Christmas, continued...

Graham cracker houses: 

 Y'all know how much M loves to decorate with frosting. After J did his house, she decided to "help" him and add some more frosting. In the end, both their houses were so loaded down with frosting that the houses collapsed!

 Christmas in MS was wonderful as usual. We always have a great time with the Wilsons.

 J has to play with his new toys as soon as he opens them:

 Our time in MS always includes trips to the library:

 The kids love their aunt and uncle:

More Christmas

Before we left for MS, we attended the annual Christmas festival here in BS. They have live manger animals, which is J's favorite part:

At the festival we also got to go on a tractor/trailer ride through town to see the lights, drink free hot chocolate, make crafts, and hear caroling. It was a fun evening.

We also went to our ward's Christmas party which was so amazing. They put an incredible amount of work into creating an authentic night in Bethlehem. It was really well done. Thanks to Mr. J's profession, our family was one of the best dressed for the occasion!

Christmas in MI

We had lots going on November and December. Our good friends were moving so we had them over for supper one last time. I'm really glad we still keep in touch.

While we keep it simple, we love decorating for Christmas in our house! We all think it feels magical! I was really bent on giving the kids the experience of going out and cutting a tree. But when it came down to it, it was really hard to find a time when we were both off work and had the energy for such an endeavor. Also when it is -5 degrees outside you don't really want to be traipsing around sawing trees. In the end we figured it would be much cheaper and faster to go with a fake one. It looks nice but does lean a little... I'll have to fix that next year!

This also happened in December:

We had to have Mr. J's car towed three times. This last one was because of a blown head gasket. Mr. J and I have had a lot of wonderful memories in that car and and are so grateful it got us through the first 9 years of our marriage and all the time before that too! It's like taking a "drive" down memory lane: our first date, our honey moon, our first long trip/move together, bringing M home from the hospital. You get it. We have loved this car!

The kids were really excited to open presents before we left for our Christmas in MS:

I really love that they are so happy for one another's gifts. It warms my heart. And of course, we had to get me stuffing my prego face:

I 

Presents from Grandma and Grandpa were a big hit:

 This was a present I bought the previous year on clearance and it got lost in my closet and then Mr. J found it and so she got it this year!

Their big present was a drum set. They love it and were so excited for this!

If you can't tell, they took turns hugging the box:

Thanksgiving and Baptism

We had a wonderful visit with family for the Thanksgiving holiday. The weather allowed for safe travel and a little fun!

Aunt K colored the kids' hair with hair chalk and J was so proud of his blue! He did not want to wash it at all!

The real reason everyone came was for M's baptism. The morning of she got to open her special gift from Grandmomma:

She loved it and looked so very beautiful in it! I hope and pray someday she will have the desire and opportunity to wear a white dress to go to the temple in and one to get married to a good man in as well. If anyone is worthy to put on a white dress for a sacred ordinance, it is M. She is so pure of heart. I know her Father in Heaven loves her and is pleased with her choice to get baptized.

These pics are a little out of order and I'm missing some but here is M in the dress she wore after she was baptized. It is the same dress I wore on my baptism day! Thank you Grandma for saving everything!

Pre-baptism with Aunt S:

(I think M looks so much like S-besides the coloring obviously). I have a few complaints about the day- especially that I didn't get more pics of M in her beautiful dress and in my dress. We did get one family one but I don't know where that pic is at the moment. I guess I don't need to dwell on what went wrong and just remember that it was a happy and special day for M. She loved having her family be a part of the program. Grandpa conducted, Grandma lead the music, Grandaddy and Aunt S gave talks, and Aunt K said a prayer. Her daddy performed the ordinance and her mama cried throughout the whole thing! (Tears of joy, of course). She had a lot of friends come and support her as well. We are blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. And we are so very blessed to have this precious girl in our lives!