Church Christmas Program

Well it is officially Christmas! In an older post I had written, I just hadn't gotten into "the spirit of Christmas". Well I officially am there! YEAH !

I love to hear the young children in our church, sing with all their heart about the greatest gift we have received! I loved the program this year. We had all different age groups sing and we had a time to carol (2 songs) and then a time of fellowship. I left feeling full (of the Spirit)!

I would have to say, the 2 and 3 year olds were amazing to me. They all stood so still while on stage, they smiled, they ringed their bells at the correct time and they sang!!! Their teachers did an awesome job with this group! They were so cute! I thought the entire evening and service was very nice!

I did take pics of the little ones singing they just didn't get copied on the CD, so no pics for this entry!

So I wish you all, where ever you may be, a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR!

Rylee's School Party

On the same day as Abbey's party, Rylee's school sang carols and then had their individual parties. This is my absolute favorite time. They have all the children at the grade school sit in the media center and sing all the good Christmas carols we all learned as small children. Francy Kusch asked Trivia questions about the song they are going to sing to see who can guess the song. It is so much fun! Abbey sat by Rylee and Briley and fell asleep for about 10 minutes, I didn't have my camera by me; but I laughed so hard when I realized what she was doing. After the carols, each class room has a party. There are drinks, toys, snacks, and this year Rylee's classmate, Sammy Hopkins (?), mother read "Polar Express" and "The Night Before Christmas". She is so animated and the kids truly listened! She did a wonderful job!! Abbey was in aahh!

Abbey's Class Party

Abbey's class had a special visitor at their party. They had watched the movie a couple days before and "the Grinch" stopped by. It was funny, not really, one little girl cried, which made a few others not want to get by him also. I was so shocked when ABBEY, my child that does everything, did NOT want to get by him. She started to cry when we had the entire class stand by him for a pic. Mrs. McGolden, such a blessing in both my girls' lives, stood by her and held her hand during the pic. After he left, everyone was in a good mood again and ate their snacks and open their gifts. It was priceless! IT WAS FUNNY!

Journey Christmas Pary

We had a wonderful turn out last Thursday evening for our Christmas Party. It was held at Adam and Nicole's house (Thank you!). Everyone brought some goodies to share and a Dirty Santa gift. After an hour of visiting and eating, we started Dirty Santa. We had a good time! Todd brought back "the thong". These were maybe fancier than the last; black and gold tiger stripes! LOL!

We had a wonderful time with laughter, food, talking, and more food. You know how the Journey Class is - WE ALL LIKE THE FOOD! Some of our class was not able to come, due to prior engagements; but we missed them and we ate their share!!! LOL!

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Journey Christmas Party!

Just for you Jason....



THE THONG IS BACK (THANKS TO TODD):


FIRST OPENER. Travis was soooo excited to open this gift. He and Lisa had no idea that this could even be a possibilty! It was HILARIOUS!










THE STEALER: ADAM ACTUALLY WANTED THESE!? WHAT?











AND THEY END UP---WITH TODD! WE ARE SO SORRY ANGIE. LOL! TODD WAS A LITTLE TOO HAPPY TO END UP WITH THESE GOING HOME WITH HIM! CONGRATULATIONS!

Abbey Visits the Fellowship Home

Abbey's Pre-K class went to the Fellowship Home and sang for the residents. I love to watch the older people when watching the kids; their faces just light up! And I love watching the kiddos with so much excitement, sing and laugh; they are so precious! After they sang, they each had made 3 cards and wrote their names on them, they handed out their cards and told the residents "Merry Christmas"! It was priceless. There in nothing like a child's love!

ONE WEEK!!

Well I would like to say I am ready, but the truth is, I still haven't gotten into the mood yet! I love Christmas time, something is just missing this year. I don't know if it's the financial crunch or just me. We usually don't spend a lot on gifts anyway, but being on a tighter budget makes buying on the whim (sp?) so much harder! My girls put me in the mood every evening when we do the count down and the "I hope I gets" and the "I am so excited!" (Yes that is still a frequently used sentence with Ms. Abbey). Everything excites her, sometimes I would love to look through her eyes at the details of my life and maybe I wouldn't take them so hard. I doubt I would get "so excited" about them, but maybe some wouldn't seem as bad.

This Sunday is our Church's Christmas Program. I am excited this year, mostly because it is involving our entire Church Family. We have the little ones singing, the K through 6th singing 4 songs, some adults singing and Travis has put together some of the high schoolers to lead in worship. I am truly looking forward to this night. I love to sing and I truly love to celebrate and worship our Lord with music. Of course, Abbey is "so excited"and I believe Rylee may have even used those words! My kiddos love to sing also, they must have gotten that from me!

I recently joined facebook and am trying to figure out that whole world. I have reconnected with some of my good friends from high school and it has been wonderful getting to catch us with them. This is all so new to me, the way technology can keep you in touch and you see what everyone has written. IT'S CRAZY!

I took Abbey to pick out a gift for Rylee yesterday. It was HILARIOUS! Everytime she would find something, she would say, "Maybe we should get 2, one for me and one for Rylee." Bless her heart, I would explain we are shopping for Rylee. Then she would find something she wanted and would tell me, "let's just get this and you tell Rylee this is what I wanted from her". So again I would have to explain. Finally we decided on one gift and her ending remark was, "You ARE going to make her share with me, right?" I LOVE IT!!!

Abbey and the Pre-K class went to the Fellowship Home to sing Christmas carols and hand out cards. I love this part of Christmas, watching the children brighten those adults lives and they don't even have a clue that they have touched their hearts. This is Christmas! This is the part of the Holidays I love. Reaching out to the community and making someone else's day seem a little brighter!

The Christmas Parade..

Fairview has started having a lighted Christmas Parade every year, and this year we decided to go. It was cold and windy, but they had a good turn out. Some of the floats were really nice!
After the parade we went to Longdale and drove through the Christmas story on Sandy Cove. We all thought it was very neat and the girls had the opportunity to ask some questions that maybe they hadn't thought of before. We stayed in our car and drive from scene to scene. There was scripture for you to read that went along with the scene they were portraying. This takes alot of time from the volunteers and it was truly amazing.
Of course you can't go that far and not eat at El Charro! That is how our family evening ended, filling our tummies too much and heading home. It was a wonderful family date.

All Rylee wants for Christmas is....

HER 2 FRONT TEETH! Rylee and Daddy pulled her 2 front teeth Friday night. Her permanant teeth were already coming in and we aren't even sure how the baby teeth were connected. All Ryan did was touched one of them and it fell out. I won't go into details, but there was hiding, begging, and crying going on; but they needed to be gotten out and she said she feels alot better now. There is nothing cuter than children when they lose their front teeth. I will just have Rylee smile at me so I can see her. The tooth fairy left $2 under her pillow.

Getting in the Christmas Mood!

My loving husband was so eager (not the right word) to put lights on the house. While he worked on the lights, Rylee and Abbey decided to Christmas Carol to him. It was the cutest thing. Abbey got so tickled at Ryan, he had Abbey's Dora stocking hat on. I tried to get it in the pic but I am not sure you can see Dora. You can see that it has a pink stripe around the hat though. Real men can wear pink, that still doesn't explain why Ryan felt he could though! Just joking I love him dearly!!
After the caroling, we all went inside and baked bread and dipped pretzels. The girls love to help in the kitchen and we all had a great time. Abbey just told me, "Remember to tell everyone you give this to, that Rylee and I helped and it is from us too!" So I have told everyone, and it is amazing how the goodies taste so much better when two little girls made them.!