It's Christmas Time!

Mele Kalikimaka! I love this time of year. It took 6 days but my decorations are up! I love the house at Christmas time. Everything feels so warm and cozy. I'm always sad in January when it's time to take things down.

Christmas is going to be extra special this year. It will be our first one with our "complete" family. Ngun is unbelievably excited. They do celebrate Christmas where they come from, just not quite as elaborate as we do. And presents? This is all new territory. We are really trying to focus on the "true" meaning of Christmas. I want them to feel we know this holiday is really about the birth of our Savior and the everyday gifts we receive because of him. Because we have so much more materialistic things then they've ever seen, it would be easy for them to think we might have forgotten this. I want to focus on the events surrounding Christmas instead of the gifts but it is soooo hard! It is so much fun buying presents for them because they are so appreciative.

I had to relax more than I usually do with my decorating this year. Usually I have one tree the kids can help with and the rest is off limits. Part of my OCD I suppose. I want things the way I want them. This year I've tried to let everyone help where they've wanted too. It's been worth it. The kids have had so much fun decorating all the trees and helping with the other things too. I'm just trying not to notice those ornaments not quite where I would have put them!

We are having Christmas with my parents on Sunday, December 13th. They are going to Florida to spend the holiday with Jenny and the kids. Everyone is very excited to head up the mountain for this occasion. My mom has always made Christmas so special for me, and now she does it for my kids. Her house will be decked out beautiful and the presents will be wrapped like the receiver is the most important person in the world. She has a beautiful gift, something I wish I had inherited. My dad will be "teary" most of the night caught up in the spirit of it all. He'll tell me 10 times how special I am and how blessed he is because of me and my family. I'll tear up too. He's my daddy, and I'll know he'll means everything he says. We'll all go home that night on a huge high. The kids each believing that they are my parents' favorite grandchild and us in awe of the love and gratitude we feel for being so loved. I can't wait until Sunday. I am fully aware of how blessed I am to have been born to the parents I have.

It's snowing again today. I actually don't want to cry. I'm cozy and warm and filled with the spirit today. The snow seems like it should be here and ya'll know I don't ever say that. Maybe I'll work on our annual Christmas letter today. So much has happened this year....how do I chose what to include?

Always a Southern Girl.....

Do you ever listen to country music song and think "That's exactly what I want out of life"? I don't mean the cheating and drinking and partying songs, but the songs that bring out the important things in life like...
Country roads, fried chicken, cotton blowing in the wind and really big front porches. Do you see a theme here?. I'm a jeans and pearls kind of girl. Breakfast is rich biscuits and gravy with a side of cheese grits. Music is meant to be 2-stepped too. Humidity keeps you looking young. "Yes, Mame" should be everybody's first words, only second to "ya'll and fixin". I love that people love to talk. There is no "in and out" at a 7-11. First because it's a Circle K not a 7-11, and next because people genuinely are interested when they ask "how are you today?". In the South, that isn't a rhetorical question. You can actually keep a poinsettia on you your porch at Christmas time because the odds of a deep freeze are pretty low. I just LOVE the smell of a magnolia. Nothing smells better than that except maybe a babies head. I miss balmy evenings, lightning bugs, whoopie pies and swimming well into September, because Indian Summer is the best.

I NEED to live in the South. It will always and forever be a part of me. I dream of it constantly. I don't know if I ever will get to again, but my heart will always be there. Lance got me a personalized license plate for my little bug that says "GRITS". For those that don't know, it means- Girl Raised In The South. He knows me. Couldn't have picked it better myself. I am proud of the fact I was raised there. Proud of the values and lessons that were instilled in me. I wish that most for my children. I try to keep my southern roots alive in our home here west. Where we live is a good place for kids, but it saddens me to know just what they are missing out on. Patriotism is not just a holiday act, but a way of daily life where I come from. It's God, your Country and your football team all the way. Family is anyone you love and loves you back. There is always a space at the table because there is no such thing as a guest.

So all my western friends out there.....don't wait to be invited, the backdoor is always open. My southern friends already know this. I make Biscuits and gravy on Sunday and always have extra.