Christmas Dinner with John, Kelly, and the rest of the family

Christmas Day at the Cannon/Siaks

Where in the world is...

All of my family (except for Daniel, Lindsey, and Will) are in Israel right now! They flew out yesterday on a trip through the Holy Land. They will be walking where Jesus walked and I am so excited for them (and also jealous!). Please pray for their safety and that this will be an incredible trip for them.

I'll post more pics soon!

This morning

We were up EARLY, but a little later than I thought we would be. 7:00 arrived and I heard Noah stirring and new it was about time. They were both so excited while they opened their presents. It made me feel so blessed to have them to share Christmas with! Noah and Ella are what makes this season special!

Christmas Eve

Matt gives me a hard time, but I am trying to create traditions in our little family. Yesterday we made from scratch the cookies we were setting out for Santa. We had special gels for decorating and wrote Happy Birthday Jesus on several, and especially for the one we left for Santa. These are pictures of our cookie baking. And also for our attempt at reading Luke 2 to the kids (they were super distracted!). We want them to know that the reason we celebrate is because Jesus was born. Yesterday we carolled at our house and read several different children's books on the birth of Jesus as well. It was a great day!

I was "home" for Christmas...

I know that at 28 years old, and being a wife and mother, my home is wherever Matt, Noah and Ella are. But before

I had them in my life, I had my brothers, sisters, and parents. It was so good to go back to my old "home" this weekend and spend time with them. I hate that we are so far apart in this world, but it makes it truly special for us all whenever we are together. I love you guys!

Christmas time is here...

We bowled.

She did it!

Friday afternoon of last week our Bekah graduated from Auburn University! She managed to keep it a secret that she was graduating with highest honors - suma cum laude (she had higher than a 3.9 GPA for all 4 years!!). It was so good to get to be there to watch her. We are all so proud of her!

It's a girl!

I'm going to have a niece! Noah and Ella have been excited for awhile and ask me occasionally, "when is my new cousin getting here?" Now they know it will be a girl!

What makes me sick, is that Ray has evidently gotten mom's fabul

ous pregnancy genetics. She's almost 20 weeks and you can't even tell!

This season is flying by!

We just got back home after a long weekend in Hendersonville. Mary let us come stay at her house from Thursday to Sunday while Matt was away at a trade show in Florida. We had a lot of fun and also got to go to Barry's family's annual Christmas Party (The Cannon Christmas Party). It was HOT in there, but the kids had a blast eating a pot luck dinner, and even visitint with Santa. What was funny, was that Noah told this Santa a whole new list of things he wanted to I had to run to Walmart today to try and supplement the wish lists! And, for the first time Ella got close to Santa. She had a major meltdown when we tried to get her picture made in the mall.

Thanks Mary and Barry for letting us stay with you!

This week

This week is flying by so quickly! Tonight Matt leaves for a 3 day trip to Orlando for work. The kids and I will be heading to Hendersonville to stay with Matt's mom through the weekend (I am scairdey-cat when it comes to staying alone!).
It's been nice getting back to our somewhat normal routine in between trips during this busy holiday season. And God is blessing us every day. Hopefully I'll have some pictures up this weekend of some of the things the kids have been up to. Have a fabulous day!

Skiing

DC

Massanutten, Washington, and so much more!

We just came home this afternoon from a wonderful week on vacation. Matt and I got to ski, we went to Washington DC for a day, Noah and Matt went to a huge indoor waterpark, we ate a LOT of good food, we swam in the pool, played on the playground, and got to spend quality time with Nana Kelly and Papa Siak and Joey and Rebecca. We had a blast!

New Katy Cook Pictures!

Katy takes the kids pictures twice a year and she does such a magnificent job. She took a new round of the kids and our little family a few weeks ago.

To see the pics, go to www.katycookphotography.com. Click on the 4th box that is on her front page. Choose the "Christmas Sessions" box. The password is hohoho. Our family is on the 4th page. Enjoy!

Our vacation so far...

We left last Saturday and headed to Massanutten, VA for 6 days of fun with daddy, Nana and Papa Siak, and Uncle Joey and Rebecca. We've stayed busy and I am amazed how quickly time is flying by! So far we've gone skiing (not the kids, just the adults), Noah and the gang got to go to the huge indoor water park, drank a lot of hot chocolate, ate too much at EVERY meal, and laughed a lot. I'll have pictures up when I get back on Friday or Saturday. Tomorrow we are headed to Washington, DC to enjoy the museums and more. We can't wait to share our adventures with you in a few days!

I am thankful for...