Christmas Then and Now

Compare Emily Grace's pics from 2008(33 months) and 2007(21 months)

Emily Grace's visit with Santa Claus

Last year, Emily Grace called Santa Claus "Ho Ho." She seemed interested in having her picture made with him so we stood in line and watched all of the other children have their pictures made and when it was our turn, she clutched onto me for life and screamed "NO NO HO HO" so we left and I just had to laugh. This year in preparation of the event, I showed her pictures of myself and of David and her age with Santa Claus and we began watching classic movies and such. I began talkin' up the fellow like I was on his publicity crew. This year, she was so excited that she nearly pushed the little fellow in front of her off of Santa's lap just so she could get on. She was so excited that she smiled right away and they snapped the picture before I could "pose her or straighten our her dress." It was so cute, she began telling him all that she had planned to tell him about what she wanted for Christmas and even told him what a "good little girl" she had been ... yeah, let me tell you that it sure hasn't been every day :-) My favorite, though, was when she asked him to say "Ho Ho Ho". He did and then he hugged her. David held me close and I cried during the whole thing thinking about how we had dreamed of this very moment. We couldn't believe that our dream was truly a reality!!!! I love Christmas!! I definitely KNOW the reason for the season!! Thank you Jesus for our amazing daughter!!! She is everything and more that we dreamed of and prayed for!!!

A more recent update is soon to come

On December 5th, my family lost a very cherished member. My uncle Thomas Shrewsbury, affectionately known as "Budgie", lost his battle to cancer. He was one heck of a good man with a true character and stern faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and a fantastic sense of humor. On one of his last days here on earth, it is noted that he called many of those that he was closest to and asked if they were definite that they knew the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior because he wanted to be sure that he would meet them later in Heaven. It was just like him to worry about everyone else when he himself was taking his last breath. He will surely be missed!! I went north for his funeral among the ice and snow for four days. When I returned home, David told me that he had a new found respect for all that I do with Emily Grace and he said that I HAD to TEACH him how to use those elastic ties to put her hair in pig tails. Too funny to me!! I came home on Tuesday night and by Friday evening, my students and I put on a show for close to 300 guests complete with Gladiatorial combat, War drums, Dancers, Roman Cuisine even a Roman wedding took place. We had spent weeks on this production and it went very well!! I was very proud. However, it was soooo much work that I have decided that it will be my last one. I have been running nonstop. From both of those events, I am so far behind in every aspect of my life. I hope that you all will receive our Christmas cards before Christmas. I wont bore you with the details of the rest of my life but I can hardly stay awake during my days and there is so much to do at night trying to get caught up that I never get any sleep. Eventually, I will put the pics of Emily Grace meeting Santa Claus on the blog. What a wonderful happy moment it was for all of us. She was in utter heaven!! She is a BIG FAN of the jolly ole fat guy in the red suit.
Stay tuned... :-)