love came down on christmas

I'm thinking about my dear friend Emily tonight, she and her husband Danny are getting to know their new baby girl in China right now. God is so amazing how he brings families together. I'm smiling thinking back to when were both single girls in 2001, about how she said she wanted to adopt a baby girl from China. We worked together briefly before she went to the Peace Corps & then when she returned to the US we taught english as a 2nd language together at a local church and have so many wonderful memories with our international friends.

Both of the blogs she keeps up have amazing stories-the bumpy arrival of her baby boy & the miracle of his life and health & then now her journey to Lia Kate. Emily has always been brave-will try any kind of food, loves adventure, & always up for any type of travel. I'll never forget one time we were riding horses and the 2 horses we were on, totally took off & were racing us through the woods. The whole experience was traumatizing to me (I thought I was going to be impaled by a tree limb) & when I looked over at Emily-she was just laughing and loving it. That totally sums up Emily. I'm so happy she & Danny have Lia Kate, please pray for this transition for baby girl and the new dynamics of their family.

Christmas happenings

Henry getting handsy with the manger scene. Baby Jesus goes MIA about once a day.



This is what I made of my shells from the beach. I glittered them and tied them on pretty ribbon with a cluster of ornaments. I think I was just trying to hold on the beach for a bit longer.

Take kids in christmas pj's in front of the Christmas tree-check.

Above is a picture of my dear high school friend Melanie & of the beautiful church in Gulfport where she is the new rector. This church was rebuilt after Katrina and they did a fabulous job-wonderful architecture. This was such a special night for me. Getting to see her being installed at St. Peters by the Sea. She is such a wise person-has always been this way, even when we were all stupid in jr. high. A great listener. I pray for her all the time-the huge job she has, balancing motherhood with serving her church. Her blog is great-she's a wonderful writer.
http://lemburgordinarytime.blogspot.com/
Our day of snow!!!!!
Our beautiful Japanese Magnolia that stays this brilliant red for about 1 week.

Have a wonderful Christmas. I love this verse and it sums up how we are to treasure Christmas in your own quiet way. Think of Mary, admiring her new child & just soaking the whole experience in.....

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

thanksgiving largen life

We went to the beach with hubby's side of the family for Thanksgiving. IT WAS FABULOUS. Nothing like the beach. Everyone is lighter at the beach. Even shopping at the Wal-Mart at the beach is a different experience-people are relaxed. The shells. I always love finding shells and thinking of ways to use them. And we did a little surprise bday celebration of Tim's bday-Jonas Brothers style. It was that or Spiderman. Our nephew Jack was a little disturbed that uncle tim "really" liked the Jonas Brothers-he said he thought only kids like them.










Had to air it out after some burnt toast.

Cross Creek show

Come for some last minute Christmas shopping. I will have great gifts for teachers, stocking stuffers and such. There will be other vendors there selling monogrammed items, children's clothing, & distressed frames. Email with questions.

cuz's wedding

we went to my cousin's wedding in natchez the other weekend and it was beautiful, the reception at dunleith (an antebellum home there). the band was fabulous and the whole fam was there-nothing better than dancing at a wedding. my family is not necessarily a group of good dancers, but we all love to dance. although my dad claims to be voted "best dancer" in high school & told us many times growing up. funny.



my cousin is a recent grad of san fran art institute and is a industrial designer-super creative & wonderful guy.



2 of my nephews breaking it down. i think they spun a hole in their pants.
the sweet couple.

punkins

i realized today after looking on facebook at everyone else's pictures of babes with pumpkins that i hadn't taken pictures of MY kids sitting in front of pumpkins. so hubby humored me and we made 3 stops to finally find a gathering of pumpkins (the first 2 patches were too slim). he's so patient, but I could tell i was pushing his hubby limits. but it was fun & I'm glad we did it.

hween partay

We had a little party for some kiddos and it was so much fun. I had such a great time decorating for this & planning for this. Each morning of this week when Henry woke up, it was big fun to show him the new stuff I put out. I've always loved Halloween (NOT the scary movie part-the previews alone give me nightmares) and always think about my potential costume although we haven't actually gone to a adult hween party in years. Each hween when my hair is boy short I want to go as Pat Benatar (circa "love is a battlefield").

largen life

hubby with his deep fried oreos at the fair-they were realllllly good.
funny largen life story (apologies to fb friends-this is a repeat)....i had gotten a letter for jury duty and for me to call in the Sunday night and see if I needed to report. But I have the baby brain and I forgot about all of this until my sister Kathleen called Monday morning at 8:10 asking if I had to report for jury duty. Yikes, so I called and all were to report at 8:30 that morning (Canton is 15 min away). Babies & I have never moved that fast (we never go anywhere before 9 a.m.). My hair is kicked up, babies in pj's & we reported for jury duty somehow by 8:30. But the official looking courtroom guard person just said "oh, you brought your kids with you? there are no kids in the courtroom, ma'am. just go down the hall and they'll dismiss you." I tried not to dance down the hall. So afterwards, my accomplices were rewarded with doughnuts and we played on the courthouse square. My dad (who is an attorney in canton) was a little put-out with my babies in the courthouse move. He thinks getting selected for jury duty is the same as winning the lottery.



thought henry looked a little "where the wild things are-esque" in these pics. can't wait to watch this movie with the kiddos in a couple of years. so loved this book growing up. and mental note, need to get this book for henry in the meantime.