Miraculously, everyone was ok...thanks to seatbelts. When the car came to a rest, I really thought they were dead because all I saw were arms hanging out the windows. But then they got up and walked away! AMAZING! After witnessing that, and loosing my cousing in a wreck a few days prior, I was so rattled! Needless to say, we drove very cautiously the rest of the day and even now!

But, at least we made it through the holidays. My kids are spoiled beyond measure. They love all of the toys they got, and my hubby even got me a great gift this year! A new camera! YAY! He did good!

Here are a couple of pics from our holiday....

Here's all the Grandkids my parents have...They're all getting so big.

Granny gave Ryan his own bible...and he loves reading-uh-MOMMY reading it to him.

Another of Megan's favorite gifts...a picture frame that says "Brother 4 Sale". She specifically asked for this after seeing it at the Justice For Girls store....I can't convince her that he's not for sale! Go Figure. After opening this, she said "Oh Yeah! I am SO putting Ryan's picture in this!"

Megan leaving the reindeer food out on the lawn. Poor Ry was so sick, and already asleep, so he couldn't do it.

THE BIG ONE! The kids were so surprised to get a trampoline! They never expected it. We've ALL had a lot of fun jumping on it!

So now, to you and yours, I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2008 bring you peace, happiness, love and luck! May you find yourself in the center of God's will, and surrounded by his grace!