Christmas in the Carolinas

Fun at the park!

A delicious Christmas dinner

 The Christmas Elf

 Serious gingerbread construction

Making Rice Krispie Treats with Grandpa

Smiles with Grandma in the window seat

Christmas in Georgia

Hanging out at Great-Grandma Cyndy's place

Swinging by Nanny and Papa's house

Clara and Great-Grandma Jane

Baking cookies with Papa

Great-Grandpa Boot and Clara 

Tyler's aunt, uncle, and cousin came to visit while we were in town

Cousins!

The boys

Gotta love a roaring fire

Christmas Eve

Christmas in Boston

As you can tell, I'm a little behind on the blogging.  Between traveling for the holidays, participating in a wedding, living through a kitchen renovation, and helping two little girls through sleep transitions, I haven't had a chance to organize, edit, and post photos and videos for you.  However, I'm determined to get all of the Christmas posts up before February.  So, here's the first in a festive trilogy.

Our little gift under the tree

Two girls in red getting ready to head to church on a cold day

Our family gift exchange

Matching pajamas!

Daddy's girls

A good mix of both of us - girly enough to wear a dress and athletic enough to love football

2nd Annual Christmas Concert

Last month I organized the 2nd Annual Christmas Concert hosted by the music ministry at our church.  This event developed last year out of a longer standing annual Carol Sing, at which I spoke about the history of several Christmas carols and taught the 4-part harmony.  However, our pastor and I decided we needed to up the ante, utilize the amazing talents of our church's musicians, and draw in more friends and neighbors.  The result the last two years has been a lot of work, but effort well worth it!  Here are a few shots and clips from our melodious evening.

A medley of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and "The Virgin Mary Had A-One Son"

Everybody singing!

A sister act playing an original Christmas song (sorry you can't see one of them!)

"Go Where I Send Thee" arranged by Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory

"This Is the Christ" with words by Martin Luther and music by Sandra McCracken

Clara's Baptism

We were delighted to have so many family members with us to witness Clara's baptism.  What a blessing to remember together God's promises to us and our children.

Three Months