Back in Knoxville (with lots to blog about)

I got back to Knoxville last night after what felt like a very short trip home. It included a trip to Austin to visit friends, a trip to Houston for Christmas with my dad's family, lots of fun at home, and then a trip to Raleigh to see my best friend from childhood, Natalie, get married! So, there's a lot to catch up on. I will post chronologically and include pictures as I go.

My mom, sister, and I went to the ICE! Exhibit at the Gaylord Texan. It's a whole exhibit filled with sculptures made of ice and it's really neat. My favorites were a massive gingerbread house made of ice, a huge nativity scene, and an ice slide (which goes incredibly fast and freezes your butt if you don't sit on your parka!). It is nine degrees inside, thus the massive blue parkas that they supply before you enter. We had a great time.

We celebrated Christmas with my mom's side of the family the Saturday before Christmas day. That was hectic as usual, with tons of little kids running around and a very full house. It was good to see everyone and we had a great time. Here are all the girl cousins in age order, excluding Noel, who lives in Singapore. Usually Grandma's included in the leg-kick picture (and we usually have to do a dance and song as well) but I'm not really sure where she was when we took this.

This is Brie and Cade. Cade is one of four boys, but that did not deter him from carrying around Brie's babydoll all night. It was cute!

Kallie and Laura see who's hair is longer.


I went to visit some of my good friends, the Hales, in Austin for one night. I used to babysit their four kids, Faith, Will, Grace, and Hope, and now am really good friends with their family. We had a great time!

Me and the girls played lots of games.

Me and Mrs. Hale listen to the piano and recorder concert.

We also celebrated Christmas with my dad's family in Houston, and it was the first time in almost ten years that everyone (excluding my Aunt, who got stuck out west due to snow) was together. It was good to reconnect and we finally got the full family photo that Maw-maw has been wanting us to get.

We celebrated Christmas again with the immediate family when we got home on Christmas day and had a really fun time spending time with just us. Here are a few pictures from that.

Laura and I made "We Love Conner" shirts and wore them to one of his basketball games. He was embarassed, but still liked them. Dakota also got in on the school spirit.

After I came back from Knoxville, Anne and I drove to Raleigh for Natalie's wedding. It was so fun to be in her wedding and watch her get married! We had a great time hanging out for a few days before the big day and ran around crazily trying to get all of the last-minute details worked out. She looked absolutely gorgeous in her dress! I didn't take one single picture because I was just running around too much, but here is a picture of her and Matt taken by her brother Joel. It's still weird to think that Nattie, who I met when I was 5, is now married! I mean, when did we get old enough for this??

Home! (and more)

I'm home!! I've been in the great state of Texas since Sunday and have been having a great time. It's so good to see my sweet family. We've been busy non-stop. So far I've gotten to eat lots of Mexican food, watch the Cowboys beat the Giants, shop with my mom, watch a movie with my sister (Made of Honor, not that great), and cheer for Conner at a basketball game!

Finals ended last Thursday and then Anne and I went to Raleigh for two nights. I went to Natalie's shower and got to spend a couple days hanging out with her. It was great to see her and it was so fun to talk about all the crazy things we used to do...her friendship has been such a blessing to me over the years!

After leaving Raleigh we headed to Gatlinburg for my office's Christmas party. Carli and I brought Anne and Sarah with us. The company rented hotel rooms at The Lodge at Buckberry Creek and it was wonderful! We had a fireplace in our room, free hot chocolate, tea, and coffee, and a massive room that overlooked the mountains, which had snow on them! It was a great way to wrap up the craziness of finals before heading home the next day! Here's a picture of us after dinner:

Now to add to the craziness of this post, I almost forgot what happened Monday morning. I was joyously awoken by my dear sister and her friends getting back from camping at 7:00 in the morning. Not only were they screaming, but I also had a wet nose pressed against my face at the same time. Why, you ask? Well, they had found two puppies while camping and had brought them home. The two puppies, Dakota, and three screaming girls woke me up early Monday morning. The puppies have since found homes with someone else, but they were very cute and we had fun playing with them all day Monday. I really wanted to bring one home with me to Knoxville, but I already knew that plan would not be approved by one of my roommates, so I sadly had to let them go to someone else. :-( Here's a picture we took of them, although it doesn't even begin to give you a true picture of their cuteness:






Today's Conner's birthday. He's 15, which means he can start driving now...crazy!! He's also 6'2", which means he towers over me and the rest of the family, and has been doing an incredible job playing for his high school basketball team. He's an awesome brother and I respect him greatly. Here is a picture of him and me from this summer.

Well, I've got to go run errands, bake a cake, and clean the house with my mom and sister, but hopefully I will be more on top of blogging. However, I make no promises!

The Miracle of Christmas

This is one of my favorite Steven Curtis Chapman Christmas songs. It's called "The Miracle of Christmas" and I was especially struck by the chorus tonight. Isn't it cool that we worship the same God that came to earth as a tiny baby boy over 2,000 year ago?


A child is born tonight in Bethlehem
His mother holds him close and sings a sweet lullaby
All the world is sleeping unaware that God himself has come in the night

The shepherds tremble as the angels sing
And in their song the voice of God speaks peace to the world
A miracle has happened, God has come and God has spoken
But the miracle has only just begun

And the God who spoke is speaking still
And the God who came still comes
And the miracle that happened still happens in the heart that will believe
And we see (receive) the miracle of Christmas

So come to Bethlehem again and see
The One who's come to rescue us, our Saviour and King
Bring your past, the joy, the sorrow, all your hope to find tomorrow

And hear the words again, fear not and know that God is near

For the God who spoke is speaking still
And the God who came still comes
And the miracle that happened still happens in the heart that will believe
And receive the miracle of Christmas

Believe the miracle of Christmas
Will you believe?