random favorite pics of Christmastime 2010

Cutie pie A
The awesome staff I work with. At our Christmas party.
Little Miss O-baby at United Way's Christmas Dinner.
She is "winking." So adorable
Mom opening her Ipod.
I had wrapped it inside of a quilt inside of huge box. :)
Me and some of my favorite people! I LOVE this bunch!!
What a beautiful gift!! :))Monkey See. Monkey Do.

Me and my 'sistas' dining on Mexican
Cheyenne & Audrey (nieces) at Chris' parents' Christmas

Daddy in Christmas

Anyone who has lost a close loved one knows that the holidays are tough. When all the family gets together, there's always a reminder of someone missing around the table. And although, we've spent many years without Daddy, this year was no exception. I had my 'moments' of missing him.

Side note before the story: My dad loved nature and animals. And he had studied up on hawks and would teach us 'lessons' about them -- the different kinds, their hunting abilities, etc. He loved to 'spot' them on the hunt and determine what kind it was. To this day, when we see a hawk it reminds us of Daddy.

And this Christmas I had two reminders. Christmas Eve has always been the day that my immediate family celebrated Christmas ... so my thoughts were on Daddy. As a child we opened our gifts Christmas Eve morning because we are at my Granny's Christmas morning. This Christmas Eve I was driving to mom's and I saw a hawk perched on a power line waiting on lunch. Then later that day, Chris and I were headed to another dinner and atop an old dead tree, I spotted another hawk. I mentioned to Chris that it was the second hawk I had seen on Christmas Eve.

To most it would have just been a typical hawk spotting ...
But to me it wasn't coincidence, typical, or random.
To me it was ... Daddy in my Christmas this year

more Christmas decor & stuff

Our living room mantle.
I love my nativity set given to me from my in-laws.
The "Merry Christmas" frame is cross-stitch work from my aunt J.Our mantle in the den.

Ornament from Ashley (or Leigh). I can't remember.
From elementary school ageOrnament from our honeymoon.Jesus is truly the best gift.
Wisemen brought fine, expensive gifts to Jesus.
But, Jesus is THE GIFT ... no gift can top that!

A new 'tea towel' :)

A special piece of art given to me from a friend,
who recently went on a mission trip to Uganda.

The manger scene hand-painted by a lady there.

Ornaments hanging from the light fixture in the kitchen.

Christmas cards -- a favorite part of ChristmasI can hardly believe Christmas is over
and it's time to pack all of this away.
I love the feeling of Christmas.
And I do not want it to end.
All the family, the love,
the sweetness of Jesus coming as babe to this world ...
I'm gonna try hard not to 'pack-up' the 'spirit of Christmas.'
Reminds me of the song "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day."

Christmas Trees 2010

These were our trees this year.

Small cutesy tree in our kitchen:I took the picture without a flash so that the lights would show up.
You can't tell - but it's decorated with wooden red beads,
green bows, and ornaments that look like sugar cookies.
I love the big-bulb old-fashion lights!

Artificial tree in our living room:This is decorated with mostly music-themed ornaments.
(music notes, instruments, and angels)
I love the music ribbon and the new topper I used this year.

Real 'giant-of-a-tree' in our foyer:We got this tree on a special, Saturday excursion.
Chris had been working a lot
and we set aside a day to be together.
We ate breakfast at the Dillard House and picked out this beauty.
And we were "tickled pink" to find this tree
at a tree farm for the steal of $25!
And it is (or was) over 9 feet tall!
We had to trim it a little.
I love the "sentimental-ness" of this tree.
Many special ornaments adorn this tree.
The bear in the chair is from our first Christmas.
"2000" is on his paw. :)

Christmas Card 2010 (one of them)

These were our cards from Shutterfly.

cute boys and fun girls

A couple of Friday nights ago,

Chris was sleeping.
I was bored
and didn't want to quietly sit around the house
while he slept.
So I called these girlsand we shopped a little,
kissed cute little boysand ate mexican food.
(R ate baby food. He's not fond of mexi cuisine, yet.)Of course, we had a super fun evening.
Fun is so much more fun when it's spontaneous!
L crashed on my lap at the restaurant. The fun wore him out.
Or either the long school day
and the fact that he probably wasn't feeling well.
The night ended in a crazy whirl
with both boys getting sick (one in the car).
Thankfully they recovered the next day.
Crazy times - many laughs!

Did you know?

In Nashville, there is a replica of the Parthenon located in Athens, Greece.On Saturday of our Nashville trip,
Mom and I walked through the park surrounding the replicaand awed at the magnificence of the structure!It is gi-normous! And so detailed.The fall foliage made the park even more beautiful.

Such a lovely day.

Side Note: Today, I'm longing for these warmer temperatures. It was in the low twenties this morning when I started out at 8:15 AM. (brrrrrrrrr!!)

Our greatest need

If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator.

If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist.

If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.

If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.

But our greatest need was forgiveness,
so God sent us a Saviour.

-Roy Lessin

Christmas Photo Glimpse

We met my cousin Miranda one afternoon for a quick photo shoot to get some pictures for our 2010 Christmas card. Miranda was tons of fun to work with. And she got some great shots and did a great job editing.

I'll post more later.
(after we've made the final decision for our 2010 Christmas card.)Thanks, Miranda! - You're awesome!

Let's hear it for Shutterfly!

One of my absolute favorite things about Christmas is the cards!

I love receiving cards.
(I love receiving snail mail anytime)
But, I simply LOVE checking the mailbox at Christmastime.
Seeing all the pictures.
Enjoying the variety of beautiful cards
Hearing from friends and family from far and near.

And I love finding just the right Christmas card for us.
Of course, I try to always include a picture or two!
I love pictures. Pictures are great for memory's sake.

And right now, Shutterfly has a promotion for bloggers
to receive 50 free Christmas cards.

I have previously used Shutterfly for prints.
And photo books - which are so neat to take a collection of
pictures and design a real book.
And coffee mugs - which make a great gift.
Such a useful, practical gift, but a picture makes is extra-special.

And this year I plan to use Shutterfly for our Christmas cards.
I want something different.
More unique. Colorful.
And Shutterfly has MANY, MANY photo card options!
And their prices are reasonable.

I am really going to have a difficult time choosing.
There are so many that I love.

The damask on this one is a hit!

This is a great funky design. And bright colors are a plus!

I like the monogram on this one and all the spaces for pictures:
I'm loving the plaid and the font-style on this one:

Now, I am even more excited about Christmas cards for 2010!
Go check out Shutterfly TODAY!
You'll not be disappointed.

October Recap - Nashville Part 2 - Purpose

And now to the purpose behind the Nashville trip ...

-Fulfilling a long-time wish for Chris-

For a few years, Chris has applied to participate in ResoSummit,
3 days of dobro workshops by a stellar professional faculty,
4 evening performances, after-hours jam sessions, and more. ResoSummit's home is the Scarritt-Bennett Center,
a beautiful campus in Nashville's MusicRow-Vanderbilt area,
with nightly performances at the Station Inn.
Due to limited registration of only 120 (sell out in 14 hours),
Chris hasn't been able to attend until THIS YEAR!
(YAY!)
Thumpy greets Chris after 9-5 back-to-back workshops. Rob Ickes welcoming everyone
at the opening concert Thursday night.
(sorry for the dark photo)Side Note: Rob won the International Bluegrass Music Association's Dobro Player of the Year award for a record-setting eleventh time in 2009; IBMA notes that he is the most awarded instrumentalist in the history of the IBMA awards.

Mom and I at the concert on Thursday night.Needless to say, Chris TREMENDOUSLY enjoyed ResoSummit.
Being taught by professional players
such as Rob, Josh Swift, Andy Hall, and Jerry Douglas
was a dream come true.
He even played a solo with Rob Ickes standing over him in class.
(and received a compliment!! - GO, CHRIS!)
Now, of course, he is wanting to make plans for ResoSummit 2011
... we'll see. :)
Group photo of students and faculty:Chris is lower-center with orange/navy shirt and a cap on.
Beside Rob Ickes, of course.