Christmas!

I promise.... pictures will be posted soon. Just wanted to give a quick update on our day. What a beautiful day for Jesus' birthday; sunny and lovely out. We took a few hours opening gifts - not because we had many but because it's so fun and slow with Nolan at this age. He is interested in every box, tissue paper, and how things work. He especially loved climbing into the box that a big teddy bear came in from his "crush" Miss Cheryl, Mark's secretary. It's so funny how Nolan has such a crush on her! His face gets flushed when he sees her and he just snuggles with her like he does with no one else (including me). When I mention her name he giggles but I digress... He loved his John Deere hay ride tractor with the animals riding in it; Mi Mah & Pa gave him that. He also loved a big soft yellow bus. Anything with wheels is great to him! Later in the day we had our annual prime rib dinner along with horseradish sauce, glazed veggies, pineapple casserole, mashed potatoes, jello salad, rolls, and apple crisp with homemade whipped cream for dessert. Our friends Andy and his son Steven joined us along with Mom and Dad and we had a really nice visit. Happy Birthday Jesus!

Behold the Lamb of God

On Sunday evening, we performed Mark's Christmas concert called Behold the Lamb of God the TRUE Tall Tale of Christmas, written by Andrew Peterson. It was a worshipful concert that included a full band with several guitarists, piano, keys, bass, 3 percussionists, a mandolin, a banjo, a soprano sax, and even a washboard for one song. There were soloists, duets, and trios as well as the adult Arise! Choir. We have been working on this for months and Mark has been working tirelessly scoring the music for the choir parts because the music was not originally written for that. In fact, another church had inquired of Andrew Peterson about obtaining music for their choir and since Andrew knew of Mark from Mark obtaining permission rights, he e-mailed Mark himself asking for permission to have another church perform Mark's written music. He was thrilled to share! After much work on many, many peoples' part it was a fantastic night of worship. I'm so proud of Mark and thankful for the many who served the Lord by giving so many hours of their time.

John 1:36 (New King James Version)
And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

What a surprise!!

When I came home with Nolan after picking him up from Kids Day Out, I saw something on our front porch thinking it may be a package then I realized that there was a cord coming out of an outlet so I thought "who is stealing our electricity??" then I looked up to where the cord was hooked to and realized there were Christmas lights on our house! As it turns out, Mimi's son has been putting up lights on homes as a side job and she went in with him to have ours put up! We've never had house lights up and this is so exciting! Nolan especially loves the lights saying lights! lights!

Psalm 36:9 (New International Version)
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

Say Aaahhhh Christmas!

Nolan loves our tree! (saying twee or sometimes bwee). He makes me laugh......

Forth Worth Zoo

It was a beautiful day yesterday for the zoo! Nolan and I went with some friends for a lovely day at the zoo. Nolan had fun mainly traveling down the ramps as fast as he could pumping his legs in his stroller! He also had his first ride with me on the merry go round.

Tic Toc

Nolan is fascinated by all things clocks and watches calling them "tic toc!" He runs around pointing them out saying tic toc! tic toc! Here he is with his Daddy's watch on after he got ready for bed. The wet hair is from a fresh bath .....

Nolan's Hand Turkey

Nolan and I holding the sweet turkey he made out of the shape of his hand in Mimi and Miss Kate's Sunday School class. He was so proud of it and so are we!

Thanksgiving Time

Mark and my cousin Myra are helping themselves to turkey Mark carved (for the first time!). We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Myra's home with lots of relatives present. Nolan did so well even without a nap all day. What a day to be thankful for!