Holidays

Well I have nothing witty or creative to say, so I will just give you a rundown of the holiday season for us. Jacob had his Christmas program at Ms. Sheri's on Tuesday the 16th. I was afraid that he wouldn't sing because he didn't at all last year, but boy was I wrong. Sheri invited all kids that were there to help with the program, and Jacob was the only one you could hear. He did awesome! We had a great time watching him perform. He sure hammed it up!

We took the kids out of school on Friday the 19th to head up to Columbia. Mark's brother Ryan needed help loading a u-haul so Mark, Zach, Ryan and Big Mark did that dirty work while Cindy cleaned the house, and Susan, Cassandra and I took all 7 of the kids to the zoo. I must say that I am sure we got the better end of the deal. The kids were great and we all had an awesome time!

For Christmas Eve this year, we decided to invite family over like we did last year. We had to take the couches out of the living room and borrow 2 round tables from the church because there was no other place for us all to fit. I need a dining room! Anyway, we had the 6 of us, Mark, Susan and Zach, Mammy and Granddaddy, Lora and Joe, and 2 missionaries. We had a friend of ours smoke the turkey and a beef brisket and we also made ham. We had TONS of food and everyone seemed to have an enjoyable time.

Christmas morning was so relaxing for us as this is the second year we have spent it at home! We actually had to wake up Kaitlyn to open presents this year. The kids were thrilled with what Santa brought. I had to get creative with the stockings this year because the kids were upset that we didn't have a mantle. So I made a place to hang the stockings and they were thrilled to find them filled Christmas morning. After we decided to get out of our pj's, we went to grandma and grandpa's house to exchange gifts there. Then we had a great steak dinner at Aunt Dianne's house. Thanks to everyone who gave us all gifts! They were very much appreciated by all!

The rest of the vacation has found us doing the usual stuff. Dirty laundry never seems to take a vacation. :( Mark is sleeping under the stars in Augusta tonight with our youth who are on their pioneer trek. He is headed home tomorrow so we can celebrate New Year's together. The babies seem to be doing well. I had my big ultrasound on the 22nd and everything looked great. Our boy weighs 14 oz and our girl 13oz so they are right on target. I will post some more ultrasound pics once I get around to the scanning them. Hope you are all doing well! Happy New Year!

Catching Up

Well I guess it is time for me to update this thing. It seems I always let time get away from me during the holiday season, and this one is no different. But I do have all of my holiday shopping done, so I am very happy about that. Now I just have to start wrapping so I can enjoy Christmas Eve this year.

Since the last time I blogged, not a ton has happened, but we still have been busy. I found out 2 days before Thanksgiving that our cute little twins are a boy and a girl! We are so excited and so far, things look really good with them. I will have my official 20 week ultrasound next week though, so we will take a closer look then.

We went to my in-laws this year for Thanksgiving and had a great time. We usually celebrate Thanksgiving on both Thursday and Friday because certain members of the family don't like turkey. So Thursday was traditional Turkey Day, and Friday was a crab boil--inside this time. It was raining, so much to my mother-in-law's chagrin, we ate crab inside her house. I took a few pictures of McKenna shelling the crab. She wouldn't eat it, but loved cracking it open for her dad.

My husband and I had 2, count 'em, 2 wonderful dates in the past few weeks. Thanks Zach and Cassandra for watching the kids! We hadn't had a date in over a year--seriously. Mark took me to hear the Savannah Orchestra, and the following week took me to see Twilight. Two very girly dates which I appreciated and needed very much. Thanks babe--I owe you big time!

But that is about it for us here. The kids are about standing on their heads for Christmas to come. I am excited too! I love this time of year and what it stands for. Jacob keeps telling me that Jesus' birthday is December 25th and wants to know how old he is. I love it! Here a few pics of the past month!