:) Ready to go...

Today was a whole day at home (minus a couple of errands, one of which included Wal-Mart...not a good idea for the first weekend the Clemson students are back :). All of the Christmas decorations are put away; the laundry is completely finished; the house is back in order. It was a wonderful holiday season, but I am ready to get back into a regular routine! Daniel will be one in just 3 weeks. Where has the time gone?

Happy New Year

We had a wonderful day with the Campbell family, especially enjoying Monroe and Katie's visit. In fact, we sisters decided to start a new blog: http://www.cincocooking.blogspot.com. Right now bread pudding is in the oven. Yes, we are starting the new year off with a bang, that is a bang to the diet. How about starting that diet on Monday?

Family

We are having a wonderful time with Dan's family this week. They made the trek from Ohio to spend a few days with us. It was especially nice to have help with Dan's post-wisdom teeth-extraction recovery yesterday. The procedure went well and the recovery is going well so far. Having 2 teeth extracted is much better than 4! I have enjoyed cooking for the family :). We had buttermilk pancakes last night and a roast is in the crock pot this morning. And...Daniel is very entertained, enjoying time with his Grandma, Grandpa, and cousins, Stephen and Jacob!

Love our Seniors!

We invited our "Senior" teens over for dinner tonight. We are blessed to have a great group of kids! I am going to miss them when they graduate. We have watched them grow up over the last few years (well, most of them...I guess growing up is all relative :P...no offense to any of you who may read this :) into a group that has taken leadership and provided good direction for our younger teens. They have been a great pleasure to work with and to grow together with! I am going to miss the prayer times we girls have had together! But I would not want to hold them back! I know the Lord has a plan for each of them and I am excited to see how He will use them as they move forward to the next steps He has for them!

Merry Christmas and a few thoughts!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Ohio with Dan's family. It was especially sweet to see Daniel play with Dan's Grandfather, Papaw.

The Christmas season is upon us, and it has been so busy. It is easy to forget the Reason for the Season in the hurriedness of it all. To help with that, I hosted a brunch for the Mom's of our teens at church. We enjoyed a time of prayer and fellowship together--a nice start to a busy time. This past Monday our church held a friendship banquet. It was encouraging to have unsaved friends join us and hear a clear testimony and presentation of the gospel. Tuesday evening my student's played in their Winter Recital. What fun it is to see the results of their hard work and preparation! Tomorrow is our church cantata rehearsal, and then Sunday evening is the performance. We have a Christmas party tomorrow evening. Next Wed. is Christmas caroling at church, and Thursday is another Christmas party. We hope to get the tree decorated this weekend...at least it is up and we are remembering to water it.

In the midst of all of the busyness, how grateful I am for my precious Savior; His willingness to come to earth; His obedience to the Father to go to the cross, in my place; and His glorious resurrection from the grave....what a wonderful thought to rehearse over and over again! And to think He has saved me!