Life on Lofty Lane: Our Very Merriest Christmas!

Christmas was even more special this year than ever before for our family. We couldn't be more blessed than to have two amazing kids and the most loving families to gather with to celebrate the season. It all happened so quickly it seems because as I look around my house now there are no longer Christmas decorations, gifts under the tree, or stockings on the mantle. Once Christmas has actually passed I am usually pretty quick to get things cleaned up and back in place, but I am most definitely sad that Christmas came and was gone so quickly! It is the happiest time of year and I always look forward to the special time with family.

A couple of weeks before Christmas, Emerson and I were able to spend time with Ashley and Nora decorating gingerbread houses. It was our first time to do this and I was excited to see what Emerson would do. As it turned out, she was more interested in eating the candy, but we had fun in the process. :) It was harder than I thought to decorate and my house almost came apart several times! You can see our skills in the pics below. I really enjoyed seeing Ashley and Nora and I love them both very much!!

Ashley and Nora

Emerson watching carefully where I was putting the candy she wanted!

Ashley and Nora's cute design!

Our house... Ha ha...

The weekend before Christmas we drove to Austin for the Paul family Christmas at the ranch in Dripping Springs and had a great time with Frank's cousins and his Aunt and Uncle. It is crazy because when Frank and I were dating and I first met his cousins and their children they were all so young and now they have all grown so much. It makes me feel so old! One of his 2nd cousins said "Yes Ma'am" to me when answering a question and I had to correct him and let him know I am only 30! Please quit that "ma'am" business before I cry I told him! :) While we were there Santa came to visit and surprised all the kids! It was so fun to see their faces. Emerson was still weary, but she did end up giving Santa a hug before he had to head out to another party. That is pretty significant progress!

Glenn and Sarah

Us :)

Frank and Dorthy

Our family with Santa!

The next morning we headed to my parents house to spend Christmas with them. It was wonderful to be home for Christmas and we had lots of fun activities planned. My family has a lot of traditions that I always enjoy... we decorate Christmas cookies, drink Apple cider, watch movies, we read "The Night Before Christmas" on ChristmasEve, look at Christmas lights, and more. I enjoy the traditions so much and know I want our family to have traditions like that, too.

On Christmas Eve we went to the church service at the Methodist Church in Duncanville. We enjoyed singing the Christmas Hymns and the reading of the scripture. But being honest, that preacher was not giving his best sermon... I think it is likely he may have offended some people actually, but it was still a nice service all in all. Emerson was absolutely beautiful in her green dress and Cameron looked adorable in his sweater and corduroy pants. We took some family pics and after getting ready for bed my Dad read an abbreviated version of "The Night Before Christmas" for the kids before we got them in bed. Later we all went to bed and around 3am my brother and sister-in-law were awakened by police and firetruck lights outside the house. My parent's neighbor's house was on fire!! My mom woke Frank and I because we were both knocked out and didn't hear a thing. There were at least 5 fire trucks, several police cars, and other vehicles. Fortunately they had it under control. The neighbor wasn't even home because he was visiting his father in Chicago. Such a crazy and terrible thing to happen and we felt awful for him. We all went back to bed and before we knew it the kids were both awake... it was bright and early!! We held off for a little bit so everyone could sleep longer, but couldn't wait too long because Emerson wanted to see what happened in the living room since Santa had visited! Eventually everyone was up and we were able to enjoy watching Emerson's face light up as she opened her toys and gifts. Cameron had a great time, too. He was having fun reaching for everything and watching all the commotion. Later that day we were all so excited when it started snowing! Frank and I actually took a carload of gifts to Plano, and while we were driving the snow was coming down so thick for Texas. It was beautiful to see and I was hoping it would stick so Emerson could play. Sure enough it did and she had so much fun playing. I didn't have a thick coat for her so I had layers on layers on layers to keep her as warm as possible. I could hardly stand how cold it was, but she did not even notice.... she just wanted to play!

Christmas was just so wonderful... we all enjoyed ourselves very much! Here are more pictures from all the fun!