Grace and Peace

Thanksgiving 09 is in the rear view...we had a great time with family and have so much to be thankful for!

Mallory reading to "Christmas friends" she tucked in on the couch as MiMi, PaPa, and Auntie Lu listened in..."Jesus and the Stepsisters had to get to the ball..." It is so fun to hear the story lines she comes up with...and they go on and on and on....

Snacking with the fam...Carter gets excited and waves his arms a lot nowadays...

Time with the kittens...Gus Gus is so patient with M and lets her cart him here there and everywhere....

And C is getting better with "gentle touch"...

Craft time with Auntie Lu...

So many fun things in the kit Laura gave her for her B-Day...we plan on making a Count Down to Christmas Chain today after naptime... :)

Playing ball...Kayla always has to get right up in the mix...

It was a great break full of memories! (See footage of one of the dance parties below...one of my favorite memories from the holiday!)

I have been thinking a lot about the fact that Paul starts off a lot of his letters in the Bible with the words "Grace and Peace to you"...God wants grace and peace for us that is why it is repeated so many times in the books of the Bible...and we want that for our family. I think 3 is going to be harder in our house than 2 was...a friend said that "3 yr olds are just 2 yr olds with experience!" I think that is true! It's going to be a yr of lots of learning and lots of growth and lots of discipline...but we hope in the midst of the highs and lows to have "grace and peace"... :) That's what this holiday felt like...it wasn't perfect (our 3 yr old still needed to be disciplined...Carter fell during the Tree Trimming and got a big goose egg on his head...), but life isn't perfect! And that's the whole point...if life was perfect we wouldn't need Christmas... :)

The Wise Men are starting their journey to the nativity...(it will be a "Christmas Miracle" if we get the room painted and the blue tape down by Dec. 25th...hahahha) :) ... just another reminder that life isn't perfect and we embrace that! :) And another quote that has been going through my mind this weekend...

"We may not have it all together,
but together we have it all!"