Post Christmas Wrap-up

Phew - can't believe the Christmas holiday has come and gone. I'm sad that it's over because it's always been a special time in our families, but a little relief is mixed in there too because let's be honest, it's also an exhausting time a year.

We spent the weekend before Christmas at home getting the final details sorted out - I took a friend to the airport early Saturday morning (boy was it BUSY!) and my mom came down Sunday afternoon with her fiance to enjoy a South Florida Christmas with us before heading off to their Christmas wedding cruise.

The morning of Christmas Eve we got up early again and headed north 4 hours to my grandparents' -- the weather held up nicely since it looked like rain the entire drive but didnt actually rain until later that evening. We spent a few hours with my aunts, uncle, cousin and grandparents and then we headed south again to attend church service with Tim's family. I really do enjoy their church and even with the cold rain we managed to have a great candlelight service and it started to feel more like Christmas.

Christmas morning it was great to be able to wake up and not have to go anywhere but to the living room - usually we pack in one or two destinations on Christmas day so this year was a nice departure.

We had a great time with our nephews as well - and how could we not, they're so cute:
(thanks for the pic Aimee!)


Overall, our families got us wonderful, thoughtful and useful gifts and we are very blessed - 2008 is going to be a year of great promise. In another week I will debut the "word of the year" I have been given -- each year I pray that God will give me a word for that year and that is something I focus on throughout the year, that I pray for, etc. This past year it has been "contentment" - so I spent a lot of time praying for God to show me how much I already have and to teach us how to be thankful for what we have and not to lose the joy of life's moments because we're caught up seeking the next great thing.

This year my word hasn't yet been fully revealed but I have a feeling I know what direction God is leading me so I will prepare a "word message" and post that shortly.

We leave Saturday for El Paso, TX to watch our team (hopefully) win their bowl game on New Year's Eve ... watch out Texas, we're on our way!

Here's the rest of the pics from Christmas fun (click here!)