handsful

May this season bring you closer to the Son of God, the true reason for all this celebrating that we do. God Bless!

Going on, that is. And, we’re having a blast.

The BIG Testify choir performed their last Christmas concert last weekend…

The church ended up being standing-room-only and they did an awesome job!

Abbey in the dance, near the middle.

The kids have less than a month break…the spring season for Testify starts in January! They will again go on tour, this year to Atlanta (with the North Meck group) and Ohio (with the Mooresville).

What’s this, you ask? The middle and high school at church held a Christmas Talent Show. There was a “hit squad”, led by Luke, the middle school pastor. Ahhh!! They grabbed Randy!

What will they DO with him?!?

Oooh, this looks bad…

Yep, that’s what I thought would happen.

They nabbed two other kids too, but they got presents. No fair! It was fun watching the kids think they were gonna get pies in the face, though.

Quick shot of our tree. This years is especially pretty, I think.

Last night, we joined friends of ours and went to Carolina Christmas, a light show held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The first part involves driving around a track across the street, and then driving on the actual racetrack. Randy tempted fate, and drove up on the track bank….we all leaned WAY right, so we wouldn’t tip over! There were lights everywhere, and tons of lighted displays. The kids were wide-eyed, especially the littles. I thought back to a year ago, when we came here right before we left for China. Dylan, still in an orphanage. Not this year…

After we parked, there were tons of things to do…we visited a Bethlehem village complete with baby Jesus, and then went over to see the animals. Pony rides first…

Dylan couldn’t stop smiling, the boy loves horses. He was thrilled that he did it all by himself, no one walked beside him!

This is Lainey’s “I’m having fun but don’t want anyone to know” expression.

There were lots of animals to see and feed…goats, lambs, cows, ducks, turkeys, and deer.

Our friend Lisa loved this goat at first sight, thought he was just gorgeous. She didn’t like feeding him, however.

I was a little grossed out myself. I’m not meant to own farm animals.

Can you tell who’s feeding this duck??

The littles were happy as clams, not bothered by goat spit in the least.

The deer were gorgeous, I think it’s the first time I’ve touched one, they’re pretty soft.

With freshly washed hands, we headed into a building that had food, shops, and Santa.

This booth was here last year, and we loved it. We bought a burner last year, so we added to our incense collection. They have their own perfumed oil called Moon, which I got last year. Smells so good! They have an online site, in case you’re interested.

Picture time. What ARE the boys doing?

Josh joined us, too. Abbey was okay with it.

Marley and her friend, Kayla.

The boys…that’s Kayla’s younger brother, Noah. I love that they’re posing with the BoJ tree…yep, we’re in the South.

You have no idea what a big deal this picture is. This is Lainey’s FIRST time with Santa…she’s been too petrified to sit with Santa till now, but being with all her sibs helped. Dylan ran right up, even before he was supposed to! Aren’t they cute? And, what a good Santa, too. The littles know that Santa is just a man dressed in a suit, he doesn’t visit our house. We don’t “do” Santa, but it’s fun to pose with the guy in the big red suit.

After the shopping, eating, and Santa, we headed outside. It was raining, but we went anyway. Dylan rode the train, and the others headed for the swings.

I had a wet head, and the kids all had wet butts…so, it was time to go.

Tonight is Christmas eve eve. Randy will read the advent book (we’re behind, so there will be LOTS of reading). I’ll cook a turkey breast, and finish wrapping presents. Tomorrow, my parents come to spend Christmas eve with us, and we’ll exchange presents. Candlelight Christmas eve service tomorrow night, and then…well, then it’ll be CHRISTMAS!

…this time at Randy’s mom and step-dad’s house! We also got to hang out with Randy’s brother Tony, my sis-in-law Dee Dee, and their 6 awesome kids. It was fun, it was loud, it was the usual. Oh, and it was my birthday.

We had lots of food…

She makes quite a spread, and everyone attacks it like we’ve not eaten in days.

I think she’s telling Randy to keep his grabby fingers out of it all.

Hey you…over there. No food for you.

We had lots of silliness and having fun with each other. Lainey just loves her Uncle Tony.

Abbey being a goof, and a nice close up of my niece’s skinny jeans. Samara had taken an allergy pill (Gram’s cat and her do not mix) and was nearly asleep.

More wrestling, this time on the floor.

Marley and her same-age cousin, Anna Grace. They’re like polar opposites of each other!

We had gifts. Lots of ’em. It’s a little hectic, but fun. First, the kids take turns opening (they drew names to see what order they went in), and then we send the kids to the playroom so us adults can exchange.

Payton, given his dislike for close spaces, found an out-of-the-way spot!

Lainey, waiting her turn. Pouty head.

Dylan (the youngest cousin), hanging with the oldest cousin, Caleb. He’s a sophomore in college.

Ethan is following in his dad’s footsteps, and smelling all new clothes. It’s weird, but Randy thinks new clothes SMELL amazing. I know…

It was a very Hello Kitty Christmas for Lainey.

Payton shows Lainey his new sketchbook

Dylan really “got into” Christmas at Gram’s. Heh heh…

Pinned ya’, Micah

Always my baby

We ended the night with a homemade birthday cake (yum) and a song. Seems I’m now 46, and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s okay, life is good. :)

Here, there, and everywhere…that’s where we’ll be this Christmas! Everyone keeps asking if we’re staying IN town for Christmas, or traveling? It’s a hard question to answer. We have 4 trips. Three are just day trips, and one is an over-nighter.

Our first was last night…we drove the 2+ hours east to visit Randy’s dad and step-mom. To the kids, they are Nana and Paw-Paw. We exchanged presents, and enjoyed some wonderful take-out chicken and BBQ from our favorite local place. Oh, and pie…

Then, we took a few pictures…bear with me.

Dylan not looking…

Nana not looking. Oh well, we tried.

Our turn. Not bad!

Girls…

Girls laughing at the photographer

And, boys. Including the boy dogs. We brought Jack (black one) and they have Hogan. Hogan wanted SO badly to play with Jack, but Jack either cowered or growled at him. Poor manners, Jack.

Here we are, forcing them to sit beside each other.

And, here’s Jack sllllloowwly walking away as Hogan shows a little too much interest.

Randy and his “Pop”, as he calls him.

Since Jack was no fun, Randy decided to play with Hogan. That dog is about as strong as an ox.

Randy’s giving it his best growl…

The kids got into the fun, too.

Jack gets some girl love…

Ethan really cut loose.

Dylan then showed off his crazy skills in flexibility.

He can also do a full-out front split. All the way down. I’m thinking gymnastics might be in his future. Or Chinese acrobatics.

Is it just me, or is Marley looking OLD (as in mature) in this shot?

Lainey was doing cartwheel after cartwheel…it was hard to catch her in the actual act.

We were enjoying the show (Abbey was practicing her close-up shots with her camera…)

We stayed later than we should have, and finally pulled back into the driveway about midnight.

Next stop, Gram and Pa-Paul’s on Saturday. Did I mention that day is also someone’s birthday? Wonder who….

It’s Testify Youth Choir time again, and this time it’s all about Christmas.

These shots are all from the North Meck campus of Testify…our kids are technically in 2 choirs. This one has only about 30 members. The Mooresville campus has about 140. Pictures of that one will come later.

Abbey has a short dance part in the Mooresville campus, but 3 of the kids have parts in this one. Abbey is part of a trio, Ethan has a short solo, and Payton has a speaking part.

I took video of them, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to post them to this wordpress blog…I’d welcome any help!

We were so proud of how well they did, and how they put their selves out there to spread the true meaning of this season. As much fun as it is, Christmas isn’t about Santa, presents, or Christmas lights. It’s about a baby, destined to grow up and save the lost. Jesus is born – Glory to God in the highest!

Now, I’m ready for Christmas…

I’ve lived in NC (with the exception of years 2004-2010) since I was a year old, but I’d never been to Asheville to visit the Biltmore Mansion. Randy had gone as a child, but didn’t remember much.

This past Thursday, we made the 2 hour trip.

We started with a yummy dinner at Vinnie’s, and then relaxed at the hotel till bedtime. The next morning, the kids had to take a quick jump into the hot tub…I grumbled about being “late” to the mansion, but I got over it.

Kids showered and changed, we made it to Biltmore around 11:30. After going over what the day-admission fee would be vs. the cost of a year’s membership, we went with the latter. We actually spent less money on the membership than we would have a day ticket, since members 16 and under are admitted free. I guess we’ll be doing Biltmore a lot in 2012!

Outside pictures. Did you know, you can’t take ANY photos inside?!? I was miffed, but then realized that I would have spent so much time taking pictures that I would have missed the details of the tour.

We decided to take a self-guided tour, using the headsets with recorded messages for each room…so much better than listening to a tour guide.

The tour took about 2 hours and we were starved afterwards! We walked straight to the Stable Cafe next door…

This restaurant used to be…you guessed it…the stables back in the day. It was just gorgeous and I loved thinking about the people (and animals!) that lived and worked where I was currently eating lunch.

Yes, that’s my lemon-overloaded tea in the foreground.

After we were pleasantly full, we headed to the shops nearby. Christmas decorations, books, toys, etc. The Confectionery was a favorite stop, and helped top off our lunch with a little something sweet. Payton had his eyes on something a bit bigger…

Before we knew it, night had fallen and the place started to really light up. We walked down to Antler Hill Village, where there is a farm (we missed it…it was already closed…we’ll visit that FIRST next time) and the kids goofed around a little.

A statue of George Washington Vanderbilt’s daughter, Cornelia, and her dog Cedric.

How you doin’?

We rode back up to the house, had some pastries and hot chocolate, and then headed home.

Can’t wait to go back…we’re told January is their least busiest month (with December being the most), so I’m hoping we can make another quick trip to Asheville soon!