Merry Christmas

Only two days left...thankfully all the shopping is finished, presents are wrapped, the groceries have been bought (some already cooked :) We are ready to celebrate! I love this time of year for so many reasons. The house feels all warm and cozy with all the decorations out, we get to hang out with friends and family all the time, Lilly is so excited this year...she can hardly wait, Christmas just brings out good feelings. However, today was a little different. My aunt passed away this morning and I was reminded how hard Christmas can be and will be for her family this year and years to come. It was a good reminder for me to stop and think about the things that really matter in life and make sure that is where my focus is this year. Taking the time to cherish every moments with the girls, Loving on Josh and being thankful that God has blessed us with such a good marriage, putting God first and making Him a priority in my day instead of just making sure I get to exercise in the morning (which is what I usually do). This Christmas instead of focusing on all the stuff we get and give to each other, I want to focus on the people more and build my memories around the conversations that take place.

I hope you have a rich Christmas this year and enjoy every minute of it! Here are a few shots of the girls:

Joy: all smiles by the tree. She is truly living up to her name. She is the happiest little thing. She did have a rather fussy day this past Saturday, but we quickly discovered her first tooth was coming in and now that it has come through she is back to her smiley self.

Lilly had a preschool Christmas program and Santa made a special appearance. Joy loved him this year to our surprise!

We had to take a trip to Opryland Hotel. It was beautiful of course. Here is Lilly posing by one of the many trees inside.