Christmas Cookies

 Every year since I was a little girl I have baked Christmas cookies with my Mema! I am so happy my kids get to be in on the tradition now! I SO missed my Papa this year though. It was so strange to not have him coming in the kitchen every few minutes asking if he could taste the cookies. I didn't realize how much a part of the tradition he was, until this year. He is missed.

Christmas Tea

 We had our first Annual (for sure!) Exchange Christmas Tea! All of the ladies from Exchange Church and the sweet little girls gathered at my mom's house for a fun morning of girly food, frilly dresses, and tiny tea cups! It was so much fun! And it was mine and Aven's first official Mommy-daughter event! I loved dressing her  up. When I put some of my pearls around her neck to wear, she was so excited! She felt like a little princess, and I loved every minute of it!

Divine Appointment with Santa

Rewind to a few weeks ago.....we attended an adoption conference put on by North Wake Church. It was such an encouraging night of hearing the difference adoption has made in so many lives. The emcee of the night was a man that looked strangely like Santa Clause. He assured all of the kids in the audience that he was in fact not Santa, but that his mom and Santa's mom were sisters:) He was a precious man that was adopted through the Baptist Children's Home and is now extremely involved with the children there. He also has adopted children and grandchildren!

So yesterday, we were out running some errands, stopped by the mall, and realized nobody was in line to see Santa since it was the middle of the week and 11:00 in the morning. We took the kids over and I could tell he was very interested in Aven. I left her in the stroller, knowing she would want nothing to do with him:) After he talked to the boys for a minute, he asked them "is that your sister? Let me see her." So I brought her over, and he began telling us how adoption was such an amazing thing, how he had adopted children and grandchildren, and had just attended an adoption conference a few weeks ago. Putting the pieces together, I told him that we had seen him at the conference! We stood there and talked to Santa for probably 30 minutes about adoption, church, and the Lord. With a few random questions stuck in there from the boys about reindeer and the North Pole! :) He told the photographers that he wanted to use one of his free photo packages for us. And asked only that we give him one of the pictures with our names and information on the back. THEN, before we left, this man sat down, pulled the boys in close, and reminded them of the TRUE meaning of Christmas being Jesus coming as a baby to be our Savior! What a precious moment!

 

There were tears in my eyes when we left. Every time we meet someone who has a heart for adoption, it is a special meeting. But THIS was extra special:) Nobody else came in line for the whole 30 minutes we talked to him. The Lord gave us such a gift in that time with this dear man! It was a divine appointment with Santa for sure!

Brody is SIX!!

My firstborn is 6! What a blessing this kid is! Brody is a joy to parent. He is so tenderhearted and kind. He is an amazing big brother. He is super smart and has the best imagination! He is rocking Kindergarten and has made our transition into homeschooling so easy and fun! I am cherishing this time we have together! Happy Birthday to my biggest boy! You are my HEART!

We celebrated Brody's birthday with some of his friends at the Bowling Alley! It was so much fun and Brody loved having all of his friends with him!

Halloween '13

Exchange Church Launch

Exchange Church launched from Rolesville Highschool on October 6th! It was such an exciting day! This church plant has been officially in the making for almost 2 years and to see it finally happen was amazing! The Lord has blessed Exchange Church with an incredible group of people that have a heart for the Rolesville community and a heart for seeing others come to the Lord. We are so blessed to be a part of this!

 

Pool

We joined a pool this year, so we have spent many summer mornings and evenings there! Brody became such a great swimmer,  Levi enjoyed the water slides and spray ground, and Aven had absolutely no fear of the water! Several of the families from our church joined the pool as well, so the kids had tons of fun meeting up with friends there.