Holiday Snapshots

For the first time ever, our tree was artificial. It was a hard move for me. The tree looked nice, but I missed our trip to Marvins and the anticipation that only comes with a real tree. I did not miss the needles.


This year our church Christmas program was also the "Going-away Service" for our music minister and his family. We'll miss the man who referred to himself as the "King of Awkward and the Captain of Creepy", but we are glad to see them be able to pursue what God has for them.






This was Gabe's branch. It was my favorite.


Sweet Poppa played with Gabe until Gabe was ready to move on. I'm so thankful for the memories that my boys have with their precious great grandparents. What a gift.




Jack the wonder dog.











Cassidy




Sydney

Determination

This picture caught the moment perfectly. He was so excited to see what was under all that tissue paper. I think it's my favorite from Christmas.

Christmas Cards

I always feel a little bit like a faker when we send our Christmas cards every year with a great photo of the boys because I know what goes on behind that "perfect" photo. Lots of bribing with m&m's, lots of gritting my teeth and chanting "it's just a picture" in my head, lots of almost going crazy by the photographer (either me or Todd) while two boys do everything, but sit still and smile in a non awkward way. You get the picture. But just in case you don't, here are some of the more than 200 pics we took to get one that we loved.














Ya know, now that I look back through these without trying to find the perfect one, I like them a whole lot more. These pictures really show my boys.

They are not perfect. They rarely sit still. Sometimes they are grumpy. Sometimes they are unbelievably funny. Sometimes they are so sweet it makes my heart hurt. Sometimes they are silly. Sometimes they're stinkers. They are always precious. They are always our two greatest gifts. They truly love each other. They are full of life.

I sure do love them.

And, in case you haven't seen it, here's the picture that we finally chose...

Merry Christmas!