Goodbye 2014

New Year's Eve was spent in the warmth and comfort of our own home.  I decorated the house, we ordered pizza, popped poppers, blew horns, and played games.

 The three big kids wanted to try to stay up until midnight.  Barrett dropped first, followed by Brynn.  Robert, Blake, and I counted down with Times Square and then went to sleep.  It was a fun night, a great way for our family to end the year!

2014 was a big year for our family.

Some of the highlights:

* I volunteered in China at Morning Star Foundation caring for orphans.

* Kaleb unexpectedly joined our family for a temporary kinship fostering placement.

* Barrett gave his heart and life to Jesus and got baptized.

* Brynn started Kindergarten, Barrett 1st grade, and Blake 4th grade.

* Kaleb's situation needed to become permanent and we said yes when the state asked if we would be his forever (adoption coming up in 2015).

This was our prayer at the beginning of 2014:

Our prayer as we start a new year is that we will stay focused on God.  That we won't be distracted by things of the world, but will keep our eyes on Jesus, listening and ready to obey.

2014 was life changing for all of us.  It has been a tough year, with lots of ups and downs. We know that God is using us to be His hands and feet, as well as to teach us new lessons, to shape and mold us. We look forward to what God has in store for us in the new year!

Post Christmas Randomness

I got out Blake's old Disney train for Kaleb to play with.  As you can see, he loved it!

 We celebrated 3 years with a healthy heart!

 Peace came to our house.  We rejoice with every peaceful, content day our boy has!

 My parents gave me the best birthday present, an afternoon out!  They kept all four kids while Robert and I went to lunch and a movie.  The kids came home at dinnertime, sang Happy Birthday to me, and gave me a gift.  It was a wonderful birthday!

 Brynn reading a book to her little brother, Elsa, I mean Kaleb:)

 Cold weather has come to Texas and we are thankful for our warm fireplace and lots of firewood!

 Brynn reading books to Kaleb in his new tent.

 The boys have found a new love for box boarding.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning started very early!  I'm talking 5:30 a.m. early.

Our little guy didn't sleep well all night.  I think the thought of a strange man (Santa) coming into our house while we were sleeping was more than he could handle.  He was unsettled all night long, which means mama was up all night long trying to help him settle.  The three bigs woke up around 5:30 and came downstairs to tell us they were ready to start the festivities.

We took the customary picture of them coming out to see what Santa left for them.  Note to self: Blake needs to stand in the back next year!  He is getting so tall! 

 The kids were happy to see their new treasures.

 We had a rough morning/afternoon.  Our little guy struggled.  He was tired and emotional.  We spent the day just trying to get through it.

While he napped we went out with the big kids to watch them try out their new toys.

 That evening we went to my parents for Christmas dinner in our pajamas.  We ate, opened gifts, and enjoyed family.

Grable Family: 2 parents (not pictured) 4 sisters, 4 husbands, 7 kids = a lot of love and laughter

 Merry Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."  Luke 2:11

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve the kids and I baked cookies, tracked Santa on NORAD, and watched Christmas movies.  It was a lazy, fun day!

 When Robert got home from work we headed up to the hospital to bring Christmas Eve cheer to our cousin who is 30 weeks pregnant and on bed rest.

 On the way home we drove by a popular house in our town with a fabulous Christmas light show.  Then it was home to put on pj's, cookies out for Santa, and tell our elves goodbye until next year.

Elfcapades

I did not take very many pictures of our elfcapades this year.  Our mornings don't allow for leisurely picture taking.  Compton, Niles, Tricia, and Timmy were always up to something!  We never knew what we would wake up to, either messes or small treats.  They kept us on our toes and brought the magic of Christmas to our home once again!

Annual Progressive Dinner

One of our favorite traditions is our Annual Progressive Dinner.  We always do this the Sunday before Christmas.

We had time to snap our stocking pictures.  Even though I had already taken some "just in case", I still wanted to take them on the official night.

 The stockings are looking so little compared to these big kids we have.  Makes me sad to see how much they have grown! 

 Real life happened and our toddler had a meltdown.

 The progressive dinner started at the Killough house with appetizers.  They drew Uncie and Barrett's names for Christmas gifts, so they got to open them at their house.

 Next up was the Gillespie house for the main course.  Kaleb and Caleb got to open their presents.

 Auntie was sick, so their house wasn't in the line up this year.  The Estes family drew the four of our names, so we opened our gifts up next.

 We served desserts and coffee at our house.  We drew the rest of the family's names, so they got to open at our house.

Since our house was last, we ended by just visiting while the kids played.  So glad we started this tradition about 8 years ago.  We all look forward to it each year!

Christmas Sunday

This pretty much sums up our life right now!

 And we managed to somewhat pull it together for a picture in front of the Christmas tree in the children's building of our church.

Christmas Pajamas

One of the best things about Christmas, are the handmade pajamas that Duby makes for the kids.  They got them on the perfect day this year, the last day of school before our holiday break.  That made bedtime even more cozy!  New, cozy pajamas and no school for two weeks!!

 Kaleb's new "cheese" smile is out of control!

 Kaleb's favorite book is Rudolph.  We have read it a jillion times and sung the song a trillion times!  He has the book memorized and sings right along with us now! 

 Christmas break has officially begun!

Holiday School Happenings

The Thursday before we got out for Christmas break, all three kids had a special pajama day at school.  In kindergarten, it was Grinch Day (they ate snacks and watched the cartoon Grinch), 1st grade was Polar Express Day (complete with hot cocoa, cookies, and the movie), 4th grade was Gingerbread House Day (they made gingerbread houses!).  They had the best time and made wonderful new memories! (the boys didn't want to wear real pj's)

 Friday was a big day!  We arrived at school to no electricity!  It stayed off for the first hour and a half of the school day.  All of the kids were already wound up because it was party day and our last day, add no electricity and... well, you get the idea.  Everyone was bonkers!

We had to cancel the holiday play/musical and move on to the next activity, The Jingle Bell Run.  

 After a cold run this year, we headed inside to start our parties.  I was able to sprint through the school to pop in at all three of the kids' parties, while my own class was partying with mom volunteers.

 It was an exhausting day, but luckily it was only a half day!  Kids got out at noon to start their holiday break, and we couldn't have been more excited!