December 23rd

Can it really be true? Just two more days? The excitement at our house is overwhelming!

We got ready to go to church this morning. There was a brunch during Sunday school so we worked hard to get everyone ready to go by 9:30. (That means the getting ready process has to start at 6 in the morning. . . it is no easy feat to get everyone ready for church!) Lucy also decided this morning that she wanted Mommy to "put a curl" in her hair. We haven't tried that before, but she sat very still and let me curl it. We even put some hairspray in there too. However, she is cursed blessed with hair like her mom, so the curl had fallen out within five minutes. So here are my sweet little ones, dressed in their Christmas best!

Michael needed to take his white stole down to church so he would have it for Christmas Eve tomorrow. Lucy decided she wanted to dress like Daddy. (Pay no attention to the giant mess that is the living room behind her. . . we will have to do some cleaning tomorrow so that Santa will have a place to put his presents!)

We are so blessed to be at Salem United Methodist Church and were truly touched today by the love the congregation showed to our family. At the end of the service, they presented us with a monetary gift, which was more than enough in and of itself. But they didn't stop there. They also had a gift for Lucy with a stocking full of activities and a My Little Pony remote control car. This was one super-excited little girl!

It goes without saying that she has driven the car up and down the hall all afternoon. :) The generosity of our sweet church doesn't end there though. There was also a little red wagon for the boys and this giant Coca-Cola bear.

(Don't let the boys faces fool you - they were ready for a nap at this point! This evening, Lucy was moving the bear around the room and both boys were grinning and watching its every move!)

And all of this is more than we deserve. But then, they also told us that the boxes and boxes of items that were collecting under the Christmas tree at church were their gift to us. The boxes were filled with household items like paper towels, toilet paper, spaghetti noodles, diapers, wipes, baby food, muffin mix, and so much more. There was even a turkey for us in the freezer!

Words can't even begin to described how overwhelmingly blessed we are. We are so grateful for the love they have shown to our family and so thankful to be able to serve our Lord along side them. What a blessing each one of them is to us!

And then, here are a few pictures of Alex and the giant polar bear. Charlie finally calmed down to take a nap . . . just as Alex decided he was done with his nap! Oh well. . .