Christmas Memories

We decided to have everyone at our house this Christmas. We were really excited to have both sides at one house. We finally got our children at 12. They took a lot of time to them pick things out for each other and they even wrapped the gifts. That was a fun night--Boys with wrapping paper, tape and ribbon.

She really wanted that Hurley hoodie.

Tyler wanted to be like Dad and Chase with a silver necklace.

He loves to learn about animals....

Chase likes dressing nice for the ladies...

That reaction was to his calendar--of hot girls!

Tyler loved pogo-ing at Uncle Ryan and Aunt Celena's so, we decided that he would like one.

I really wanted to give Caitlin a bag that she would love...

I was unwrapping my beautiful coat and black boots!

Chase got a speaker from G and Pa!

Our family was excited to see G and Pa & Uncle Jay and Aunt Missy!

These next pictures are so precious. Caitlin has been BEGGING for a puppy. We are TOO BUSY for a pet. Sooo. she made the statement,"I'll ask G and she will get me one!!" Well...G did!!!!

.....one that is fluffy, stays put and is easier to take care of!! :)

Chase got another speaker from Meme and Poppy (John's parents).

Tyler got some Nerf guns from Mema.

More precious reactions from Sis! Mema got her a new mp3 player. These are so perfect to show her geniue emotion.

Chase and Caitlin make great faces for photos. These shirts were from Uncle Jeff.

I LOVE the look on his face!! We caught him TOTALLY off guard. John custom bulit a speaker box for Chase's truck.

Time for some GOOOOOD food!

Me and my big bro...

I love this one...

Missy is so great. She has been in our family for 17 years and I think of her as a sister. I wish we could spend more time together.

Family fun....

Meme, Cait and John

Two of the best guys I know.... We love you Uncle Jay and Uncle Jeff!!!!!

Chase and "the Step" were bonding with the new "boom-boom" that was going to be installed in the truck.

This was a perfect close to our fabulous day. WE LOVED HAVING OUR FAMILY WITH US! We are so blessed. Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve in St. Augustine

It is the day before Christmas Eve and we are in St. Augustine at a B & B. We get the kids for Christmas morning every other year and we decided the first year that we were together that we did not want to wake up on Christmas morning without our kids in the house..so, we just would not be there either :) So, every other year on Christmas Eve, we go on a quick trip to our favorite little town. We enjoy walking around, eating at our favorite restaurants, looking at the lights and just unwind from the holiday stress. We have so much fun!! We miss our kids but we enjoy that time together.We did something a little different this year. We decided that on Christmas morning, we would deliver breakfast and coffee to some of the homeless people. A few years ago, we were walking around and saw the homeless on Christmas morning. It struck our heart and so this year our church wanted us to do something for someone else. John and I knew just what to do. So we got sausage biscuits and got the B & B to make us 3 containers of coffee. We made bags with goodies and delivered them to those that had nowhere to go. They were very thankful for the warm breakfast. It felt good to do something for a total stranger.

Sunset from our balcony!!

We opened our presents from each other at breakfast. I got John some new shirts....

He got a friend to paint a portrait of one of our wedding pictures for me. It is so pretty and very thoughtful.

Frosty was hanging around the back streets on Thursday.

This is our annual Christmas Eve photo.

We were hanging out under the gazebo and relaxing before dinner at Pizza Alley!

Are you Jesus?

I checked my email and this was there...... how perfect! Thank you Celena~ I love ya!!
A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago.. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of thesesalesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.ALL BUT ONE! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.He was glad he did.The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying,tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the sametime helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for herplight.The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said tothe girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?" She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blindgirl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued,"Are you Jesus?"He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"Do people mistake you for Jesus?That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact witha world that is blind to His love, life and grace.If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as Hewould.Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have beenbruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and pickedyou and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.Please share this, IF you feel led to do so. Sometimes we just take things for granted, when we really need to be sharing what we know...

Christmas Eve thoughts

I know this is not like me to simply write down my thought without any photos attached but here goes. We just want everyone to know that we realize how blessed we are when we look around us. It is sometimes hard to grasp or think about what others are going through and that our life can be changed in a second!! It might be the time of year or just God opening our eyes to those around us. We feel the need to help others arounds us--strangers and friends. We have ALL of our NEEDS met and MANY of our WANTS met too. We have love, jobs, shelter and food!! We just realize that above all else......family and friends matter the most. I know I have always felt that way, but for some reason I feel it more. I cherish visiting with family and friends and the memories we make on a weekly basis. It not about special holidays but everyday relationships.You know who you are! JESUS IS THE REASON THE SEASON!! Merry Christmas and be thankful! ~john and jenn

Varsity Basketball

Chase is becoming an amazing player. He is an amazing rebounder!

Chase finally has his name on the wall in the gym!!!SO WIERD!!!!

This was a crazy game. In this shot, Chase got "packed" but turned right around and did the same to the same player. It was so great!

Adding on the points..

They played in a Tournament, both games were beyond good. They were basket for basket the entire game. Everyone was going nuts!!! It came down to the last seconds, we came it second!!