Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! What a great day it's been! Long, but very good. My brother and sister-law and their little girl came into town yesterday just in time for our annual Cuban sandwich party at the Rodriguez's. Man, what a lunch! Alan Sr. always does such a great job on those sandwiches. I brought salad and fudge which were great accompaniments. Later that evening, we all headed to church for a sweet Christmas Eve service. The music was beautiful and Dr. Brunson read the Christmas story. We also had the opportunity to participate in the Lord's supper. What a special thing. One thing Dr. Brunson said which I thought was great was that whenever you talk about the manger, you have to talk about the cross and vice-versa. It's so true. You can't separate the two events. Thank You, Jesus for humbling Yourself, putting on flesh, and dying to save me. You did it all because You love me and I am so unworthy.

This morning was really sweet. We had stayed up a little late last night watching a Christmas cartoon so I wasn't sure how late Katelyn was going to sleep. Well, a few minutes after 8 we hear, "Mommy, Daddy!" coming from down the hall. Dan jumps out of bed (I think he was more excited than her) and ran and got her out of her crib. I'm moving a little slower due to the extra 25lbs I'm carrying, but we head into the computer room to check out the tree. We had bought Katelyn a Play-doh canister that I couldn't figure out how to wrap so she spotted that first. She was so excited! There is nothing like experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a 2 year old. After a quick brushing of the teeth (a MUST for me) we opened our stockings then our gifts. It took a while because Katelyn wanted to play with each present she unwrapped. It was so cute! She got some new princess books and slippers, a big princess floor puzzle (that has already been put together multiple times), a new gator shirt, some coloring books and stickers. Dan got me a new sterling silver ring, a book, a pedicure gift card, and a few other little things. I got him a new running watch, a pair of his favorite khaki's from Gap, a new shirt, new PJ pants and a few stocking stuffers. We had a wonderful morning that ended with Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Yummy!

We then headed to my parents to meet up with the rest of the family and do gifts and things there. The 3 kids were so cute together! They were having so much fun! They wanted to be right in the middle of things and open everyone's presents. Katelyn was being funny because she was all about her Titi Tiff. She wanted to show Tiff each of her presents. She didn't care about what mommy and daddy thought, she just wanted to show Tiff. It was sweet. I love that she enjoys her family!

After gifts we just relaxed and started preparations for lunner (lunch/dinner). I cooked a ham (my first one) that day before and then I also made Sweet Potato casserole (a Paula Dean recipe with coconut-so good!). We also had smoked turkey, green beans, corn on the cob, Maria's yellow rice (it's not a Spurlin/Rodriguez function without yellow rice), and yeast rolls. Man, Caroline and I ate good!

We also had the dad's help the 3 kids make a birthday cake for Jesus. It was so cute! Each kid took turns putting things in the bowl then stirring and pouring. They did a great job! Later in the evening we iced it then sang "Happy Birthday, Jesus." All throughout the day we tried to put the focus on Jesus. We thanked Jesus for our gifts and for our family. We read from Our First Bible about the birth of Jesus. I know Katelyn is learning and it's sweet to hear her talk about baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph and the angels.

I pray you and your family had as special a Christmas as we did. Here's to celebrating Jesus everyday throughout this next year. Merry Christmas and God bless!