Sorry I'm late...

Well, I did it again... When I get out of blogging mode, it's really hard for me to get going again. I have lots of Christmas pictures to post, so here goes nothing...



We had a wonderful Christmas. We got to see many family members and spend time with friends.

I decided not to put up both trees this year, but I made a few decorative changes to our main tree.

I put extra effort into my giftwrap this year (with a bit of help from Jon).

Jackson can never have a relaxed smile in a posed photo. What a cheese ball!

Jon's gingerbread creation won second place in the annual contest.

Jackson assisted in making a variation of last year's Rudolph cookies for his class party.


On Christmas Eve, Jackson (finally) fell asleep using his favorite new stuffed penguin from Papa Mitch and Mama Lane as a pillow.

Santa brought him exactly what he asked for!!

I love this picture of Jon, Jackson and Drew trying to figure out all of Jackson's new Transformers.

Jackson giving Drew lessons on the new DS.

Jackson's very own PILE of gifts at Neane and Big Daddy's house.

It seems like we are still catching up from the holidays. Things are busy as usual around here. Jackson still has not finished all of his thank-you notes. (I really wish I had made him finish before school started back! It's a long slow process with him). Jon's band has been playing once or twice a month, and business is good for him at work. I've been working one or two days most weeks for a little change of pace.

Jon's grandfather has been very sick in the hospital since last Thursday. We finally got a good report today, and he seems to be on his way back. Praise God!

Jon was able to do some duck hunting in Arkansas with friends this weekend. I entertained my friend, April and her daughter Sarabeth while Jon was hunting. We had a lot of fun visiting and playing with the kids. I posted some pictures of Sarabeth on my photography blog.

I'm going to try to get back to picking up my camera and posting regularly. Stay tuned!

Happy December!!

A few years ago, we started a new Advent tradition in our family. I began collecting children's Christmas books and wrapping them like gifts on December 1st. Jackson gets to open one each night to read during the countdown to Christmas. He really looks forward to it, and gets so excited about some of the books he has forgotten about throughout the year. This year, he even picked out the wrapping paper at the store, although I'm still shocked that he chose shiny red and gold over a colorful and playful Santa print. This "new" tradition of ours really helps to get us in the spirit!

P.S. In the beginning, I didn't have enough books to last the entire Advent season. I wrapped the ten or so books that I had, then re-wrapped the favorites after they were read the first time.

Playing Catch-up

Well, I knew it wouldn't take long before I started procrastinating on the blog again. It's been a busy couple of weeks, but I'm ready to catch up now.



We had a great Thanksgiving with famiy and friends. Our camping trip was cancelled due to wet weather, but it all worked out nicely. It's nice to get back into the "routine" after a long holiday weekend!

I'm planning to post more tidbits throughout this week, then get back on a regular blog-posting schedule.

I've posted new family portraits for my BFF, Shannon here. I have two more photo shoots scheduled for this week, too!