Merry Christmas to All!!

Holiday Greetings to all of you! We had a wonderful Christmas together and hope that you did, too.

Our Christmas festivities started out with attending Connor's Christmas program at Second Friends. The pics didn't turn out that well, but he did a fantastic job playing the part of a horse at the manger scene. Here's one picture of our little star with Mommy and Daddy when the show was over. Grandpa and Lori, Aunt Sarah, Cara, Collin, and Uncle Jordan were also on hand to watch Connor's performance, and it was so special to have them there!!

We departed that next Wednesday morning for North Carolina, where we spent 4 days with the Carlson family. The kids were real troopers on both flights and had a great time playing with Drew, Amy, and Beth. This was our family's first time to meet Amy and Beth, and boy, are they PRECIOUS! Both of the kids loved "the babies" and also spent a great deal of time running around and around Justin and Mary's house with Drew. Anything that you might envision coming along with 5 young children in one house was a reality for us, and we are grateful to Justin and Mary for opening their home for our celebration. Highlights of our time included a trip to Chuckie Cheese to celebrate Drew's third birthday, and carousel rides and watching the "singing bears" at the local mall. We all enjoyed the time with Grandpa and Grandma Carlson, and had some great Christmas gifts to bring home with us. By the time we left, we were almost pros at telling the girls apart, so the trip was a success (they are pictured above--Amy on the left in the light pink and Beth on the right in the darker pink)!! :)

We arrived back home in Liberty on Christmas Eve afternoon, after a bit of a trying trip. Kylee started vomiting right before we left North Carolina, and continued heaving as we sat at baggage claim waiting for our suitcases at KCI. The poor thing held together well, and Mommy and Daddy were happy to shed their vomit-soaked clothes once we walked back into the house. :)

We then celebrated with Uncle Craig and Grandpa Haneke and once again ate too much. Jordan and the Milne crew were able to join us for an evening of food and fun, which was special for us all. We hit the Plaza for some after-Christmas shopping, which was fun, especially since the weather is so nice here. We look forward to another Christmas celebration with the McKinney crew this weekend.

Connor keeps asking "Is Christmas over?"--he's one lucky boy to have a celebration that spans more than a week!! He keeps asking to open more presents--Brandon and I have laughed about how frustrated God must get with us when we keep asking for more as we stand surrounded by more than we know what to do with already!! We have tried talking with him about being thankful for what he already has, and he does a pretty good job for being four.

Here are some pics of the kids celebrating with family and enjoying their loot. We hope this finds you all doing well!!