Christmas Happenings

Christmas came and went so quickly this year. I must admit, I fell in the trap. Let me explain...

Upon returning from Uganda, I was thrown back into the culture shock of the very consumer-driven Christmas season in the U.S. Talk about a rude awakening! I'm so glad I was gone for all of the "Black Friday" hoopla. But, what I did come back to was more than enough. I am certainly not saying that it is wrong to buy gifts for others...that is good! Christmas is about the first Christmas...where gifts were given to the newborn Savior. Then, St. Nicholas loved Jesus by serving the poor and giving gifts at Christmas. It is no doubt a good tradition. But, so often, Satan can take what is good and turn it into something that he thrives in...greediness, discontentment, distraction, "busyness", stress, debt - anything that keeps our eyes off of Jesus. I think that has become America. We went to Toys R Us one Saturday leading up to Christmas, and I literally became nauseous seeing how much people were spending on TOYS! I kept telling Greg, "Do you have any clue what everybody could provide for very needy orphans with all of this money they are spending??" After being in Uganda, getting caught up in all of it just seemed so futile, temporary, fleeting, STUPID. Jesus really used Uganda to change me, my priorities and my outlook on life.

But, it happened. Between Christmas parties, school events for Luke, purchasing gifts and all the other happenings, I just became stressed, unhappy, not myself. Without realizing it, I had caved into the pressure to keep up and get it all done. One day, I found myself so busy baking cookies, wrapping gifts, etc. that I realized I spent NO quality time with my kids. "Not right now, I'm busy" became my most frequent phrase. I then realized that this is not what I was created for and certainly not what Christmas was created for. I was created to LOVE my family, SPEND TIME getting to know my Savior, SERVE the needy, BE STILL and know that He is God. While Christmas traditions are good and fun, they become idols when they take our eyes off of Who we are supposed to be celebrating at Christmas. (and always!)

This year, my theme is "simplify". The Lord is revealing so much to Greg and me, and I want to focus on what He focuses on...loving, serving, hearing, BEING.

I did want to share our Christmas pictures. We did have a great time - such a fun season!

We went to Greg's office Christmas party. My boys were the life of the party, until Jack stuck his hand in someone's drink that had a BEE in it. It stung him, and he was swollen pretty quickly. We left quickly, and I was concerned about an allergic reaction, ready to use Luke's epi-pen! But, the swelling went down quickly, and he was fine by the time we were home.

Here is Luke getting his karaoke/dancing on! He was shy at first, but not for long!

Jack showing off his dance moves...(by the way, he is broken of his pacifier now. Woohoo!)

If you live in Dallas, Northpark is a must for the holidays. We were there almost an entire day, and only spent money on this train exhibit! It was our second year to see the trains, and I think it will be a tradition...we love it!

Conductor Jack -

Luke wanted to take his own pictures with Daddy's phone -

I love these two profiles -

Luke had a Christmas party at his preschool, which was really fun. He loves school!

Decorating his ornament -

This is one of his favorite buddies, Ainsley. Let me tell you, they are two peas in a pod. Their personalities are hilarious together. Goofy, cute kids! Ainsley was trying to hug Luke. Luke was just trying to be silly -

And then, they both just spontaneously made these faces. So funny!

Hugs from Mrs. Maurer, one of his sweet teachers -

We spent Christmas Eve with Greg's family in Tyler, and had a great time. But, in all my busyness, I forgot my camera. Dang... Family, if you have pictures from Christmas Eve, send them my way!

Christmas morning was sent at our house with Uncle Jason. We had a great, simple day together. Greg's parents came by in the morning and spent a few hours with us, too. We started the morning by Greg reading the Christmas story to us. Then, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, and started opening gifts.

Jack was not into opening all the gifts, which I was fine with. He was content sitting on Daddy's lap -

Then, he realized he hadn't had breakfast and got cranky, FAST!

Luke, my careful, meticulous child, opened his gifts very slowly.

Playing with his new Leapster (which he's not too into yet - Oh well!)

All the while, Jack was watching with his cheerios and milk. (I didn't get any pictures of him opening his gifts because he really didn't open them. We ended up doing it for them, then he enjoyed playing with them.)

I love these ages, because it doesn't take much to get them excited. Luke was much more thrilled with this $1 matchbox car than his Leapster!

Again, the concentration -

Happy about his new Lego set from Nana & Bapa -

They stayed in their jammies all day. We had fajitas for dinner, and just played. It was a great day! Right before bedtime, a quick picture with Uncle Jason! (That box to the right is one of the gifts my parents gave me - a really nice ice cream maker. So excited to use it!)

Four of my favorite guys -

Stay tuned for a post about our trip to Lake Tahoe (the day after Christmas!)