Christmas Highlights

I'm not sure how this blog will go. Lots to say {as always} and too many pictures {as always}. But, instead of going Christmas by Christmas, documenting each of our five {soon to be six} celebrations, I am going to try my best to do this in pictures...with a tiny bit of commentary of course. :)

This Christmas...

...we continued the family tradition of surprising the girls with our Bubba's family night.

...we drove by neighborhood nativity scenes daily to "find baby Jesus", as AK says.

...we visited Santa, which Carlie stressed out about because she had nothing she wanted, and didn't know what to say. :)

We took many sister pictures...

...sometimes with Abby Kate in them.

...and sometimes without her sweet, precious, {somewhat stubborn} self.

...we enjoyed visits from old friends, and their new babies {Angie, Kevin, & Margo}.

...we had the Christmas Eve traditional chocolate fountain with the Jacobs fam.

Some ate it...

Others wore it.

All enjoyed it!

We received amazing gifts, including handmade one-of-a-kind dresses from Uncle Chris (and his talented designer friend).

Look at these models!

...we were given generous donations in Chase's honor to the organization that has our heart, Touch A Life.

...and we exchanged ducks, chickens, and rabbits for families in Africa with all of our cousins.

We all exchanged figurines that will hopefully become a collection over the years. For now, ours are being displayed in Carlie's new horse stable, which I think is hilarious.

Mark and I also got a goat and two chickens from Aunt Carol and Uncle Chuck.

We received gift cards for Starbucks, our family favorite restaurants, and a spa day for me. :)

We received sweet precious keepsakes for our little Chase...

...And, another favorite gift was special jewelry from Mark's Grandmother, who passed away in January. Aunt Carol was so thoughtful to pass on Grandmother's earrings to each of us and our girls. (Of course, it gives Kendyll even more of a desire to have her ears pierced!)

We also received a homemade water table just like Mark's Papa made years ago! This time constructed by the handy man, Uncle Brad! This will be hours and hours of fun when springtime hits!

Other gifts have been highly entertaining, and have made for great video. This is Abby Kate singing her "ABC's rock-a-roll" on their new karaoke microphone. With her raspy voice, it is really more cuteness than I can handle.

We have had lots of good grandparent time with Pops, Grandma, Grandad, and Grankay {with still fun more to come with Gammy and Papa Ron at the ranch!}

We also had our second annual "As Seen on TV" gift exchange and we laughed so hard, we cried. (Yes, Mark won a zebra snuggie.)

And, Grandma loved her snuggly scarf with pockets.

At Grandad and Grankay's house, the cousins got to follow the clues to their presents, which even the little ones enjoyed!

And, then got to dig in to the treasure! I love this picture of all the dads with the kids. Where are the girls, I wonder?

Oh yeah, this is what we were doing...

So. Stinkin. Cute!!!

But, we did share...eventually.

On Christmas Eve, we left cookies for Santa and snuggled in bed... (yes, AK made her way out of the picture again.)

...they posed long enough to take a "picture on the stairs" like Mommy wants (some were more participatory than others)...

...and rushed downstairs to find a CRAFTS explosion waiting!

The only thing the girls asked for this year was for Santa to surprise them...

And I think he was very successful.

They immediately began "crafting and creating"...

...And they haven't stopped since! (as you can tell by the looks of our playroom!!)

Santa even brought five red balloons to send to Chase for Christmas (pictures to come later...) and a letter for these three sweet girls. :)

We had our own family Christmas...

...and the girls enjoyed their sister exchange the most of all. They always find the perfect gifts for each other, and the reactions are the best.

And, sometimes, these cuties I'm surrounded by, literally make my heart burst.

We also enjoyed the WHITE Christmas...

and even threw a few snowballs (or snow bombs, as they called them). Well, except for mommy. I was smart and stayed inside, watching from the window. :)

The girls gave me my most favorite gift of all, from Willow Tree.

The figurines are Kendyll {thoughtful child}, Carlie {joyful child}, and Abby Kate {spirited child}. They go perfectly with my "healing grace" mother statue, and my "hope" Chase boy. So incredibly perfect for me.

As I said before, this Christmas was so different for us. In many ways, it was more significant. As is true for anyone experiencing grief, we have been reminded of what really matters...and what doesn't. Although gifts were not the focus of our holiday at all, we found ourselves appreciate and cherishing the thoughtful gifts we did receive. And, although the busyness of the season usually overwhelms and exhausts me, I found myself wholeheartedly enjoying the time with family and friends.

And, I think it's because of a new perspective He has given us.

God has shown me a few things He wishes for me to gain from this journey. And, a new perspective on who HE is has been my most treasured gain. His amazing character has been something I've always "talked about" but probably never fully comprehended. His love was a "concept" that I've believed in theory, but not fully experienced in reality...until now. And, even now, I'm still learning ALOT. :)

His love is unending, lavish, and abundant...and it is personal.

He cares about the details of my little, insignificant life. He cares about my fears, my worries, and my weaknesses. He loves me and delights in blessing me. And, HE made it a good Christmas for us.

This Christmas, we soaked it all in as much as we could. And, we experienced His love "in the flesh" through our family.

Every time we got an extra long hug from someone, every time we had someone acknowledge our heartache, every time someone gave us a gift from their heart, I was reminded of HIS love because my family was showing it to us.

So, that was His blessing for us in Christmas this year, and since we know that life is short, we truly tried to enjoy each and every moment we had with the many precious people He has blessed us with.