Merry Christmas!!!

The new train configuration!

Fixing things with his new tool!

Coming down the stairs to see what Santa brought!

Yea-Santa brought Declan the electric pencil sharpener he wanted...a bunch of pencils, too!

Even dogs get presents!

And now we wait....excitedly

Just wanted to let you know that we have submitted our dossier and it has been accepted! We are officially on the waiting list for a baby! What a wonderful Christmas gift!

Christmas at the Library

For those of you that don't know, Charlotte is the home of Billy Graham, his family, Operation Christmas Child (where you fill a shoebox at Christmas time), and all the Graham family business. Recently, the Billy Graham Library was opened here. This past week we traveled to the library to enjoy their Christmas celebration. There was a live nativity (including one very sleepy camel), carriage rides, and a huge gingerbread house that was a replica of the home Billy Graham grew up in. The grounds were beautifully decorated as well. Here are some of our better pictures. As you can tell by the last picture it was drippy and very foggy!

Declan and Rich in front of the "silo."

The barn houses a book and gift shop, yummy snack bar, incredible pictures of the early years of the Billy Graham Crusade (my favorite was one of a billboard outside the Charlotte Convention Center that said Billy Graham Crusade 5th -9th, Elvis Presley 10th, Wrestling 11th, Ice Hockey 12th), and educational presentations.

Yes, it really was super foggy!

Christmas fun

Here we are making our yearly gingerbread house!

We added a couple of penguins to our yearly display!
Cousins trying to get their picture taken!

Pictures with Santa

Declan and I hit the tree lighting in Harrisburg, NC on a freezing cold December night. Yes, all you northerners, it really was cold, in the 30s. Declan was a trooper. He waited in line to see Santa and to take a carriage ride. We were frozen but in the Christmas spirit.

Here is Declan the next day with Santa at our development Christmas party. It is one of my favorite activities of the season. We don't have to wait in line to see Santa, you can talk to him all you want and they always have fun activities for the kids. Declan was a little confused as to why he had to tell Santa what he wanted again. I just explained that he needed to remind him what he told him last night. Santa's busy, he might have forgotten.

Declan enjoying the Christmas cupcake he decorated and devoured all by himself.

Always a good question...

Tonight it was...How does the moon get electricity to light up? That one, of course, was topped when, after singing Away in a Manger at bed time, I was asked how you get to heaven. I gave what I thought might suffice..."you need to be a good person." After many follow up questions which were obviously answered incorrectly, Declan told me we could ask someone at church tomorrow, they would probably know the answer. So, if it comes up tomorrow, I will be marching straight to the minister!

I will have some Santa Pictures up soon!

Merry Christmas!

If you are looking for a Christmas gift....

You will notice on the right that I have added some links and a blog to my list. All three are related. As you will read on Prince Liam the Brave, Liam has neuroblastoma. A friend of mine, Renee, happens to be friends with Prince Liam's family. His story is inspirational and heartbreaking, a true testament to the human spirit. Liam's parents have been integral in the forming of Band of Parents and from that Cookies for Kids' Cancer. Please check out all their sites and if you feel inspired, send some cookies to someone for the holidays while helping fund research for this horrible disease!