CHRISTmas 2011

Merry Late CHRISTmas this year!  I am still working on my cards going out....soon, soon.  We had a busy CHRISTmas season with school activities, end of the season Bible studies, travel to Arkansas, and helping with the foster care CHRISTmas project (a blog to follow soon on that!).  We kept our own CHRISTmas simple.  We did our Jesse tree, and Advent candles which were a great reminder of Jesus' birth.  This was Florie's FIRST Christmas and we wanted it to be special for her.  Little did I know what my sweet hubby had planned!  Alex's big hit was a new phone, Ben's big hit was Alex's old phone, Jack's big hit was his Lego, and Florie's big hit was her lip gloss and container to keep it in.  William surprised us each with donations to the Humane Society for the boys, to Half the Sky Foundation for Florie (who sponsored her orphanage and care in Beihai!), and to Starfish Foster Home for me.  THOSE were my favorite gifts!

Alex and his sassy running shirt from Maw and Papaw

Christmas with Maw

South Arkansas family Christmas

Legos are always a hit

CHRISTmas morning at home!

BEN loves Christmas and feels the full JOY of the season...especially helping others

Daddy's homemade gifts

My sweet eldest

Daddy giving Florie her special gift and explaining it to her...she kept saying she wanted a necklace and a ring like Moma.  So, William measured her neck and finger without me knowing, and special ordered a necklace from James Avery that fits just HER, and has a little heart pendant with her initials on it too.  He also got a little heart ring for her.

Testing the ring out to see if it fits

She loves it! and Mommy was a bit weepy in the background...

Working on the new high chair for Baby

Testing the new Wii game with Ben and Jack

baby is hungry

The end to a perfect day....we stayed in our jammies from Christmas Eve to the morning of the 26th.  It was simple, calm, and GLORIOUS!

Happy Birthday Jesus!