Christmas Morning

We spent Christmas day at my mom and dad's house.  We had already given our kids their presents from Santa and from us before making the trip to NC.  The kids were able to open their presents from my parents on Christmas morning.  

The kids were all super excited for Christmas morning even though most of them knew exactly what they were getting.

The Before:

The After:

Our kids must really be loved by their grandparents.  K got another AGD - Saige.  Now Saige and Merliah are "sisters" and "BFFs."  Riley scored the Lego Chima Lion Chi Temple.  Both kids received a few other gifts and were so thankful for them. 

The day after on the way home:

Kendall's room looks like an AGD store with a barn, camper, jeep, wardrobe, tent, horse, 2 dolls and clothes everywhere.  Ra's room looks like a Lego factory threw up in his room.  There are pieces everywhere and all over the floor.  I refuse to walk in there without shoes on my feet!  Both kids had a fabulous Christmas.  

Special Note:  When we got home from my parents' house, I asked each of our kids what their favorite part about Christmas was, both kids said independently that their favorite part was spending time with Nanny and Pappy.  I was pleasantly surprised by their response.  They both spoke from their hearts and that did this momma's heart good.  Both kids were sad to leave my parents.  Sis cried and wouldn't let go when we left their house.  She cried for awhile on the way home like she did at Thanksgiving.  Riley's tears came later that night when we got home.  He needed to FaceTime them and text them and he struggled to keep the tears from falling down his face.  They both have such sweet, tender hearts.

Gingy Houses

Every year at Christmas it is tradition to decorate gingerbread houses.  One year we invited some of K's girlfriends over for a party.  That was tons of fun!  Usually we wait for my parents to arrive and decorate them with my mom.  This year we decided to decorate them at my mom's house so she could still be a part of it.

Mom built the houses and I supplied all the candy for decorating.  Our kids had such a great time.  Sadly, we had to leave them at my parents house because we didn't have room in my car to bring them home...

I like to put the candy in muffin pans so it's easier for the kids to see and reach.  I also like the kids to have the ability to build a landscape.  They like having streams, trees, fish, snowmen, etc.

Both kids worked hard on their houses and landscapes.  They had a blast and I'm glad we could continue our tradition this year!

It Finally Arrived!

Andy has been waiting for his new truck to arrive since BEFORE Thanksgiving!  It finally arrived today!  They still have to install a few items including the running boards, but the bed liner and cover were ready today so he picked it up!  This thing came directly off the factory line in San Antonio.  It's the 2014 1794 Edition Toyota Tundra in Sunset Bronze Mica.  This exact truck was difficult to find but is a sweet ride.  It's got radar to let you know when you are too close to another object as well as blind spot monitoring.  If his older trucks had that, I might not have minded driving them so much!  This thing is loaded and hopefully he'll have it for years to come.  

Riley's first comment was "This truck is HOT!"

We started doing the math and since we've been married (1995), I've only had 3 different cars - my parents' 1986 Olds Cutlass Sierra, which I wrecked a year later; my 1997 Toyota 4Runner, which I drove for over 188,000 and now my 2009 Acura MDX.  Andy's on his 5th truck since then!  

All Aboard!

Well, ya comin'?

Where?

To the North Pole, of course!  This is the Polar Express!

When Ra was 3 1/2 my parents took him to ride the Polar Express not the Smoky Mountain Railroad which is about 2 hrs from their house.  This year, with us deciding to spend Christmas Day at mom and dad's, Andy and I decided to look into taking the family to ride the Polar Express together.

Andy found out that the train ride also included free entrance into the train museum.  We are never ones to turn down a model train museum, so we headed out to Bryson City, NC right after lunch so we could have time to walk through and look at all the trains.  Boy are we glad that we did!  There were TONS of Lionel trains there.  Lionel is what Andy's dad runs and what Riley has in his collection.  

I found out from a friend that they had a scavenger hunt in the museum and the kids and I worked long and hard at finding each and every item on the HO scaled layout (which is MUCH smaller than Lionel size).  The layout was HUGE and some of the items were tiny, like a squirrel in a tree!  We had fun working together to find all 38!

After we finished in the museum, we headed out for a snack before meeting my brother and his family for the train ride.  We warmed up with some hot cider and the kids devoured some yummy cupcakes.  

Here they are on the caboose that is parked on Main St. in Bryson City.  Our family loves trains so our kids thought this was great!

My 3 favorite people

Here is the cute little Smoky Mountain Railroad Depot in the heart of Bryson City

Other side of the depot

The Smoky Mountain Railroad ready to pull the Polar Express to the North Pole

This was such a cute car sitting outside the depot

My babies

Loving all the Christmas trees at the depot

A small layout inside the train museum.  The big layout was too big to capture in a picture! It was in a different section of the museum. You can see the Lionel cars all behind class cases along the walls.

Thought this winter scene was adorable.  I really enjoy the Christmas scenes in layouts.

Riley decided to read the story of the Polar Express to the girls since my niece said she wasn't familiar with the story.  Our kids know this story inside and out. It's a family favorite at Christmas time.  

The girl cousins in the Jingle Jammies

Keeping an eye out for the North Pole

They had the kids get out of their seats and march up and down the aisles at the beginning of the ride

What Polar Express ride would be complete without HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT Chocolate?

The conductor came through to punch the kids' tickets just like in the movie

Showing off their tickets and hot chocolate

Still not at the North Pole, but getting closer...They actually read the story to you on board and we followed along in our book.

 We finally arrived at the North Pole!

After we passed by the North Pole, Santa hopped on the train and brought a jingle bell from his sleigh for each child on board.  He also signed our book for us.  It got signed by Santa when Ra went and again this year for Sissy's first ride.

It was an awesome experience for Sissy and she was happy that her cousin got to experience it with her!

At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed it fell silent for all of them.  Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound.  Though I've grown old the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.

Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see.

Riley's First Concert

***This post should have been back in November, but our lives got pretty busy and I didn't have time to put the video together until now.  

When Andy & I traveled to Oregon to spend a week together (at that point we hadn't both been away, together, without the kids in over 5 years) this summer, I found out that Toby Mac was coming to Jax.  I quickly emailed my friend Robin to see if she and her son wanted to join us.  Robin's son is Ra's best friend and he got them hooked on TMac too.  Thankfully they decided to join us so I set my alarm to get up early (since we were on Pacific time) to purchase us tickets.  

I guess I did a pretty good job because we were UP FRONT and CLOSE to the stage.  Toby Mac was the headliner of the tour, but he also traveled with Capital Kings, Colton Dixon, Chris August, Jamie Grace, Brandon Heath, and Mandisa.  

The boys had a fantastic time at the concert together.  The moms bought them each a Toby Mac t-shirt during the intermission.  I'll never forget the smile on Ra's face as he realized Toby Mac had come out on stage with Jamie Grace.  His smile was literally ear to ear!  

He had the BEST time and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to take him.  I'm so grateful that my kids enjoy Christian music and for the many artists out there who glorify God with their lyrics and actions.  

Here are the boys before the concert - both filled with excitement and anxious to see what a concert is all about!

Capital Kings was the first act - we love them and had just downloaded their latest single a few weeks before the concert not even knowing they were going to be there!

This was Chris August.  His song Starry Night was very familiar to both of us.  I remember how meaningful this song was to me while living in Utah.

Colton Dixon - an American Idol favorite of ours.  He stood up for his faith while on the show and that resonated with us.  

 His songs "You Are" and "Never Gone" are favorites of mine.  

 This is when Ra's eyes grew big and the smile spread over his entire face...Toby Mac came out to sing with Jamie Grace!

Brandon Heath was the next performer.  He's so incredible.  His song "Give Me Your Eyes" was a hit when we lived in Utah and changed my heart towards wanting to help women leaving the FLDS through my sweet friend Tonia's ministry Holding Out Help.  This song is about seeing the world through God's eyes and his perspective.  Can you imagine a world where we looked at every situation through His eyes?

He also sings "Jesus In Disguise" which is about people running away from problems when life gets tough.  My life got tough in Utah and this song was meaningful - knowing that Jesus is always with me no matter what the situation, even when I can't see him.

Brandon's song "Im Not Who I Was" is also powerful.  It's about not holding grudges towards others and forgiveness.

One thing I really liked about this tour was how each artist sang a duet with the next artist to take the stage.  What a fabulous transition and collaboration - all exalting God.  Here is Brandon with Mandisa.

Mandisa has this song called "Good Morning" that has been the alarm on my phone in the morning for about 2 years now.  My kids love it and it gets us going on those early school mornings.  She's also got a new hit called "Overcomer" that is incredibly powerful.  It's about overcoming situations by the power of the Holy Spirit and believing in what God feels about each and every one of us.  We can overcome anything that we face.  We need to believe God when he says, "trust me" in all things.

 Ta Da!!!!  Here comes TMac!

What a performer!  Praising God, giving thanks, what an incredible role model for my son.

Yes, Momma scored us some SWEET seats!  

At the end of the concert, confetti came down from the ceiling and it was incredible to see Ra's arms raised, praising God with no hesitation.  He was in the moment and it made my heart burst with joy.

I apologize for the poor video quality available via Blogger.  I really wish they'd get around to improving that, but I guess you get what you pay for...

I couldn't have asked for his first concert to be any better.  Our seats were great, the artists were incredible, the worship was awesome...I also warned him that he won't always have such incredible seats for concerts in the future.  Mom got pretty lucky with these and were surprisingly affordable!