Celebrating the Season....

We had a wonderful time together as a family celebrating this Christmas season.  It was a very relaxing time together filled with our family traditions.  Christmas Eve morning we started with making our traditional Christmas cookies for santa... The kids had fun decorating and eating them!  We went to the 4:00pm Christmas Eve service at Port City together and then came home and had our traditional Cheese Fondue and Chocolate Fountain along with other appetizers.  The kids were all sugared up and ready for bed..ha!  The kids got into their Christmas pajamas and opened up one present before bed.  

On Christmas morning the kids awoke EARLY!!!  Chris read the Christmas story before the opening of gifts.  Talking to the kids throughout the day that today is Jesus' birthday and celebrating that with them. Reminding them of the TRUE meaning of the season.

We had a great time watching the kids open their gifts one by one so we could all enjoy the moment.  After the opening of gifts we had our Christmas breakfast of monkey bread and breakfast casserole.  This is always a favorite!  The kids loved playing with their gifts while I started preparing for Christmas dinner...turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, collard greens......We then enjoyed an evening of watching movies with the kids and just relaxing!  It was GREAT!  

After the hustle and bustle of the two days and as I sit and reflect on the season, I am reminded of the many blessings in our life and how thankful I am for what God has done and is doing in our lives.  We have SO much to be thankful for!  It is taking each day and realizing it is a true gift and one that is not to be taken for granted.  God is stretching me and molding me and teaching me HOW to be the woman of God he intends for me to be.  Teaching me what that looks like and how I am to be His hands and feet to those I encounter every day.  Even to my own family...which I tend to forget often.....

We hope that each of you have had a truly blessed Christmas season with your families and that you remember what this season is all about...JESUS!!  

Here are a few pics of our Christmas for you to enjoy.....

  

Merry Christmas!

We would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The kids are excited that their last day of school is tomorrow and then off for a few weeks for Christmas! We are looking forward to my mom coming into town two days after Christmas to spend a few weeks with us.

It is so hard to believe that one year ago from now we were processing this whole idea of moving here to Wilmington. And here we are HERE! Time sure has flown by. To think we have now been here for 6 months is so surreal at times. This journey has been one FULL of ups and downs..moments of doubts, fear, insecurities,etc etc....I could go on and on....but one thing that has remained constant is our trust in the Lord that HE IS GOOD and that He HAS definitely called us here to do His will. We truly feel this is such an insurmountable task at times and we fall on our knees DAILY asking Him for His wisdom and guidance. We are just SO inadequate to plant this church.....
This Christmas we have SO much to be thankful for and we are truly blessed and humbled to be at this place in our lives. I am focusing on what is important and keeping my eyes on Him and praising Him for who He is in my life.

We hope each and every one of you have a truly blessed Christmas and a wonderfully blessed 2009! Our prayer is that we strive daily to keep Christ first in our lives and that we live each day growing closer to Him and fulfilling His calling on our lives.



MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ashley for Chris, Ally, Caleb, and Anna Kate