Oh Yeah!!!!

We are in full Hawks mode here in our house!

 

Christmas!

I'm finally getting around to our Christmas post!  Christmas always seems to come and go so quickly.  I hold onto it for as long as I can.  Then the chimes of the new year remind me that I can't leave the Christmas decorations up all year.  We slowly begin pulling them down and packing them in their boxes until next year.  While I'm always sad to see the Christmas season end, I also look forward to a new year beginning.  It's a bitter sweet

 relationship.

 

We had a special Christmas this year enjoying family, friends, the Christmas Eve candle light service, opening presents, eating lots of yummy food, and (most importantly) celebrating the birth of our Savior.

There are so many fun ideas out there for homemade gifts.  I had a hard time choosing. These little guys were so much fun to make. I'm always looking for ways to use our old baby food jars too.

 

I guess my dad was a little tired from all the festivities

 

My dad wasn't the only tired one

Enjoying Lunch out with my girls

It's Christmas Time....It's Christmas Time.....

We celebrate Christmas in our home the whole month of December.  Many holiday activities have filled our days this year.  We had two Christmas fundraisers for Tessa's school, a Christmas school program, a church bizarre, play dates, class parties, lots of baking and cookie decorating, crafting galore, Christmas stories, Christmas music, shopping, the nightly advent calendar, Christmas movies, spending lots of time with family, and the most important of all....teaching our girls the true meaning of Christmas.  Tim and I have really struggled this year with trying to find a balance between Santa Claus and Jesus.  With each passing year it seems as though society is drifting farther and farther from the true meaning of Christmas.  It's really quite sad when I really pause to think about it.  Christmas was never meant to be a "merchants" holiday, but that's exactly what it's turned into.  Most people don't even know who the real Santa Claus was and how his whole life was centered around Jesus.  While we want to let our girls have fun with make believe, we also want to instill in them the truth.  It's a hard balance to find, and we're still working on it. 

 

With all of that said, here are a few pics from the month of December.  I haven't yet downloaded Christmas Eve/Christmas Day pictures.  Those will follow at some point.

 

Our little Jayda Sassy Pants

Big sister changing little sisters diaper

My big girl...getting ready for her Christmas program 

 

Tessa's pre-k Christmas concert

 

The girls' favorite part of the cookie making process....the beater!

 

Beautiful animals...aren't they!?!?  We get the joy of having these Elk in our backyard.

 

We joined Tessa for a day of cookie decorating in her class

 

Decorating cookies at home is still her favorite though, which makes this mama smile.

A Thousand Reasons To Be Thankful!

It's seemed with my baby starting pre-k this year, time is going by at an even faster pace than normal.  Our hours, days, weeks, and months are flying by.  It's been over a month since I last posted, and I'm still wondering where the time has gone.  So, what's been going on in our home for the last month you ask....a whole lot of everything.  Tim's been hunting, we've been taking in these beautiful sunsets, Tessa has had class parties and fun field trips, we attended a hospital banquet honoring my mom and her thirty years in O.B., the girls have been playing in snow, we celebrated my step mom's birthday, and hosted Thanksgiving this year. whew!  So, needless to say, November has been a month packed full of busyness. We are thankful for every minute of it. Speaking of being thankful, the reasons we have to be thankful this year, and every year for that matter, are endless.  Tim and I could spend days writing about everything we are thankful for.  Even when times are hard, and we don't understand why certain things happen, Tim and I still manage to find ourselves thankful.  I guess its because we know that as long as we are alive and breathing, God has a purpose for us to fulfill. That gives us hope and a reason to be thankful for everything. 

 

Beautiful bulls in the Teanaway....picture taken by hubby

Fun treats Tess and I made for her class "Spider Party"

Here we are at my mom's awards banquet. Congrats mom!

 

Here's the family gearing up for a little pre-Thanksgiving dinner flag football.

 

For Thanksgiving this year, Tessa made little Christmas ornament place settings for everyone. She colored them, glued little eyes on them, and laid each one by a wine glass all by herself.  She was very proud of her accomplishment and so was her mama.

 With the end of Thanksgiving dinner, marks the official beginning of the Christmas season.....

 

It's been a few years since we've cut down our own Christmas tree.  I had almost forgotten just how much fun it really is.  We got the girls and ourselves all bundled up, brought along hot cocoa, and set out to find the "perfect tree".  Tim and I decided that we're making this a Bryan family tradition from here on out!  

 

 

 Our nightly routine with the girls....sitting by the fire, reading a Christmas story, and opening a door on the advent calendar.