Christmas Eve

This year, I felt like our time together at Christmas was sooo relaxed, and that we were truly able to slow down and enjoy every single moment, which I am very grateful for! Christmas Eve morning we met Jared's family for our Christmas Eve breakfast at IHOP~it was wonderful and such good time with family, plus one less meal for me to cook! After breakfast, we came home and decorated our gingerbread house, took a nap, and then attended the Christmas Eve service at our church~something we had never done before but, after doing, I feel certain we will never miss it again. It was so wonderful to go and honestly worship God and be reminded of the meaning of Christmas. The pastor called the children up to read a kid-friendly version of the Christmas story and as he was reading, pictures were being shown on the screen and precious little Cooper was sitting in my lap pointing and identifying Joseph, Mary, the angels, and Baby Jesus. I could not help but hold him close, be so thankful for him, and cry! I even think he was a little disappointed that we didn't "see" baby Jesus...he kept asking where he was! After the service at church, we rode around and looked at some Christmas lights and decorations, again just talking and being together as a family. When we came home, we changed into our Christmas pajamas and baked our cookies for Santa! It was a wonderful day, and I cherish those memories so dearly. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the night...Cooper and I in front of the tree after church and the cookie baking process!



helping Mommy bake


helping Daddy...can you see the flour on his little face? He was covered in flour!


all by himself!


Merry Christmas, Santa!

Gingerbread House aka MESSY FUN!

I realize that I'm very behind on blogging, but I did get a new high-tech camera for Christmas and have been afraid to upload the pictures for fear that they would disappear and I'd have NO idea how to retrieve them! So I am still blogging about December and Christmas festivities...but it's important to me to have these memories captured so better late than never! Here are some of the pictures we took while making a gingerbread house! This was a first for all of us! I can't believe neither Jared nor I had ever made one...and surely there MUST be a better way! Don't they make pre-assembled ones?? I mean we could barely get the thing to stay together long enough to decorate it~but we had SO MUCH FUN doing this together!

Cooper waited oh so patiently while daddy tried to assemblethe gingerbread house!


Cooper placed the gumballs all along the roof...a job he took very seriously! He was so proud!


The (somewhat) finished product! Can you tell that I'm having to hold it together just so we can take a picture! Geez~who knew a gingerbread house was so difficult!


Immediately following the picture~our roof caved in, so we just put it on a plate for Cooper to enjoy!! I LOVE that we captured this precious face!


Cooper (the finished product)...we went straight to the bathtub! And he went to the Christmas Eve service at church that night with pink hands!

All Aboard...The Polar Express!!

On December 11th, we got to ride on the Polar Express~remember from the last post Daddy of the Year got us tickets when they were sold out!! So, we bundled up~Cooper wore 2 pairs of pajamas and off we went! It was FANTASTIC! On the way to the North Pole a man read the story (and Jared had even bought the book for Cooper before we boarded). After the reading of the story, this same man led the entire train in singing Christmas carols while he played the guitar! That was the BEST~even Cooper joined in on the singing! When we arrived at the North Pole, it was beautifully lit up and decorated AND Santa and Mrs. Claus were standing out there waving at us! They then boarded the train for pictures and visits! On the way home from the North Pole, we sang more Christmas carols and were served with cookies and chocolate milk! And, they even gave us our own little jingle bell~which we shook ALL the back to the station (along with every other child on the train!!) We were having sooo much fun~I don't think anyone minded all the noise and chaos! We were also given a nice little ball ornament with a train on it, and since I love to buy each of us an ornament every year~this was a special little gift! I wrote the date on it when we got home and hung it on our tree! I can't wait to pull out that ornament for years to come and remember the wonderful memories that we made riding the Polar Express!

The Santa Special

December was VERY busy for us! But...I do want to remember it all, so I'm attempting to catch up! The first weekend in December we took Cooper to Calera for a ride on the "Santa Special". We originally wanted tickets for The Polar Expressbut they were sold out~I cried, felt like I was depriving Cooper of something very fun and special EVEN THOUGH he had no idea The Polar Express even existed!! Anyway, as we were waiting for Jared to bring our tickets, I overheard him talking to the ticket lady about "next Friday night"~Daddy of the Year had sweet-talked us some tickets on The Polar Express (another blog, another day...I promise). Back to the Santa Special~it's a train ride during the day where Santa gets on the train, sits with you for a very long time, your little one gets to sit on his lap (if he's willing), and Santa even gives you a present from his BIG bag!!! We weren't sure how Coop would do since last year he screamed like Santa was going to take him from us~however~ because he was distracted by the train ride he did very well! He LOVED riding the train, as usual! We were one of 3 families on the train, so the conductors sat and talked to us and then Santa came! Cooper called him "Ho-Ho"! It was soooo cute. Cooper sat and talked to Santa and loved the little snowman beanie baby that Santa gave him! After talking with him, snapping a few pictures, and getting his present, Cooper was ready for Santa to move on because he was a distraction from the ride! It really is neat and intriguing to me how Cooper is sooo into trains. We have taken many rides on the Calera trains, and LOVE it more and more each time! We will definitely ride the Santa Special again!

Thanksgiving in Tennessee

This year in Tennessee, we only ate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with my mom, dad, sister, and her husband. I think this is the first year that we haven't eaten with my Granny and Pop, but my Pop is literally fighting to live each day, and my sweet Granny is exhausted from loving, supporting, and caring for him. So this year we just visited with them, played with Cooper, and enjoyed time that we have together right now. Cooper taught Granny how to "jump high" from the porch, we played the drums A LOT, smashed towers that PawPaw built with the blocks, and played with Sissy's puppies Ruby and Aubie (although Ruby is too old to do much playing). It was so nice just to take a few days and enjoy talking to and seeing the family that I love so dearly and miss so terribly.

Thanksgiving with the Burks

This year, EVERYONE from Jared's dad's side of the family made it to celebrate Thanksgiving. This had never happened before, so there were people there that I had never even met. We had Thanksgiving at the church where Jared and I were married in the fellowship hall. The boys had a great time playing basketball...we had a great time trying to keep Cooper out of the middle of the 3 games that were going on at all times! It was really a blessing to be with all of Jared's family...it really gave perspective to what Thanksgiving is all about. Cooper also had a great time playing with little Denver who is only 4 months older than him. Glad they like each other since they're supposed to walk the aisle together at Aunt M's wedding...we'll see about that!

Disney on Ice

The first weekend in November was Jared's birthday so he went to the hunting club with his dad. I knew that Disney on Ice was in town...but I was not so sure I was brave enough to take a 2 year old by myself! I could not stand the thoughts of not taking him...so we went, AND I"M SO GLAD WE DID!! We had the BEST time on our little date! Cooper's favorite was the sharks from Nemo, my favorite was the It's a Small World presentation, just because it was incredible and sooo pretty! I, as an adult, sat there amazed! Cooper was not impressed with the Princesses AT ALL...but he watched them skate and did like it when they "turned a flip"! We ate popcorn, drank Sprite, and even had our picture taken together at one of those outrageously expensive photo opportunities! I didn't care~Cooper was smiling so big, and it's one of the best pictures I have of the 2 of us(maybe if I'm ever blogging when he's awake I;ll scan it so you all can see it, but for now...never wake a sleeping baby!)