Hunter's 10th Birthday!!

Wow. Cannot even believe my baby boy is now 10 years old! How did that happen so fast??!! I always rolled my eyes when my mom would tell me and my sisters "I was just 18 years old yesterday!", but now.....I get it! I was too!

Anyway, Hunter has been wanting to ride in a limo for awhile now, so for his birthday, we rented a yellow Hummer limo (that fit 18 people in it), went to Chili's for dinner, then to the dollar tree (for all kids to buy $5.00 worth of "stuff"), then finally to the marble slab creamery for ice cream. It was a fun night. Hunter invited 4 friends, and all the family (Mom, Amber, Nate, Angela, Autumn, Addy, Randon, Marty, me, and Grace) to join in the celebration.

Happy Birthday, HD! We love you so much, and are so thankful God has given us the privilege and gift of being your parents!

Family get together

On January 2nd, my dad, and Diane drove up to our house from the Wildwood area to have "our Christmas". It was neat to have EVERYONE here that day (Randy, Angela, Autumn, Addison, Randon, Amber & Nate, Mom, Dad and Diane, Me, Marty, Hunter & Grace). We took advantage of it, and got some family pictures taken in the back woods of our property too! It's not often we are ALL together like that. Loved it. :)

Christmas 2009

This year for Christmas, Marty's mom, Mary was with us. It was neat to have her here...see how our family "does" Christmas, and be apart of it. :)

Our tradition is to draw names to see who's turn it is to open a present, then when everyone has opened one present, we put the names back in the bowl, and start over (we do this until everyone has opened their presents). That gives everyone a chance to enjoy the whole part of "giving and receiving"! I have seen my kids learn and grow so much from this....this is one way that shows them how it is just as important to give as it is to receive. Of course we try to explain to them every year WHY we celebrate Christmas too. It's hard to remember the TRUE meaning of Christmas with all the gifts around the tree (even for adults), but it is so important to sit, remember, and appreciate why we really do celebrate it, and what the meaning of that day really is.