Christmas

These are some pictures from Christmas. We had a great time and spent lots of time with family. We did the English side gift exchange on the Sunday before Christmas so Karl could be there. We got an emergency radio/flashlight. Terica made a really cute wooden picture of our family (I'll post a picture of it later).Natalie got dress-up cloths and a monster size coloring book. Julia got a Curious George doll that sings her to sleep, and a little toy that sings when you push buttons. Jake and Sariah had our names for Christmas and they sent us a food storage chart, and some cute rag dolls that Sariah made. Supposedly there is a game on it's way, but we don't know what happened to it. On Christmas Eve day we went to Andy and Terica's house and then that night we went to the English's. Dad read the story from the bible, then we sang LOTS of songs from the hymn book. Then some people played games and others watched the Nativity Story movie (the full length, non-cartoon one), it's one of my favirites. Adam and Gloria, Nicole, Cherise, my parents, Cami, Marcus, and our little family were all together for that.

Then we went home and prepared for our little Christmas the next morning. Marc got baseball tickets, and a picture collage to take to work. Michelle got a watch, a bookmark, and a scarf, hat and mitten set. Natalie got a Belle doll, a tent, sleeping bag, and yellow treats (which was all she wanted, "yellow treats in yellow wrapping paper"). Julia got a Mrs. Potato Head, some books, a ball, and stuffed bird. It was fun for it to be just our little family that morning and to see the surprise on the girl's faces when they opened their presents. That's my favorite part about Christmas, how excited they get about the littlest things.

After opening gifts at home we headed over to spend the day with the Maddox family. We were very blessed there as well. They are soo good to us. We got some 100 hour emergency candles, and a beautiful picture of Christ. Marc got nice gloves and a hockey book called Game Face, I think. Michelle got a great beading set in a handy carrying case. Natalie got cute jeans and some pj's. She also got and jewelry box that has Zoey from sesame street and plays music, a necklace and bracelet set, and some little dolls with plastic outfits you can change out. Julia got a cute vest and some pj's. She also got a worm that sings and glows to sleep with. Kevin had us for Christmas and he gave us a new game called Killer Bunnies, which we love. That's all I can think of as far as gifts go, sorry if I skipped any, needless to say we are very blessed. But the best part was getting to see so much of our family. Adam and Gloria, Nicole, Cherise, and Karl visited form my side. And Rob and Sarah, and Scott and Caroline visited from Marc's side. It was so much fun!

Exciting e-mail!

So, the other day Marc called me and asked me if I'd checked my e-mail that day. I hadn't so he told me to go check it and to my pleasant surprise this is what I found.

I am excited to announce Marc Maddox has been promoted to Accountant I and will begin transitioning to his new role this week. In Marc's short time with us he has demonstrated a high sense of urgency, attention to detail, and overall high customer service. Marc always volunteers for special projects and seeks out ways to provide assistance to the department as a whole.

Please join me in congratulating Marc!

Jordan Martin
Director
Client Accounting Services
Colliers Turley Martin Tucker

Marc has been with this company for about two months and we were very excited to hear this news. It is great for me to hear from others that my husband is doing the amazing job I know he is capable of. And getting recognized for his hard efforts. I knew that once he got the opportunity to prove himself in his field, they would not be disappointed. I love you honey!

We had a great holiday season. These pictures were taken at a Santa's Cottage event at the elementary school. It was hosted by the Parents as Teachers program were are involved in. As you can see they had a reindeer, Mrs. Clause, and Santa. Is it wrong of me as a parent to just LOVE the picture of Julia crying with Santa? It's one of my favorites. The thing is she's usually not afraid of strangers. In fact that very same morning she walked up to a teenager she didn't know, with her arms out wanting her to pick her up. The girls had a great time. Natalie made a gingerbread house, and got to meet a gingerbread man, which she was very excited about. She remembers making ginger bread houses with Grandma Maddox last year and can't stop talking about it. They also made other cute ornaments, and reindeer food. Natalie got to pick out some gifts on her own as well. Uncle Kevin got a travel trivia game which, I'm sure he'll use often, lol. Aunt Nicole got a cute little velvet purse to go with the purse I made her for Christmas. I just love the holidays. It's so much fun when you have little ones and they get excited about the littlest things. The way their faces light up when you talk about Santa. The way Natalie constantly wanted to sing Christmas songs and is upset now that the radio doesn't play them anymore. I especially love that she added her own line to "Santa Clause is coming to town." She sang it to Julia when we were on our way back from Thanksgiving. She sang, "He sees you when you're sleeping, he sees you when you are awake. He sees you when you're making a mess, so be good for goodness sake!" Julia was having a hard time and Natalie made it all better by singer her to sleep, she kept saying, "It's OK Julia, we're almost home, just go to sleep." As she stroked her face. Anyway, I loved seeing the joy of it all through my child's eyes. She asked Santa for yellow treats in yellow wrapping paper, and a princess Belle doll. And that is just what she got, and lots more.

This was the first snow we had this year. It was barely enough to play in and it melted pretty quickly, but as you can see the girls thoroughly enjoyed it. I tried to upload a video, but it didn't work. In it Julia falls a bunch of times and then sticks her face in it to eat it. You can see that in one of the pictures, though. In the picture where she's sticking out her tongue, she kept trying to catch it. I just loved watching them play in it.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. It was a last minute decision, but we decided to go out to Virginia for Thanksgiving with Marc's parents this year. My parents went down to see Adam and Gloria. We had a great time with Melanie and her family. Melanie is a great cook, so the dinner was fabulous. We spent the days after eating leftovers. We also did a little Christmas shopping on Friday. We got to go to Josh's football game on Saturday, which I forgot to bring my camera to. Then we went to a park were they had animals you could feed and had a great time walking around there.
As you can see the kids kept wanting to wrestle with Marc. Julia kept getting in the middle and we thought she was going to get hurt. We had a wonderful time and Natalie love spending time with cousins. I am also happy to report that since that trip Natalie is fully potty trained. It was a very long process, but I think it helped to see that Sam was doing it. I'm not sure what the difference is, but I'm sure grateful for it. My only regret from the trip is that I didn't get a picture with all of us in it. Thanks Mel and Fam for a great time!

Here are some pictures of Paxton's blessing. This is one of the joys of living close to family, we get to go to these kinds of things. Andy did such a great job with the blessing and Terica did a good job of making everyone look cute. There was a dinner together afterward which was fun too.

So, I haven't updated my blog in a while and a few things have happened since. First of all I like many did get to see Twilight, twice. Once with Terica and once with Marc and our friends Ben and Becca. I LOVED it! I liked it even better the second time. The only thing I could critize is I wish it was 2 hours longer. Yes I know, a little extreme, but I didn't want it to end. I have since read some other blogs and opinions about it and others noticed things about it I didn't. I guess I just loved the book and loved being able to see it on screen.

I love fall

Fall is quickly becoming one of my favorite seasons. It used to be one of the least favorite. The dread of a long bleak winter ahead didn't appeal to me. But I am whistling a different tune these days. I like fall/winter cloths, hot chocolate, soups on cold days, wanting to snuggle with someone to keep warm, not having to keep my toes freshly painted, Halloween and Thanksgiving, and much more. I think these are great holidays because it means lots of good things to eat and time to be together, without the pressure of getting the perfect gift for someone. I know it isn't about the money, but if you care for someone you should show you put the effort and thought in to giving them something nice. Don't get me wrong I love Christmas time too. I am just now developing a love of the autumn season.

Pumpkin carving

This is a pumpkin carving night we did right before Halloween. Julia was already in bed. The big one is daddy,(notice the eye brows, Natalie was a little scared at first). The one with the two bottom teeth and the side tooth on the top is Julia. (That's how her teeth were at the time. She had her left lateral tooth in before her centrals. Then all three of the other ones came in together). The one with the gap in the top teeth is Natalie, she has a little gap between her front teeth.

Happy Halloween!

We went trick-or-treating with Andy's family and it was so fun. Their neighborhood gives out the good stuff, full size candy bars, etc. It was a sight to see Natalie and Jadeyn lagging behind in their little costumes talking like two grownups. They were complimenting each other on their hair and costumes, holding hands the whole time, and having so much fun. It was the perfect night to be out, the weather was great. It's so fun to have family close by to share these moments with.