Time With Family At The Lake

The main purpose of our trip was to spend time with TJ's family! We were so excited because we have not all been together since the summer and we were going to get to go to the BIG family Christmas party in Birmingham.

First we spent the night at Sarah and Jared's house in Montgomery then on Thursday we headed to Jared's bosses lake house. We had a WONDERFUL time. The lake house was so nice. They had a game room, lots of space for the kids to run around, and beautiful views! They had this big room they have not decorated yet and the kids LOVED playing in there... they would just run around in circles and laugh. It was so cute to watch them play. Another highlight was that Ella and Karoline got precious dress up outfits for Christmas and they were a HUGE hit. Karoline wanted to put it on every morning.

We made many memories and it was just a special time to relax and rest, watch movies, eat, play, and talk! Then we headed to Birmingham on Sunday for the Christmas party...
Please note TJ took the beauitul pictures of the lake... not me.

Callaway Gardens Fantasy In Lights

On our way to Montgomery we stopped at Callaway Gardens... one of my favorite places on earth. I grew up going there for vacation every summer and in the winter we would to see their Fantasy in Lights show. They have a huge tent all decorated for Christmas with things you can buy and see... We got to see Santa, (a real Santa which went VERY well), Karoline got to paint an ornament, we tried face painting again but no luck, ate wonderful food, watched the story of baby Jesus in lights on the lake, and drive through the beautiful Christmas lights. It was SO much fun for me to be there with my Children. It was so much fun and I will treasure our short visit to Callaway!

Atlanta- A Quick Christmas Visit

After lunch in Augusta we went to Atlanta and stayed one night to visit with my brother and his family. My mom was also in town visiting them so it was fun to see her too. Tuesday night we had dinner at Brent and Leigh's house and the kids opened their Christmas presents. Karoline and Aunt Leigh also "made" cookies and it was just fun to relax.
The next morning Jackson and Pressley were in their schools play The Nutcracker. It was SO fun to see them perform. E. Rivers is their school and every child in the school is part of the play. It is really fun. This was Jackson's last year since he will be in middle school next year!! Yes, I said MIDDLE SCHOOL! I cannot believe how old he is now! We were so thrilled that we got be there. Karoline delivered flowers to Pressley in her class room and Pressley was so cute showing off her little cousin.
Even though we had a quick visit it was wonderful to be around my family during the holidays!


My mom is doing a split... Pressley was showing off her split and Mom attempted one too :)

I don't know what I think about my brother's facial hair!

The Nutcracker

Our Stop In Augusta

On our way to Atlanta we stopped in Augusta, GA to see one of my favorite people in the world, Elizabeth Mumpower Hume, and meet her precious children! Elizabeth was such a role model for me growing up through high school and college and she still continues to encourage me spiritually! She is an amazing woman of God and I feel so blessed to know her. I have not seen Elizabeth in 5 years!!! We have kept in touch but have not seen each other. She has had three babies and I have had two so it was about time to meet each other's children! It was so refreshing to spend even an hour with her. She made a GREAT lunch and the kids got to stretch their legs and play in the back yard. Now I am ready to go back...

Neighborhood Christmas Parade

Today our neighborhood had a Christmas parade and BBQ and it was a lot of fun. We almost missed part of the parade but we arrived just in time. It was really cute and the kids loved it. We hope to have a Wellspring float in it next year!

After DRHorton (the builder of our neighborhood) had a free BBQ/ block party for all the homeowners. They had tons of decorations, a DJ, jumpers (Karoline's favorite), face painting, cotton candy machines, and Santa...

So we went to find Santa and Karoline froze... she would not even get out of her stroller. She has a tendency to be timid. Anderson didn't like him either... I think because he was not a "real" Santa... he had a fake beard and was pretty skinny :) But oh well! Here are some pictures and a slide show of some of the parade.


Our neighbors... Paul and his wife. They are SO sweet and this is their vacation home so they are gone often but we really look forward to getting to know them. They have beautiful bikes!

Sneaky Little Man

Anderson hides his food. You know he is finished eating when he starts hiding his food. It's not funny and funny all at the same time. The funny thing is that he has this look on his face like he knows what he's doing but wants you to think he is looking at something else. Funny little man... Maybe this explains why he is so skinny.