the excitement of Christmas

It all started on friday morning. "Are we going to open our presents today mommy?" "Is Santa coming down the chimney tonight?" Our plans were to have our family Christmas on friday night and Santa was visiting our house early saturday morning. The excitement grew and grew all day long and we could hardly contain ourselves! It is truly amazing to experience this thru the eyes and ears of a child. We had a precious dinner with candlelight, a time of sharing stories and discussing Christmas' when mommy and daddy were kids. At last, the time was here. We had studied throughout the month that the wise men came to the baby Jesus and they brought three gifts to him as a sign of worship. We each had three gifts like baby Jesus. William went first and was so excited to see his CARS race track mountain/CARS game. He also received a book about a cowboy named Gideon (from the Bible) and a puzzle that helps him spell words like cat, fish, and boat. The excitement didn't stop there. He was so overwhelmed about seeing us open our gifts that it truly warmed my heart. As the night drew to a close, the questions and comments about santa started coming. "Will we hear his reindeer?" "I hope he likes his cookies." "He won't come unless I am asleep mommy." This was the ONLY time I have ever seen him ready for bed before 9:00pm! Needless to say, the excitement hit an all time high on saturday morning. We went in to wake him up and William says "did he come?" "Let's go look at our stockings." We hurried into the living room to find more goodies in our stockings and then the surprise under the tree. A bicycle! Santa brought me a bicycle were the words coming out of his mouth over and over. He was so pleased and wanted to ride it down the hall and he kept saying "thank you santa; thank you" I will cherish this excitment forever. The anticipation, the true happiness in his eyes. What a great Christmas!

Dondra

Daily Reflections

As each day of december has come and gone, there has been this little voice asking "Mommy, when is Christmas? When is Santa going to be here? Have we done our paper chain today?" I wanted to reflect every day on something new and different to make each day special for William ,Tim, and I. We made a paper chain at the beginning of the month and we have been anxiously counting the days. Each day brought a new adventure like putting up the tree, decorating it with countless ornaments, and making cookies for his teachers at school. I hope as the holiday comes (and goes) that he will be able to remember all the little celebrations we did and keep them in his mind as new Christmas' are promised. What a joy it has been to celebrate and share with him about the meaning of Christmas.

Dondra

this has been our verse all month "For unto us a child is born..." Isaiah 9:6

Every Day

On tuesday of this week, Tim and I had a milestone; we have been together for 15 years. Yes, on that special day in 1992, we went on our first date. As I look back at all these years and how I really can not imagine my life without him, I am drawn to this song. It is a new song by Rascal Flatts and as I listened to it on the way home, tears starting streaming down my face. This is so true of my relationship with him and I am thankful for everyday we spend together.

"...my secrets are safe, the only one who gets me, you get me , it's amazing to me how every day every day...every day , you save my life."

to every day, I love you Tim!

Dondra

a Weekend Away

This past weekend William had the opportunity to go and stay with his Grumpy and Granny Lou. He always has such a great time and was looking forward to it. Each time as I checked in on him, he sounded like such a big boy on the phone. He told me about riding the tractor (a john deere riding lawn mower), about throwing rocks at the pond, and of course going to wal-mart. While he was at their house, Tim and I attended our leadership retreat for the church during the first part of the weekend and then we had some time to ourselves. It is amazing how quite the house is when William is gone. It is nice to have those weekends; you can enjoy being together as a husband and wife (and not answer a million questions at dinner) and really have time to focus on yourself and get some things done. As the week has progressed, it is uplifting that God knew that we all would need a weekend away. A time to prepare for the busyness and craziness of our days and weeks. Whether we all get away as a family or we do something like this past weekend...we need to remember that those are the times that keep us going.

Music to my ears

Most of our family and friends know this, but I am pretty sure we have an up-n-coming musician in our home. William has liked drums and the guitar for awhile now and absolutely loves listening to music. He often talks about 'his band' and tells me stories of them playing and of course Tim Bach is always there. As I am taking a break to write, I hear him strumming on his guitar making up another song. The song that brought a smile to my face is"I will obey my mom....or I will get into trouble". Picture him singing at the top of his lungs and in the most rock-n-roll way a four year old can sing. Sometimes I really feel like he never listens to me and he never obeys (like today!) and then he breaks out singing this great song. What a wonderful thing to hear! :)

Dondra

What Day is It?

As the thanksgiving holiday has come and gone, I can not help but take a moment to truly be thankful for the blessings of the year and the special time we had last week. We started the week off right with a long trip to target to get all the last minute necessities for making dressing, pies, and all the other once a year food. Wednesday was a day to prepare and to answer William's unending question of 'when are grumpy and granny lou going to be here?' Thanksgiving day brought about such a warmth and a delight for me. I enjoyed being able to get everything ready and especially enjoyed watching Tim carve the smoked turkey I purchased so I wouldn't mess it all up. After we had all gathered around the table, had a prayer of thanksgiving, and dug into the great food, my sweet boy says "what day is it mommy?" I told him again that it was thanksgiving and what this day meant and he says to me "you know what tomorrow is?" "It's Christmas!" You guessed it! Earlier in the week, I had told William that after thanksgiving, it was Christmas. So...as I take that moment and offer up thanksgiving, I want to remember what day it is and that every day gets closer to celebrating Jesus' birthday.

Dondra

Being an Aunt

This past weekend we celebrated our thanksgiving meal with mawmaw, pawpaw, Dodie, Jake and Hannah. This was our first holiday to be together with the new addition of baby Hannah. I so enjoyed being around everyone and getting to spend some special time with my niece. We laughed our heads off as Dodie passes Hannah over to mawmaw, going across the table, and with the best timing ever, Hannah drops drool on the pumpkin pie. Or what about helping her take a bath and seeing William play with his cousin and trying to be ever so careful and gentle. As I thought about being an aunt on the way home I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with a bittersweet emotion. These are some of the firsts of many holidays with her but not really with her. Next year, my sister, brother-in-law, and niece will go to peru to serve as God has led them. It will be different; it will be hard; it will be challenging; it will be rewarding. So...as time will allow these coming months, I look forward to spending time with this precious one, my little niece. I will cherish every minute with her and hope she will always know that she has a special place in my heart.

Dondra