Good Read...

My sweet friend Angie is speaking to something so many of us can't fully comprehend. The 163 MILLION orphans in OUR world. She has put it in a very nice visual that just may catch you off guard. Go here to read all about it.

Christmas at MiMi and Grumpy's

We were supposed to start off around 2 but we were running late...surprise! We thought it was going to be cancelled until further notice due to mom and dad coming down with a virus on Christmas Eve. But, they decided to pull it off. The kids opened gifts and it went really fast. We used to do it one kid opens one gift and then we go around and around until all the gifts are gone. But that really only works if you have the same number of gifts. We had a fabulous dinner of ham, baked beans, the best potatoes, corn and coleslaw. Yummm! Then we let the kiddos play for a while and were going to enjoy dessert. Which we all ran out of room for. The appetites were not what they usually are with the virus starting in my sister's family and lingering into my parents...it struck here early Christmas morning. Oh the joys of sharing :)

Hope's favorite is her Crayola erasable marker board

Love's favorite was by far her dress up trunk...she had on every single outfit and item in one night. She tried to wear only dress up clothes today for her "morning clothes"

There is now a new bond between these two DSers.

I can always get this shot...he won't let MiMi down with running from the camera.

One of the kids tables...with 8 grand kids...it takes two!

Well, look who's all smiles. See what happens when you play cute with the photographer~with a blog...Ha!!

Another one of Love's AND Hope's favorite ~ a very noisy guitar.

My Mom and her Mom

3 of my nephews ~ just plain cute!

My sister and her man

The jolly hosts of the party...can you tell they all feel under the weather?

We went back to my parents for re-run dinner and dessert last night. It was just as good. They still aren't themselves though.

*For the record, the virus has now taken 2 of my children. The good news is -no fever and the worst is over in 24 hrs or less. The bad news is I don't think anyone has escaped it which means it is coming our way 4 more times. If you want to add this Harris clan to your prayers we might be able to avoid it. As for the worldly precautions....Let the Lysol-ing begin!!! I am pretty sure we are past that point because of exposure but I am willing to try!

And that is it for our Christmas parties~enough to wear a woman out :)

Would not trade it for anything though.

Christmas Times

So, we had a few very eventful days with baking, wrapping, fishing, movie watching, eating, gift exchanging and just living, laughing and loving.

We did Christmas morning a little different. We did not wake up one kid. We let each of them wake up and "do" Christmas as early or as late as they wished. It was fun when Faith was up at 4:30 and waited patiently *cough*. She tried to enlist Hunter and Hope to no avail. So she emptied her stocking and painted her nails while she waited. She eventually made enough noise and light to wake up Hope and Hunter came behind soon. Then about an hour after they opened their gifts Love woke up to hers.

This year we made a definite point to not push the Santa thing...even less than last year. Do you know the only time Hope ever even brought up Santa is after watching a few Christmasy movies? She didn't want to go and get her picture taken with him or write him a letter...which suits me just fine. Sure she gets caught up in the excitement but if you ask her about Christmas she doesn't associate it with Santa...always Jesus - which I love. Santa is our condiment to our meal of Jesus...I don't even know if I would call him that...maybe a seasoning...like pepper. Santa only brought one gift and it wasn't the "big" gift that they really, really wanted. I wanted that to be from us. I love Angie's idea of Santa only filling the stockings too. My Dad took my two nephews and Hunter on an all day fishing trip on the eve of Christmas eve...this is just a small part of what they caught. They had a ball!

Big Daddy and I took Hope and Love to see the Chipmunks. Big Daddy got the biggest kick out of Love belly laughing and pointing out what was funny!
Member that Chil!s gift card? Well, Christmas Eve we took full advantage of the card and went out for Christmas Eve dinner. It was good family time. It was quite enjoyable and we watched the snow fall as we ate.

It was snowing so hard...we had a blizzard like wind and we were provided with a white Christmas...it was beautiful - but oh so cold.

The tree Christmas morning

A super happy camper - all over an umbrella
Who enjoyed the magic of Christmas...her expressions were almost too much to handle...ya know when you have such an overflowing joy for your child and your heart can hardly bear it? I felt myself tearing up so many times just watching her.
See what I mean? Precious. Absolutely precious.

Hope too! Her most favorite gift was her DS. I got the best deal on it...wink, wink. My sister had one she no longer needed and we did some cheap dealin'. My Hope doesn't have a clue nor would she care if she did. Which not only works in her favor but in our pocket as well.

The little girls both got matching aprons, I have the Mommy version...which I LOVE.

Faith wasted no time to get out there and build her snowman, er, woman :)
In her daddy's rattlesnake boots no less.

Hope had such a great time outside in the snow.

As did Blue...

Who we named Blue because of her blue eyes...which turned brown. Except her right eye is over half crystal blue and the left is about 1/8 crystal blue. Go figure.

The fruit of Faith's labor...the cute hat was totally Hope's idea.

*For the record, yes, Hunter actually shared in this day. He detests his photo being taken. He is on the video with no choice...I am much quicker with that ;)

Merry Christmas

...and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:7-14

Merry Christmas to You and Yours from the Harris Family

A Christmas Skit...

Ok, it is going to start out kind of silly...if you can stick out the almost 5 minutes, it just might get you when you least expect it :)



So true. God's love is an indescribable love. A love I don't think I will ever be able to get my mind all the way around. A love that I am extremely thankful for. A gift that I will never be able to give enough gratitude for. A God who loves me so much that He gave me Jesus...and you too :)

And the...

Baking Has Begun!

That plate of flour covered gingerbread men were actually decorated quite well...before the snow storm ;0)
She had flour in her hair, hands, nose and even eyelashes and eyebrows...now that is talent!

A few nights ago we had baked and decorated about 36 little gingerbread men. They were mostly still there when we went to bed. By morning...they had disappeared. I am certain Hunter, Faith and her friend were in need of ginger flavored snacks. Funny though, those gingerbread that had survived the snow storm were still safe and sound :)

Today is the day of baking and decorating all of our Christmas cookies. Big Daddy will be home all day tomorrow and we will make sure his sweet tooth (and ours) is taken care of.

Bambi and Paw Paw's Christmas...

Good times.

The kids opened their gifts and then we ate. Then all of us older ones played the Gift Exchange Game where you can swap and steal. Poor Uncle Greg couldn't keep a gift to save his life. And there was a new side of Paw Paw that I don't think I have ever seen ;) I ended up with a cute little snowman mug and gift card to Chili$! Big Daddy ended up with an Ac*demy gift card. I love that game! Although I am still not entirely sure that Julie didn't set her self up real good with her selfless volunteering of making the numbers and then she just happened to pick the last number of the lot. She caught Matt trying to cheat and don't they say it takes one to know one ;0)

Matt and Heather
It's Spidey! A favorite gift of Hope's, surprised? Didn't think so.

One of Love's favorite gifts...she loves dress up :)

I know this is blurry but this is Love opening up her potato head set...which she had wanted. Hope had a potato head but it took a long time to share that one...now they both have one! I love her expression!

Love in her dress...the little girls both asked to wear their dresses. I was going to go for comfort but if Hope asks to dress up you better believe we are going to accommodate ;)

Hope and her horse

Uncle Greg and Aunt Jan

Faith finally got her phone back after a 6 week sabbatical...she was chatting it up with her chicks.

If I squat down to take a picture....this is what happens. Love is a fabulous mocker. To get her back up would require me to stand up, and, well, that didn't happen.

Big Daddy, our kiddos and his parents, Bambi and Paw Paw

The 3 Musketeers

Aunt Jan and Faith...why we love her so much...she is a hoot!!

The big boys
My family: Faith, Me, Love, Big Daddy, Hope and Hunter

Daddy and Love
Michael, Uncle Greg, Aunt Jan, Matt and Heather
Austin, Aunt Julie, Bella, Krislyn, and Uncle Kevin

Me and My Man :)

Christmas at Totsie's :)

Faith, Totsie (who is looking very merry) and my nephew T
My cousin and her sweet chillins
Could this be where Love caught her habit of playing with her ponytail?

The FOOD!!

My younger cousins...fabulous

At the end of the night...Totsie was about done (where did her merry little self go?)...the Cowboys were on, and if you look at Hope...well isn't that the universal signal for I am in dire need of peace and quiet? I wonder if it matters if she was the main culprit spreading the boisterous "joyful" noise :)