Christmas Cards

I saw this idea on Pinterest and had to do it.

I love getting Christmas cards, it seriously makes my day. But, I hate throwing them away. So what I am going to try to do every year is make a little book out of them and then put them in a basket and we can look through them!

Here are some pictures I took of our first Christmas Card Book




Yesterday Sawyer was in rare form. Very hyper and being silly. She went into her closet pulled down this jacket, hat, and shoe. She wore it all day, no joke. It made me laugh!


And here are a few pictures for Sawyers Aunt Bri. She got her this outfit for Christmas. Doesn't Sawyer look so big in these pictures??? She is going through a growth spurt...eating A TON!!



We are packing and praying that we all stay healthy and can make it to Louisville in one piece. I probably wont blog until after our Louisville trip.

Christmas Videos

So because of my lack of sleep and having a cold my video taping is pretty stinky, sorry!! I'm sure you will still enjoy watching this girl on her second Christmas.

Philly Christmas

First it started off with some baking. I decided it was time for Sawyer to help out, she loved it!



We made Oreo truffles..amazing!!!! Oreos, cream cheese, and white chocolate...need I say more?

Then we spent our Christmas Eve with some of our church body. Mark and Elise (our paster and his wife) opened their home up for a Christmas Eve service. It was relaxing, and a great time to worship our Savior!




We had a tough night with Sawyer. She has had a cold but it didnt' seem to bother her until the night before Christmas. She was up a lot and just wouldn't go back to sleep...bummer! But we all still managed to have a great Christmas morning. I set Sawyers stroller out (her big gift from us) so it was there when she woke up. She loves it!



Here are some more pictures of Sawyer opening gifts. Sawyer loved everything she got and she has no idea she is in for a real nice surprise in a few days!!!




Christmas night we had some friends over and their sweet boys. They took a family pic of us! We had a great time with them with some yummy food.


Now we are just a few days away from Louisville. WE are so excited, and we know that Sawyer is going to have the time of her life. Please pray for a safe trip and that we all stay healthy! Louisville we are ready, are you???/ =D

Christmas Lights

Tonight the weather was in the high 50's so we thought it would be the perfect time to walk and look at the Christmas lights. We loaded Sawyer up in her stroller and I made her a little hot chocolate. She loved it! It was so precious watching her face light up as she saw the lights. Clint snapped a pic of us before we left...holding our hot chocolate!!!

Video

Here is a cute video that Clint took a few nights ago!



Counting down the days till Christmas and Louisville!!!

Christmas Quotes

These are all taken from "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus"

"The gift of Christmas gives you a resource- a comfort and consolation- for dealing with suffering, because in it we see God's willingness to enter this world of suffering to suffer with us and for us." Tim Keller

"Christmas is the end of thinking you are better than someone else, because Christmas is telling you that you could never get to heaven on your own. God had to come to you." Tim Keller

"Thousands of years before Jesus, God purposed that there be a tabernacle in order that there would be One who would fulfill the meaning of that tabernacle, who would be the true Tabernacle for us." Joseph "Skip" Ryan

"Mary responds by saying, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:36). Can you say: "Let the Holy Spirit do with me as he pleases?" Do you trust the Spirit enough to say: "I am your slave; take me; use your omnipotent power to put me where you want me, when you want me there, doing what you want me to do?" Do you know why we can entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit? Because he exists to exalt the glory of Jesus Christ. Therefore, if the heartbeat of your life is the glory of Jesus Christ, the Spirit will empower and help you with all his might." John Piper

"What God did when he sent his Son into the world is an absolute guarantee that he will do everything he has ever promised to do." Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"Why is the world in such a mess? You and I are the problem. Our good intentions are not strong enough to control our evil impulses. We need a Savior to rescue us from ourselves. He is Jesus." Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.

"Every Christmas is still a "turning of the page" until Jesus returns. Every December 25 marks another year that draws us closer to the fulfillment of the ages, that draw us closer to...home." Joni Eareckson Tada

It is so easy to lose sight of what Christmas is truly about. I am so guilty of this. I pray we all will take time this week to reflect on the greatest gift given to us on Christmas...JESUS!

Bird

Today we were driving home and Sawyer pointed out the window and said "bir" which means "bird"

There were tons of birds in the sky. It was a moment that made my baby seem so big!

How to throw a Christmas Party...

First make sure there are LOTS of cookies







Then provide a really fun craft that you can use to help point everyone to the reason for the season




After everyone is full and ready to relax pop in a classic Christmas movie



I am so thankful for great women who have wonderful daughters and we get to "do" life together. We are very blessed! Hope you enjoy all your Christmas parties!!!

One reason why I love Christmas...

PACKAGES! There is nothing like hearing a thud at the door and then seeing the UPS man drive away. It's magical getting a package and having no idea what is inside. We've gotten two wonderful packages in the past two days. The first one was from Clint's Dad. And let me just say it was a hit! Here are two videos of Sawyer when we first got the package:

Here are some pictures of Sawyer playing with her new nativity. She loves it and I love that it will always remind her of the true reason for Christmas! Thank you Papa Bella for this very special gift. We got another package from Clint's mom, Susu, today. Another great surprise! It was filled with gifts that we are saving for Christmas morning. But, Sawyer did get to play with the box and she had a blast! On another note, we have had milder weather here the past few days so we are trying to enjoy it before the real winter hits! We walked to the park yesterday, and I literally mean walked. Sawyer held my hand and we walked to the park a few streets over....sigh...such a big girl. Here are a few pictures I captured of our winter snuggle bug. I think she looks adorable with this jacket and hat!! Lastly, I close this post with another video!! We put new batteries in our video camera so you should be seeing more videos on here, get excited! Here is Sawyer on a regular day just being her cute self. Notice her new facial expression.

Tis the Season...

We went to a Christmas Party last night and Sawyer had her first experience with a babysitter. Our wonderful neighbor came over and loved on miss Sawyer and put her to bed. Sawyer did great! When she was having her bottle she would stop and say, "mama" and look around the house, and then drink some more milk and then stop and say "mama" again. Warmed my heart when I heard that! So Sawyer survived which gave Clint and I much hope in wanting to go out some more! We are for sure homebobides.

I took some pictures yesterday morning of Sawyer Beth before heading to church. She was in such a good mood and excited to go play with all her friends at Trinity. Sawyer does great in Trinity Kids, doesn't even look back when we drop her off. Of course all her best buddies are in there! Here she is in her Christmas shirt!



We are going to have a girls Christmas playdate this Friday with some good friends. I am so excited and will try and capture all the sweet moments!

Just like mommy...

Someone thinks they are a big girl. Babies are her favorite things right now. This morning she was changing their diapers! Too cute!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!!!

Happy December 1st! I can not believe December is finally here. I am going to try and cherish this month as long as I can. This past weekend we got our Christmas tree out and decorated. I look forward to this every year. I have ornaments on my tree that were hand-made by my great-aunt, this is so special to me! I also have ornaments that were my moms and grandmothers. I took some pictures of our tree and some of my favorite ornaments.






Sawyer loves sitting her in little rocking chair (which use to be mine) next to the tree and looking at all the prettiness! I gave her a cookie yesterday and she was loving it! I made snickerdoodles for our community group and they smelled like Christmas, at least in my opinion! Here is that moment captured.







Clint and I are going to start our Christmas devotions tonight. We use a book called "Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus" edited by Nancy Guthrie. I highly recommend it!