Mitchell Family Christmas

I love going to the Mitchell's. I say that as if we aren't over there EVERY week. In fact, both of my in-laws are sick right now, probably from the crazy amount of family that they have housed over the past 3 weeks.

Joe has 3 older brothers. I have never had older brothers and I love it!! Matthew is the "wisest" and lives in Atlanta and works for Coca-Cola and helps them acquire new companies and products(Joe and I actually saw him on a CNN show about Coke a couple of weeks ago, he's brilliant). Drew is the next in line and lives in Orlando, FL and is currently finishing up school to be a Paramedic/EMT/Firefighter...this is VERY close to my heart since we have had to call an ambulance 3 times this year for Ella, to know that he's being that assistance for other families makes me love him more than ever. Josh is the closest to Joe in age (18 months older) and currently lives in China with his wife Wendy and their two boys Abraham "Abe" (6 months older than Will) and Ezekiel "Zeke" (13 months old), there is a lot I could say about how they serve, but I'll keep it off the world wide web.

ALL the boys and the kids were in town for Christmas. Seeing that we are spread all over the globe, that's a feat, and a treat. We spent a lot of time just sitting around talking, laughing, watching the kids, and of course cribbage (don't ask, I don't understand it, but the boys have played it EVERY TIME they have been together for at least the 6 years that I've known Joe).

Here are some pictures from the wonderful few days of Christmas.

Christmas Morning

Joe and I have decided to to one thing very differently from my parents on Christmas morning. We've decided to NOT give our kids every toy that Toys R Us can fit in one store. My Christmas' were WONDERFUL as a kid. Each of us got our own color of wrapping paper with gifts inside that came out to the middle of the living room, we also had our 1-2 BIG Santa gifts that were unwrapped and then our stockings were overflowing...I honestly believe that my mom had more fun seeing the tree and us tear threw the forests of paper than we EVER had in opening the gifts. My mom was VERY structured about Christmas and made sure we all had about the same number of gifts and that each of our amounts added up to around the same value. She must have felt crazy by the time she started wrapping them all. Joe and I are very different. It probably started because we never know what to get Ella and have only given her 1-2 presents for the last 4 years because there really isn't anything that she "wants". We decided to carry this on each year and only give the kids a couple of gifts that they will really enjoy, and let uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents fill in the blanks (not that we have many toy blanks in our house). This year we gave Ella a baby doll (because I felt like it was age-appropriate and something that was safe for her to play with each day) and a shopping cart, see previous post, because she can actually use it to learn to walk (we just need weights to keep it from coming down). William was a lot easier to buy for, but hard to know where to stop...he got cowboy boots (if you know Joe, then you know this is VERY appropriate) and Little People Airplane and Barn sets. It's been so funny to watch Ella try to take his plane and he puts all of his toys in her shopping cart and takes off...I guess they are pretty typical siblings. It was so nice to enjoy Christmas as just the 4 of us...till we headed to the Mitchell's...stay tuned.

Elkins' Christmas Eve

We've done Christmas Eve with my mom's family (the Elkins' side) since as long as I remember. My Granny and PawPaw did it at their house until they both passed away in 1995 and it's now been passed down to our generation. I was VERY glad to have, almost, everyone here this year (we missed Joe, Aubrey and Taylor). Traditions are very strong in our family, so carrying them on to our children has been fun. It was a great night of food, games and a lot of laughter...I think my grandparents would have loved it this year with all of the GREAT-grandchildren.

A Father's Christmas Duty...

I always laughed at the stories that my mom told of my dad staying up till all hours on Christmas Eve to put toys together, whether it was a dollhouse, bike, or any of the millions of toys we received as children, "Santa" always had them put together so that they were ready to play with as soon as the gift was opened. My dad then made the rule that if it needed to be assembled, then it wasn't purchased. I got to witness this as a mother this year. We bought Ella a shopping cart and baby doll...here is Joe assembling the cart, you should have heard his frustration as it wasn't going together very easily, but well worth the work on Christmas morning.

Christmas Train

This amazing man in Richardson dedicates his WHOLE backyard to a Christmas train that kids and adults can ride. It's totally FREE and he doesn't even take donations, just volunteers during the year to help with the phycial needs. He literally dug up his whole yard...so unselfish and a blessing. Since Joe's brother and family were in town from China, we decided to take all the grandkids out to ride. Here are Will and Ella, along with Abe and Zeke, riding the train!

We're Expecting

Some of you might have already read, but this post is to announce that we are expecting our 3rd child in August. We'll keep you updated as the pregnancy progresses. Thank you already for your prayers of health.

School Field Trip to Collin Creek Mall

Thanks to our wonderful Kristie, I got to take both of the kids to Ella's field trip to Collin Creek Mall. Ella sat on Santa's lap (Will freaked and wanted nothing to do with the fuzzy man). Both kids played on the great indoor playground. Ella fed herself ice cream with all of her friends and then Will got to take Ella's turn on the train in the mall...benefit to being the little brother (the same size as the 3 and 4 year olds).

Girls Night at Rise

These girls are very special to me. They have all been there since BEFORE Joe and I started dating and have been shoulder's for me to cry on and laugh with...we all needed this dinner to catch up and laugh some more.

FC Christmas Party 2008...end of memory lane.

You can tell I had a lot of fun with friends this year. Two kids at home will do that to you.

Fellowship Class Christmas Party 2007...memories...

Stephanie is 6 months pregnant with Julia and I'm 8 months pregnant with William. Stay tuned for 2008 and Ashley will be pregnant...it's contagious in the class.

Fellowship Class Christmas Party 2006...just for fun