Since most Christmas mornings we are either with my family in Florida or at Paul's parents house because we spend the night there on Christmas eve, this year since we did Christmas early with the Blakes, we were able to have Christmas morning at our house. We also had the special treat of having Paul's parents over for Christmas Eve dinner. We woke up to hot chocolate and krispy kreme doughnuts. Paul also made french toast. Paul asked Harrison to pray before we opened the presents. Harrison said a beautiful prayer that almost made me cry thanking the Lord for coming to earth and dying for us so that we could be free. It is so great when you can see that your kids really understand the meaning of Christmas and that one of the reasons we give gifts is because the greatest gift was given to us. We then enjoyed watching each other open presents. In the afternoon we went to Paul's parents to just hang out. While there Noah wanted to be like his big cousin Wyatt and walk around in his diaper too before bed. Oh the innocence of children to pose proudly in their diapers. I love it.

Faces that make me smile

So for those of you who don't know this past week has been quite stressful. Between Paul's dad going to the emergency room twice for two different things, my dad having an operation on his leg and remembering Art on his birthday on the 19th, I have been a little emotionaly drained with tears and prayers. If you think about it, we would love prayer for both my dad and Paul's dad for health and comfort for Art's family especially during the holidays.

In light of that, here are two things that Noah has been doing lately that have brought a smile and laughter to me as a way of lifting the heaviness. One, he copies the pictures in his book of himself. This is his favorite one: the open mouth, he does it even when he is not looking at the book and does his eyes really funny. He knows it is a sure laugh. The other is discovering his body parts one being his nose. I thank the Lord for this little man so much and the joy he brings me.

dance dance.. yeah

wrestling

So the boys found a new use for mom's new couch... a wrestling mat. This was the hot event this weekend at the blake household.

here we go again...

but in the end we love each other.

If you want to see some live action footage you can click here.

Noah's inside workout

You can click on the picture to see it bigger.

Thanks Meme

Thanks for my new Christmas shirt, hat, gloves and slippers. Now I can go outside and swing or just hang around without being cold. I hope you are having a good time on your cruise. Tell Granddaddy and Momo hello for me.
love and miss you- noah

p.s. mom really likes her starbucks card too!

Christmas came early this year

Last week, I went to anthropology to get my final present for the blake family christmas. When I walked into the store they had my favorite couch on sale for about 85% off the floor model. I could hardly believe it. I asked if this was the price of the pillows on the couch and they said no it was the couch. I asked how much was on my gift card I had and sure enough there was enough money for the couch and the sunflower pillows that were on the clearance rack.

Not only did I get a fablous Christmas present early, but we also had the Blake Christmas early since my sister in law from texas is pregnant and won't be able to make it for December. We had a wonderful time being together this weekend. It was an emotional Christmas especially since Paul's dad had another heart attack and his mom went into the ER with heart attack symptons just last month. We were all very thankful to be with each other and healthy. The Lord suprised us when we woke up to our Christmas morning with snow so we even had a white Christmas.

The kids had a fun time playing in the snow:

Noah enjoyed opening up and playing with his presents more this year.

Harrison's favorite gifts was a lego with his name on it and spending time with his cousin Landon who he doesn't get to see that often:

I will leave you with a picture of my niece Cassie as a reminder of the reason for the season: