Merry Christmas...

As I sit here feeling so thankful to have my girls safe and sound at home with us....my mind wonderrs back to the very first Christmas and the miralce that happened that day....

How God sent his own Son to be born in a manger for someone like me

and you.....

I'm so in awe and so thankful....

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas surrounded by

those you love and hold dear!!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:

and the government shall be upon his shoulder:

and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God,

The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Some pics from our baking day....Morgan had a great time making gingerbread houses and baking cookies....

I found this today...It brought tears to my eyes....

This is what we went to see tonight...The Cook Family Christmas...This family does this incredibly light display to music. The best part is they collect money for a camp here in North Carolina that gives children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses a chance to go to camp...very cool display and a great cause!

Isn't it awful when bloggers don't update their blog? I know! I've been a really bad blogger this month! I don't know where these last few weeks have gone....Is Christmas really only five days away?

Well anyway, here are some of the happenings that have been going on around here...Mike & I went on a Tour of Homes. There were nine historic homes in Waxhaw that we toured...There were some really pretty ones!! They were all so quaint.

Last weekend, Mike, Morgan and I went shopping at Concord Mills....Boy what a crowd...you'd never know there was a recession going on here! It took us one hour to get to the mall and we were only five miles away!!

Morgan got a few early Christmas presents....She wanted a purse and some headbands...How could I refuse? She isn't one usually to want hair accessories and that sort of thing....so I was totally loving that girly side of her....She carried her new purse and wore her headband all day!!

Christmas came early for me last night. Alexa invited me to go to dinner and a movie on a Friday night!! Now, that's something for a 17 year old girl to free up time on the weekend to spend with her mom....I loved every minute! We went to our favorite Chinese restaurant and then went to the movie....It was great!

Today, we're just hanging out in our p.j.'s...We're making cookies and decorating gingerbread houses... the presents are all bought and most of them wrapped, so now, we're just enjoying the season!

Thanksgiving was so great!! Lots of laughs and lots of great food....I enjoyed having everyone so much..Of course, I'm looking forward to the time when we can get everyone together at one time!!

I love seeing everyone gathered in the kitchen....just hanging out. Isn't that what it's all about?

We got our tree this week....That's probably one of my favorite things at Christmastime...I love the smell of a real tree...Mike got busy putting the lights on right away and it's decorated...I think we're only doing the one tree this year....just trying to keep it simple....

Tomorrow, we're off to Mike's Christmas party and maybe to get some shopping done...