Goodbye Nick...See You Next Year!

We've never really pushed the Santa Claus issue with our girls...we've tried to focus more on what Christmas is really all about, Jesus Christ. They're getting bigger now, and they're hearing lots about Santa, and while we consistently remind them about the true meaning of the season, we've let them have their fun too. This year they got Nick, our Elf on a Shelf, and boy was he a hit! Makenzie and Presley LOVED waking up each morning and running to find him (he was in a different place each day). They would talk to him, and tell him goodnight. Best of all, he helped with behavior! If one of the girls started acting up, all I had to do was say, "Nick, do you see this?", and they would straighten right up!

On Christmas Eve, both girls said goodbye to Nick since he would be leaving for the North Pole until next Christmas. It was sad! I can't believe how attached they got to this elf in a month's time. On Christmas morning, when all the excitement had died down, poor Presley said, "Ohhh, my Nick is gone!" It almost broke my heart! They have continued to ask when Nick would be back each day since!

Whoever invented this little elf is making a killing! BUT he comes highly recommended by this family! See you next year Nick! :)

Exciting News!!!

We're excited to announce that we'll have a new addition to the family in July!!! Hanna, my sister, is expecting her 2nd baby, and we can't wait! Makenzie and Presley got to make the announcement to family on the 18th at our family Christmas. They say they're hoping for a boy this time ;)

Merry CHRISTmas From Our Family To Yours!

A Christmas Prayer

Loving Father, help us to remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts. May the Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen!

-- Robert Louis Stevenson

May the love of Christ bring you joy, peace, and happiness this holiday season, and may you always remember that Christ is the reason for the season.

We love you,

Wayne, Jessi, Makenzie, and Presley

Play Date With Our Cousins

Emma Grace and Ellie Kate came to play! Makenzie and Presley were so excited to see their cousins, and they had a blast playing with them.

Silly girls....they would back up to the cabinets, run as fast as they could, and jump on the bean bag. They'd all lay there and giggle until one of them would say, "Let's do it again!"

Precious girls! They had sooo much fun together, and Makenzie and Presley were so sad when they had to leave. Thanks, Emma Grace and Ellie Kate, for such a fun morning! We love you!!!

Halloween 2009

My pretty blue fairy and my beautiful butterfly had a great time this Halloween! We took the girls to trick-0r-treat at an assisted living facility and a personal care home. They were so sweet to the elderly people who handed out candy to them. Presley even gave them all hugs! Before we left, Presley looked at some ladies in the living room area and said, "Thank you, ladies!" It was soo cute.

We came home for dinner then trick-or-treated around home (sorry we didn't make it by to see everyone!). We ended the night by meeting Papaw Ricky and Yaya at Friendship's Fall Festival.

Can you tell they didn't really want to take pictures??? They were ready to go!

Tupelo Buffalo Park

We loaded up and headed to Tupelo yesterday for the Buffalo Park hoping to get to go to the Pumpkin Patch. We weren't able to go out there due to the mud from the rain, but we did get to play with the animals!

When we walked into the park, the first thing I noticed was the lion roaring loudly and he continued to roar as we entered the reptile building. We were looking at iguanas when both doors flew open and the animal handler and the lady from the front desk ran in to get us saying that there was a problem with one of the animals getting loose and they needed us to come back to the main building until they could get the situation under control. Of course, my first thought was OMG!!! That lion is out!!! I turned around and looked at the lady from the front desk and said, "Exactly WHICH animal is loose?" She looked up and said, "It's a deer". I go, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!" I couldn't believe they'd acted like that over a deer...they scared me to death! Ha! In their defense, we did have 3 bags of feed (you can feed pretty much all of the animals there) so I guess that deer COULD have knocked us down to get to the feed...lol.

Despite the drama, the kids had a GREAT time! Presley wanted to feed everything and wasn't scared of anything while Makenzie didn't want to feed anything (she didn't like that they'd slobber on her hand) and was TERRIFIED of everything! It's sooo funny how very different they are! I guess Makenzie takes after her Daddy (hehehe--Jan that's for you!) The giraffes were by far the favorite animal of the day...you could pet and feed them...too neat!

Presley feeding the deer (probably the one that got out- ha!)

Hillaree feeding the goat and Makenzie trying to be brave enough to do it too!

Presley and one of the giraffes (there were 3!)

Makenzie and the giraffes (can you see the unease on her face?)

All four of our pretty girls...even Britlee had a great time!

Morgan Chapel Pumpkin Decorating Contest and Fall Festival

For this year's Fall Festival, each of the Sunday School teachers were given a pumpkin and were told to have their class decorate it for a contest. Winners won breakfast in class on Sunday morning. I teach 11-12 year olds, and my class came over last Thursday night to work on decorating our pumpkin. We created a princess (with help from Makenzie and Presley, of course!).

Kaylee, Colt, and Dakota after decorating our pumpkin.... the rest of our class wasn't able to make it that night. We didn't win the contest, but we had fun anyway!

Makenzie decided to get her face painted at the Fall Festival...she got a flower painted on her face while I was standing there. She later showed up by my side with this baseball on the other cheek a big MSU on her forehead....ok then...lol!

Presley got her face painted too, but of course, she'd rubbed it all off by the time I was able to take a picture! The Fall Festival was lots of fun...they had an inflatable slide to play on, a cupcake walk, and yummy food. The girls had a great time!