Almost Christmas!

Wow! Can't believe there are only 4 days until Christmas! I have a lot to squeeze into one post and I don't have much time so here it goes...

We went to ride a train the other night at a park with lots of Christmas lights. We got to ride together as a family and sit right next to each other. We had to suck in! ; ) It was pretty chilly but the boys enjoyed the ride and getting to see the lights!

We also got to see Santa. We talked it up with Weston so he would know what to expect and not be scared. He did great but we must have forgotten to tell Hayden because as soon as Jordan put him on Santa's lap he screamed extremely loud right in Santa's ear. I made the joke to Santa and said "I'm sure that's not the first time that's happened, huh?" And Santa responded, "Not that loud!" I was a tad embarrassed. We ended up getting a family pic taken with Santa since that was the only way to get Hayden in the picture.

 

The boys rode this ice cream truck after we saw Santa.

What a cute lil driver!

 

They make a good team. : )

Ok, so I also wanted to mention what Weston has been asking for Christmas. I had made a point this year not to really ask him what he wanted for Christmas because I know at his age it will change quite a bit and I don't want to feel the pressure to get him all that he asks for. One thing has been consistent with him on what he wants from Santa though and that is a....roller coaster!! A roller coaster! Isn't that interesting?! We've tried to ask him where he had heard or saw a roller coaster and we haven't got a clear answer. I did ask him why he wanted a roller coaster and his answer was priceless! "So he could go way up high and see God!" We talk about God being up high in the sky so he thought if he could go up high he could see Him! As you can imagine that made my heart so proud! He has such a pure heart!! What a special request. The only thing is how do you explain to your 3 year old that we cannot see God while on this earth. We can see His work but in this life we can't see Him like we want to see Him. It broke my heart a little because I wish he could see God.

: ( We did convince him that a toy roller coaster would be neat, instead of a real one! He has also been saying he wants a shooting star (toy) and a helicopter. The other night Jordan and I saw a shooting star while we were driving and the boys were in the backseat. Weston heard us say that we saw one and he wanted to see one. Again, is he not the sweetest?! I am putting in a special request to God that he would get to see a shooting star! And then when we were at the mall the other day he saw one of those remote control helicopters that looks like a real helicopter but it's mini. We will just have to see what Santa brings Weston this year...

Also I want to give an update on Hayden. He is talking up a storm. He has been talking for a little while now and his vocabulary is getting bigger each day but he has been trying to talk in sentences. He knows exactly what he is saying based on his facial expression but I have no clue what he is saying. I may be able to pick out a word or two but it's so fun to listen to him talk.

Well, we are looking forward to Christmas around here and all the family time we get to spend with both sides of the family. It's so nice to have a school schedule because we get enough time to see both parent's.

 

I want to include this great reminder to myself of what Christmas is all about. This is from a devotion from Journey produced by Lifeway.

The incarnation--it's a word Christians use a lot at Christmas time. To put it in bacsic, maybe even over-simplified terms, God put skin in. Deity became flesh (but still remained deity). A baby was born through divine conception. And because of that, for those of us who need an example, we got the biggest visual aid in all of history.

An angel visited a young teenage girl and told her that she would give birth to God's Son. The angel said to her: "The Holdy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God...For nothing will be impossible with God" (Luke 1:35, 37).

The great God who revealed Himself in very dramatic ways in the Old Testament became flesh. This unseen God had a face people could see--the face of Jesus Christ.

Any story becomes more real when you put a face on it. You can read in history books about the Holocaust, but if you read Anne Frank's diary or listen to a survivor tell his or her story, it becomes more real. You can hear a news report about soldiers dying overseas, but until you hear someone from hir or her family tell about who this person was, it's just another statistic.

Because of Jesus becoming flesh, we can know God on a deeper level. The prophecy of a Redeemer becomes real. The Old Testament passages about God's love and mercy have a deeper meaning because we can see His love and mercy in action. The promises of God to never leave us come to life through Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection.

John described it so well: "The Word became flesh and took up residence among us" (John 1:14). God sent Jesus so we could see and know Him as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

Hope y'all have a very Merry Christmas and can't wait to see some of you guys very soon!

 

He's just hanging out eating an apple. He is saying cheese here for the camera.

What a sweet sight! This doesn't last long by the way.