Christmas Eve

We spent December 23rd with Keri's family at Amy's house in Azle. The weather was unseasonably warm so we spent the daylight hours playing outside in the playhouse and on the trampoline. Jack and Dianna came over after work for our family Christmas. After a yummy dinner of bbq the kids were ready for presents!


After playing with new toys and a community cousin bath, the kids settled down for stories with Nanna and bedtime.





Camryn opted to sleep alone in her room, but Addie, Doak, and Makynna were up for a slumber party! And they did party-each time I checked on them one of them was up wandering the room! They finally settled down and then Amy, Bryan, Keri, and I watched Four Christmases. So fun! I sure love this family! : )
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We woke up on Christmas Eve and noticed the change of temperature right away. Keri and Bryan went off to do some last minute "sneaky Christmas shopping" while Amy made a fire to keep us all warm. As Bryan and Keri were driving home the snow started falling! Keri hurried our little family along as soon as he got home and we jumped in the car to try and beat the storm as we headed out to Abilene.



The first 30 minutes of the trip were fine and we had fun watching the snow fall. But soon the fun faded and the fear set in. The roads were VERY slick and we slid on the roads many times during our trip. For about 45 minutes we were driving in white out conditions and Keri had to pull over a few times to break the ice off the windshield wipers. I held on for dear life and prayed for our safety and the safety of others traveling that day.



We finally made it to Abilene around 2:30, putting our travel time at about 5 hours for a trip that normally takes 2 hours. I have never been so thankful to see signs for Abilene! God definitely took care of us on those icy roads!


The kids were really good in the car, but by the time we arrived at Cookie and Papa's house they were ready to get out and run in the snow!


Addie has seen little bits of snow a few times but I don't think Doak has ever seen it! They loved making snow angels, building a mini snow man, and eating some snow! : )

After warming up by Papa's fire we got dressed for Christmas Eve service at our church. It's such a beautiful service, and we got to see lots of friends in town for Christmas and even heard Luke sing!

We came home, had some dinner and made cookies with Cookie ; ) The kids were good helpers! After eating a cookie, and bath time, these kids were finally ready for bed at 10pm! About that time we heard from some of our Rockwall friends who were on the road trying to get to Lubbock for their family Christmas. We'd been communicating all day via facebook and had been praying for their safety (and sanity) during their 12 hours on the road. They finally made it to Abilene and we were so happy to have them spend the night here with us. I know it's not the Christmas Eve they had planned but we loved having them here!