I miss you Papa...

... but know you are smiling down upon us. Poinsettas in memory of you. Tell Jesus happy birthday for us!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Santa came this morning and Adam got a wagon and other fun toys! Here are a few pictures of Adam's first Christmas! More to come later. :)

Christmas Eve

Our day... 1) Got our new washer and dryer. 2) Did a few errands- the hose for the washer was too short. 3) Went to church to celebrate Jesus's birthday! 4) Adam falls asleep under the Christmas tree-- we definately got the gift we wanted! 5) We make cookies for Santa. 6) Mom and Dad take a little taste of the cookies and milk for Santa-- not fair! That's not for you!.... all in all a great first Christmas Eve!

Like Father, Like Son

My two favorite guys taking a nap.

Not much and yet so much to report

All is status quo around our household. We ran around doing some Christmas shopping this weekend. Although we already know what we are getting for one another... Joe and I are still wrapping up each others gifts and putting them under the tree. We have promised to "act surprised" when we open them.

Then on Sunday we met Joe's brother's wife Maria and joined his family for a late pizza dinner. Our family keeps growing and we can not be more excited! There is nothing to compare with the love of family.

Adam is cutting his second tooth so he has been a little fussy at night and in the morning, but for the most part he is very joyful and happy. Tonight I was blowing raspberries on his stomach and he couldn't stop laughing. Joe and I began to chuckle and we spent a good fifteen minutes just all laying around and laughing. The sound of a child's laughter is music to my ears. I think all too often as adults we get so caught up in day to day business and routines that we fail to just let loose, smile, and have a good laugh... for no reason at all. I am going to make it my New Year's resolution to laugh more often!

Meeting Santa

Adam got to meet Santa this past weekend and boy was he intrigued. He never took his eyes off the man in the big red suit. He was completely mesmerized and just sat and stared at him with complete bewilderment. And I was mesmerized myself as I watched my child... the fascination in his eyes flowed over into my heart.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Okay, so we all knew that I was not going to be the best at keeping up with this blogging thing. The fact that I now will have four posts, I think is pretty good for me. But Taylor has said that I need to update, so I am trying to follow directions.

We spent Thanksgiving in Texas and had a blast with all the Knights! It was great to have the whole family together and a cherished holiday.

Shortly after coming home we all came down with the nasty stomach virus that we so desperately tried to avoid from the Coker family. (Although- it may sound funny to say- but I truly believe that the fun we had with everyone together was well worth a day or two over the tolit!)

And this past weekend was spent running errands, doing laundry, and getting back into some type of routine. We got our tree put up and I was ecstatic to hang our new stockings. (My mom made Adam his Christmas stocking just as she did when we were children and "passed down" the "Mom" and "Dad" stockings that were her's and my dad's for so many years. It touched me dearly to be able to hang these cherished heirlooms from my mantel. I also was given the tree skirt and a hanging "Happy Holidays" sign that she sewed. Words cannot describe how much this all meant to me!)

We had big plans to hang up the lights outside on Sunday, but a rainy day foiled our agenda. We therefore curled up together and vegged out on the couch watching football all day! Having not done this in awhile- it felt really good to just sit still and enjoy being a family together.

I have so much to be thankful for and I am so lucky! Life is good.