Vacation

It has been so long since I have been able to update. As you know, we left for Florida on the 17th and just returned home tonight. It was a great trip, and after the first day of driving 10 hours or so, the girls no longer ask "how much longer?" They just kind of get this glazed look on their eyes and no longer ask.

I want to make sure that I give God praise for a safe trip. We saw so many accidents, some that had already happened and we actually saw a dead body covered up along the side of the road, and one accident that we saw happen, a car hit the cement dividing wall head on because he was driving too fast on a curve on the freeway! The Lord protected us, as every morning we asked for His protection and as we laid our heads down each evening, we thanked Him for it!

I am not going to be able to update all of our adventures tonight, b/c I am just too tired, but here are a few of our first day there. We met my parents, my sister and family from Indiana and my brother and family from Arizona. The resort was beautiful and we each had our own 2 bedroom condo thanks to my parents time-shares. Bonnet Creek is a brand new resort on Disney property. The weather was gorgeous, mostly low 80's. We celebrated Mikki's bday there on the 22nd. My pictures of that very special day are causing me stress because I can't get them off of the digital card. I am going to have to take the card and have a professional work on it.

I will update with more pictures tomorrow.
I didn't send out Christmas cards this year, so I hope you aren't waiting by the mailbox to get one! You'll be waiting a long time! :)

Jenna

For those of you that know Jenna well, you know that she loves to have fun, loves to be with friends, and is very outgoing...but when you get right down to it...she is a Mama's girl! She just loves to be at home with me. She really doesn't like to sleep over at friends houses and I have made a couple late night runs to pick her up b/c she just can't make it the whole night. (But, before you think I spoil her too much the last time she tried this I made her suck it up and told her I wasn't coming to get her!) In fact, more often than she should she will sleep on the floor of our bedroom, sometimes just on the floor, sometimes she'll bring the couch cushions in and make herself a little bed. Well yesterday after church we went to visit my grandma in the nursing home. She is 93. On our way down the hall to her room, I said to the girls. "Well, girls one of these days you will all be coming to visit ME in the nursing home!!!" Jenna piped up!..."Mom, I'll be sleeping on your floor at the end of your bed!!!" It kind of brought tears to my eyes, but was also very funny! This is the girl who when she was younger was all worried because she wanted to live close to me when she grew up and got married. I'm thinking, ok, that'd be great, next town over or maybe across town, or even a couple hours away. Noooooo....she got all upset and said, "but mom, what if there is someone living in the house right next door to you?!?!"

Christmas Program

Today was our churches children's program. Jenna was the shephards daughter, and Haley and Mikayla and Haley were sheep. Don't you like Brady picking his nose in the pictures!?

Our snowman

Christmas Cookies

Tonight was our annual Christmas cut out cookie making night. It is always so exhausting and messy but we all enjoy it. We are trying to get together a couple large tuperware containers full of goodies to take to Florida with us so all of our family (there will be 15 of us) can enjoy some Christmas sweets while we are there. We leave in 10 day!

Fun at the TackShack

Jeff brought home a box full of wigs etc to put together a Joseph costume for church tomorrow morning. We all had to have a great time with them.

Thanksgiving in Illinois

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you and yours found much to be thankful for. Even though life doesn't always go our way, there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. We had a great time in Illinois with Jeff's family. We don't always know what we are going to "get" at his family gatherings, and some years have been less than desired, but this year we had a really good time. I will try to explain the collage above:
Top, left to right: Jeff's brother Wayne with his new baby daughter, Leighton. Jenna and Grandma arm wrestling, grandma beat her, she's pretty strong! Our niece Melissa with her boyfriend Tommy. The girls with Scooby, Daisy and Shadow.

Middle row: All the grand kids that were present. Brawnson, Mikki, Haley, Melissa, Ryleigh on lap, Austin, and Heather with Leighton, Jenna and Jessica on the back of the couch. Haley on grandpa's lap. Mikki with Ryleigh. Uncle Edwin (Jeff's brother) with Haley.

Bottom row: Mikki could have sat ALL DAY holding Leighton, grandma with Ryleigh, my girls with Ryleigh, the grand kids that night swimming at the hotel, our niece Heather with Ryleigh (she and her sister Melissa were flower girls in our wedding 16.5 years ago!) and Jenna with Leighton.

As you can see Leighton stole the show! She and her sister are so cute! We enjoyed them very much.