Dinner with the Wrings...

One perk of living in a place where people actually travel to for vacation is that you get to see your old friends!! We've been so blessed to have seen some of our good friends from Indianapolis this year!

If my kitchen wasn't in boxes we would have had Andrew and Erica over to our house tonight for dinner. So, instead we met them for Mexican.... and it was wonderful!

Who's next?

Christmas...

After Christmas Eve service we went home and opened up our stockings. Here's a picture of Gracie dancing with Daddy to one of Mommies CD's that she got.

Once the kids were in bed it was time to load up the tree. Thankfully all the wrapping was done and this was a pretty simple task.

Nathan came bounding into our bedroom at 7, "Mom, Dad it's Christmas morning. Get up! Get up!". Then off he was to share the joyous news with his sister.

We would ideally like to get the kids 3 gifts... however, this year that turned into 3 "groupings" of gifts. Here are some highlight pictures of some treasured items.

And each year we get them a combined gift. Last year it was play dough... this year though, thanks to Bryant's trip to China they got LOTS of new movies. Here they are going through them. We've watched all of them and I would have to say that my favorite is Up!

Now, we are off to a New Year very soon! We are hoping to head to New York to celebrate Christmas with our families over the New Year. And then we will return here to get the keys to our new house and finish packing and moving. We are so excited with what the Lord has blessed us with in 2009 and highly anticipate what He'll bring to us in 2010.

So much...

It seems like so much has happened here since last time I've blogged.

Well, over the weekend we got A LOT of snow. Not sure exactly how much but it was A LOT! They were calling for 16- 20 inches, and some places reported 24"! We definitely saw over a foot at our house.

This is a picture of the road... it's plowed. They just do a single lane here on residential streets to allow people out and emergency vehicles in. But, as you can tell there isn't much but a small path between our house and the neighbors across the street.

The back yard...

And Bryant decided to make cookies with the kids. Good idea, good results. Except for the minor little flour war that incurred while daddy was in the kitchen putting the cookies in the oven.

reloading...

And most recently, half of our household is recovering from the stomach flu and the other half is praying that they don't get it!

Santa...

We have NEVER pushed Santa Claus in our house. Nathan has always known what Christmas was really about. However, this morning he was telling me that in preschool a friend named Jack told Nathan that he believed in Santa. And Nathan said that he told Jack, "Santa isn't real! Your mommy and daddy buy all your gifts!". OH NO!!! I have THAT child! So, drastic measures were taken and thanks to a Mommy Snacks email.... Santa sent Nathan a personal video! And after watching it.... Nathan grinned from ear to ear and said, "I can't believe it! Santa is real! I want to call Jack right now and tell him that Santa is real!!". Enjoy!

Click here to Watch Nathan's video.

Week in a recap...

• Gracie is officially potty trained.

• We got tickets to the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular.

• Housing called, offered us a house on base! (prayer answered)

• Christmas shopping is done! (except for stocking stuffers)

• It is snowing... a lot! (their calling for 12-20 inches)

It has been a wonderful week!!

Pinkie Pie...

Introducing Pinkie Pie.... Gracie's potty training reward!

Week One: Complete.

Today marks the end of Week One for Gracie and her potty training thus far. Last Saturday Bryant and Gracie placed all the diapers into a grocery bag and then hung it on the front door so that the mail man would take them and give them to another little baby. We've only had to call the mail man back and ask for one diaper so far, and that was pretty early into the week. Thankfully perseverance and persistence is winning out. Not to mention the fact that I have to watch that little girl like a hawk!............ Had to take a mini break just there because I heard some grunting in the other room, like I said I have to watch her like a hawk! Anyways, we are officially in underwear ALL day, with the exception of pull-ups at bedtime and when we go to church. If this persists through this weekend, then come Monday Gracie will find herself the proud mommy to a big purple pony... her potty training reward.