I made very few photos at Christmas this year. These stocking photos were made in the wee hours of Christmas morning, right when we got back from the 11 pm candlelight service at Cedar Springs Presbyterian.
We had a wonderful Christmas just hanging out in our PJs, playing games, and opening gifts. In the late afternoon, we headed to Terry's parents house to spend time with extended family. This was our first time to put a basket by the door for cell phones (even adults), and that worked great.
The next day we got up early and drove to Arkansas. Like on so many of our trips, we had a flat. Honestly, Rebecca took more photos during this unscheduled stop than she did of any other holiday event. I am only including a fraction here:
We finally got to Arkansas, but I unfortunately only have one shot of the kids from our visit there. Here are the Seaman and Huneycutt male cousins:
Lastly, here is a shot of our house finally looking like Christmas because we got a little snow. Ironically, this was the day I was putting away the decorations.
There were four great gifts giving during this holiday season at our house - all given by Rebecca. She is going to have a hard time topping these in years to come, but I hope she accepts the challenge.
When the kids were younger, we had holiday devotions. It has been just too hard to find a time when we can all be home now. Our best advent family devotions were spent reading the books Jotham's Journey, Bartholomew's Passage, and Tabitha's Travels. A few years back, I challenged Rebecca to write her own Christmas story in this same type of advent format. This year she surprised me with a book of Advent Devotions she had written herself. She gave it to me for my birthday so that I could enjoy during the upcoming advent season. What an awesome gift!
If you'd like to, you can even buy your own copy here.
Then for Christmas, Rebecca worked on a very special gift for me. For years I begged her to learn to play the Sleigh Ride duet with me. I finally gave up a few years back. Since there is a piano where Rebecca nannies every day, she worked on this piece unbeknownst to me. So when I jokingly asked if she would play it with me this year, she was ready to go. What a fun surprise! We played it almost every day - sometimes better than others. We tried to make a good recording on Christmas Day but kept messing up. I'm including it anyway. Caleb was our page turner and photo bomber.
Rebecca also gave a special but simple gift to her brothers for an early Christmas - tickets to Rogue One on opening night!
The last special gift was for Terry on Christmas morning. Rebecca had been working for months on a large painting of Rutledge Falls. This waterfall belongs to extended family on Terry's mom's side and is where we have an annual family reunion. Our kids have spent quite a bit of time climbing up the rocks and swimming in the water below. Rebecca worked hard as an elf on Christmas Eve to finish it up in time for Christmas morning.
The Battle of Bristol (Hokie vs. Smokey) was announced several years ago, and Terry's Dad (Papa to all my kids) realized it would be on or near his 80th birthday (9/21/2016). So he bought tickets years ago - enough for everybody in the family including all his grandkids (even the ones who don't like football!). We spent the weekend together in a cabin in the mountains and then drove to Bristol for the game (largest college football crowd in history!). Here are some pics from the cabin:
All the tickets:
All the chips:
Arriving in style:
We stopped at the Skieras (friends of ours who live just a mile from the track)for sandwiches before the game, and Mark and Sally came to the game with us.
We did lots of walking!
And took lots of photos:
The pregame was awesome! Such a spectacle!
And yes, the field was that far away. Even watching the jumbo screen was a struggle. But we had lots of fun. And after a rough start, Tennessee won 45-24. All in all, it was an awesome memory that we got to share with the whole family!
I must point out that the Battle of Bristol did not occur on Papa's actual 80th birthday, but on Sept. 10th. Papa's 80th and Noah's 17th were on the same day - September 21st. Noah celebrated his 17th in anti-climactic fashion here at the house:
Back in 2012, Noah won "Best in Show" in the Lego competition at the Tennessee Valley Fair. This year (I'm talking about 2016 here as I'm a bit behind on my blogging), he won again for his "Prairie Style Pad" - a house he worked on all summer - adding detail after detail. No instructions were be used as designs had to be completely original.
I love the little details like the tire swing and ketchup and mustard bottles on the BBQ grill:
I think Noah's favorite detail was the garden hose in the back:
The house has two floors. The roof comes off to reveal and upstairs bed and bath:
And the second floor comes off to reveal the kitchen and living room below:
A few people ask where he got all the tan Legos for the exterior. Well, we used to have one of these that we got at a garage sale:
Yes, Yoda gave his life for this house. Or at least his Jedi robe. Noah won $100 for his efforts, and what do you think he did with the money? More Lego, of course.
In a related activity this fall, I coached a Lego League at Master's Monday. I enjoyed working with these boys even though our competition didn't go so well (please, if you're in Lego League - learn from our mistake and calibrate your sensors, people!)
