Riding home from work.....

Who would have ever thought that only working 2 half days and one full day this month would be treacherous? The cough Tim came home from Haiti with has become a full blown case of the flu, so he has been sleeping a lot, which is very unusual for him. I've been trying to allow him to rest as much as possible.

I woke this morning, thinking I might blow the snow off the drive before I left for work. When, lo, what to my wondrous eyes should appear, but the security light from my in-laws farm shining beautifully across the solid sheet of ice we call the fields between our homes.

That led to almost an hour on the phone, determining if the level 3 snow emergency in our county pertained to me- yes- today was one of those half days I mentioned. Lo and behold, it did not pertain to me!! and my employer, a very, very customer conscious man, feels that the pharmacy must always be open.

The wonderful woman I finally was able to get hold of said the exact words I needed to hear. Had she said anything including the following, I would have called off: black, ice, sheet of, impassable, etc. What she said was that it was really nasty, but mostly slushy. Phew!! slushy I can handle. When I saw my dog slide down the side of our yard (the grassy part) looking like Bambi on the ice for the first time, I was pretty concerned. Then, as I watched, a branch fell from a tree in our back yard- breaking into pieces when it hit, all those pieces skittering over the woods in our back yard as they would on a finely polished wet marble floor.

On my way home, I got a few snap shots. We were downgraded to a level 2 snow emergency by the early afternoon....

I was soo amazed that the pine trees all seemed so reverently bowed, as if they were praying, or kneeling before God.....

I saw very little road surface on my way home. We live out this lovely, quaint curvy farm and tree lined road. Oh the beauty of this season. I traveled slow, the camera just up and snapped in front of me- didn't even aim. Guess I like the aim and shoot for this reason....

This is actually a 2 lane bridge- barely. I wish I could capture the beauty in a snap shot!!! The trees are all ice and snow covered- one feels as if they are living in the vault with the queens diamonds on a day like today!!

This hill is kinda tricky. Sharp curve up a pretty good grade- You go, Subaru!!! My car handled soo well today. We just got it back yesterday from the shop having a little body work done. Made me a little more nervous to take it out today..... But the body shop cleaned out the inside and detailed it. I felt sooo special driving my very clean car today :0)This is what our driveway looked like from the road- you can see the edge of my in-law's mailbox in the lower left side of the pic. So glad I planted the oak trees all the way up the drive- it was kinda hard to tell where to drive....Amazing the difference a little sunshine can make, isn't it? This is a view from our back yard- Can you see the 5-7 inch icicles hanging all around the bird feeder? Seemed almost like a birdcage this morning.

Well, no more snow yet- the power (which had gone off just before I left this am) came back on just before 9 tonight. Kinda fun night- we had Tim's parents and sister's family over for dinner, since they had no power. I am so incredibly thankful, continuously for the generator Tim put in for us. What a difference it makes!!

Thank you, God, for the beauty all around us. Please help us to loosen our death grip on the wheel and look around a bit at the amazing sites you place before our eyes!

Home at last :0)

Just a brief note- Tim made it home just a little before 2am. I was sooo excited to see him home. I can't imagine what our brave men and women who have loved ones serving overseas must go through- if I feel this after only 8 days!!

We sat in front of the wood burner in the basement and talked for a little while, him catching me up on all our friends in Haiti and some of the adventures he had. It was COLD!! (Thus sitting in front of the wood burner.... :0) So- it was going on 3 by the time we finally collapsed in bed.

Elisha woke just a little before 7. Oh, I was soo hoping he would sleep in a little bit since our night was so short. I quickly turned off the monitor and headed up the steps, hoping to let Tim sleep a little longer.

When I got up there, he looked at me when I came in and said, "Papa home? Leep in bii bed? Go waa Papa?? Gii up??" as he was jumping up and down in super great excitement.

I had thought to try to keep him quiet for a little bit, get him dressed and maybe even start breakfast, but when I saw how excited he was, and that he remembered that Papa would be home in the morning when he woke up, and he had missed him sooo much during the week and had been so brave, I didn't have the heart to delay him seeing his Papa any longer.

I scooped him up out of his crib, nuzzled him close, kissing him all over and said, " You want to go see Papa now and wake him up?"

"Well, Yeah!!!" he quickly and loudly replied.

So, without even stopping off to go potty or change diapers, we went very quickly down the steps and he ran over to the bedroom door. I opened the door, and in he flew, climbing so quickly up the bed.

"Papa, Papa!!!! Papa leep in bed??? Papa, Papa" he cried repeatedly, with great joy as he ran across the covers and fell on Papa, kissing and hugging him all over. Our bedroom is quite cold now- in the mid 50's, so I jumped back in bed and pulled the covers over us all. He was just a little wiggle worm, couldn't get enough of touching, hugging and kissing his Papa. Then he leaned over and gave Mama a little kiss. I'm still cherishing it!!

PS- the cake was a hit, with both the guys in my family :0)

Shhhhh!! It's a secret....

Tim is home tonight- well, technically tomorrow morning. The excitement around here is palpable. We, Elisha and I, got to talk to Papa tonight on the phone!! Several times. He had a long layover in Miami. He even stayed on the phone with us and listened to Elisha's new book- I Love You, Daddy!! It is so good to have Papa back on American soil again. His flight leaves in less than an hour to wing him back this way. How WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, as Eli and I were thinking today what we could do to surprise Papa as he comes in very early tomorrow morning, we decided to make his favorite triple layer perfectly chocolate cake ( from the recipe on the side of the Hershey's baking cocoa.) Hmmm, and a banner so he sees we are welcoming him, even though we are sleeping :0)

Then Mama decided to try out Papa's fancy high tech camera so I could record all this in Elisha's blog. I am more of an aim and shoot kinda person- Papa is the consummate photographer of our family- he is soooo very good!! So, here is my attempt....

When he enters the room, he'll see the banner over the table and the cake sitting there, a "sweet" reminder of how much we love him and have missed him.

Note what a good job Mama did in focusing on the sign.... hehe

Here is my attempt to show the cake- you can see Elisha in the background- yummy!! It sure was hard to not dig into the cake ourselves!!. I have video of Eli with chocolate all over his face from licking the frosting from the beaters. "Ea Kaak" was all I heard for a while after that. I guess I can't blame him.....

Now, the focus shifts to the real reason we are celebrating... (Aren't you impressed- now the cake is blurry as Eli pops into focus- not bad for an amateur.... hehe) People- my family- my son and myself celebrating the return of our Papa. (PS, Tim still has the 30 sec timer on for when we were doing the family photos and the camera was on the tripod. Yeesh!! I thought the pause was long on the point and shoot camera- this one was FOREVER......lol. I actually had several great poses of Elisha before the camera snapped and I discovered his face was eclipsed by the cup;0}

Elisha went to bed tonight without any problems and quickly fell asleep. He just needed to hear his Papa's voice. HHmmmm, can you draw the same spiritual nuances here that I am??? I also tend to sleep better after hearing my Father's voice. Oh, my son, you continue to amaze me, teaching me wisdom beyond either of our years. I love the quote, hmmmm, can't remember who said it- but how precious of a thing it is when those so fresh from heaven love us......Thank you for sharing the God breath still hanging on you!!

Tim just sent me a text- they are on the bus ready to go out and board the plane. Hehehehe. I wanted to wait and post this until after he'd boarded and turned of his phone so he will indeed be surprised when he walks in the door and finds this tangible love awaiting him.....

And there was much rejoicing in the Swingle household over the Papa returning to the fold!!!!!!!!!!!! :0) As Ty so eloquently says-

Welcome home, Papa, welcome home!!!

Only 3 days left!!

Tim has been gone for 5 days now. I thought it would get easier, once we passed the "humpday" and were on the downhill side of things. It hasn't. Could you imagine how close we'd be to God if our hearts longed for him and we jumped every time He whispered to us as we do when our loved ones are far away?

Tonight, after Elisha's bath, I was getting him ready for bed and he tapped himself on the chest and said, "Papa!" He has a game of pretending to be other people- or animals..... he's been a billie goat all week.... :0)

I said, "Well, if you are Papa, come give me a hug, 'cause I miss you!!" and he came over and tapped my chest and said, "Eli!" I said, "You want me to be Eli?" "Yeah," he answered. I said, "OK, Papa- what does Papa want to say to Eli?"

He came to me and gave me the biggest hug- holding on to me for at least a couple of minutes, and then gave me kisses. Folks, I can tell you, it was hard to hold back the tears!!

We went into his bedroom and sat on the rocker. I was holding him close and whispered, "Time to pray, Elisha." "Gi fon, ka Papa?" he replied.

"No sweetie, Papa is still in Haiti- only 3 more days and he will be home. I'm sure Papa is thinking about you and praying with us in Haiti right now, but we can't talk to him for a few more days."

Our group needed Tim's pick up truck to haul all the totes of articles we were taking to Haiti, so Tim's big red truck has been gone from the garage all week. Eli keeps talking about it, and I have explained that the big red truck is at the airport, waiting for Papa to come home so it can drive him home from the airport.

So, his next response is, "Papa dri big lred truck home now???"

He's having a little more separation anxiety from me, too, but I think that's totally understandable.

Lord, thank you for allowing Tim the opportunity to serve in a foreign country and shine your love to others. Thank you for blessing him and drawing him ever closer to you. Thank you for blessing the team and the project and giving peace to those family members left in the states, missing and praying for them.

Rest well, My Darling. Only 3 days left!!

"Turning"

When Tim was home Friday, we all went out to clean off the driveway, again...... :0)

He whipped out his cell phone and caught this video of Elisha helping him with the snow blower.
He keeps saying, "Turning" as he is turning the crank for the blower.

I told Tim he looks like he should be on a space show- wondering if the life here is friendly, so he can remove his helmet...... A friend at church gave us that snow suit- and it is working out perfectly!!

Enjoy!!

Gi fon, Ka Papa!!

My how the week has passed!! We've shoveled and used the snow blower several times to clear the driveway. I was soo very glad that we got out when we did to make our snowman. It got soooo very cold just after we finished- the snow became so powdery that it wouldn't stick together at all. When I say cold, I have to laugh.... we were about the same temperature here in SE Ohio as it is in Krasnoyarsk, Russia- south central Siberia. BBBBRRRRrrrrrr!!!! I referred to it as the juvenile temperatures in my mind- most were below 0, but for a few days we almost made it to 18 **grin**

Friday night, after a very busy week, Tim and I gave Elisha his bath, got him ready for bed and said our prayers together. Not much different from our usual routine. Only this time, Papa was saying goodbye for a week!! He is with our team from church working in Haiti for a week.

As it was my turn to pray, I prayed for safe keeping for Papa and the rest of the team as they were serving in Haiti and a safe return of everyone. As we said amen, Elisha looked up at Papa and me and said, "Lya go Haiti w Papa, too?" He wanted to go with Tim to Haiti, too. Someday, we told him.... not now.... not yet, but some day.

Tim arrived safely, and after an hour delay on the tarmac due to some generator problems on the ground, they were able to get to the guest house. I am looking forward with great longing to talk to him again and hear how everything is going. We have found that he can actually text me on his phone from Haiti. I am soooo very glad. The lack of communication is what had me so concerned.

Saturday evening, Elisha and I made a calender to put on the fridge. I thought it might help him to be able to see the activities and all we will be doing all week. The big magnet he moves each day to see how far we have left until Papa comes home. He is getting a big kick out of the airplanes and Papa's big red truck.

Saturday night, as we were getting ready for bed, we got all ready to get tucked in. Our final thing was to pray. As I told him it was time to pray, he said, "gi fon, Ka Papa?" I told him, "No, honey. Papa is in Haiti, remember? We can't call him there, he is too far away." (side note- Papa is gone for close to 30 hours or more at a time when he works, 2-3 times a week, so it is not unusual for us to not have him home at bedtime. However, we always call Papa and pray together as a family, even when he is at work or a meeting.)

He said, a bit more forcefully, as if I didn't hear or understand him the first time, "Mama, gi fon, ka Papa!!!??!!!" I gently tried to explain to him again that I would love to be able to call Papa, but he is in Haiti, working with other people to help out the folks there. We would have to go ahead and pray without Papa, but pray for him while we were praying.

He began chanting, "Gi fon, ka Papa...Gi fon, ka Papa... Gi fon, ka Papa..."

Is this a 2 year old thing? He has been repeating anything he'd like to do lately that I am not doing for him. Must be the "Mantra" age..... "0)

How hard it is to say no to your child when you desire to do what they are asking.....

I got my first project completed :) Yeah!! I made tree skirt this year for our tree- I wanted to start a new tradition. It will eventually be quilted all around and will be my keepsake of our young family.

I had Elisha dip his hands in fabric paint and place them on some scrap fabrics. These I cut out in a circular pattern, blanket stitched onto the back of the tree skirt, and then quilted around the circle and Elisha's beautiful tiny little handprints. I used black thread, not only to stand out on the back to highlight the precious hand prints, but so the hand prints stand out in great relief on the front of the quilt. Great insurance for me that if the paint ever does wear off, I'll still have those precious little hands and fingers. And he loved helping me :0) I guess finger painting will be a favorite.... once it is warm outside, so we can sit outside and make the big mess..... Hmmmmm hosing everything down will be fun.... :0)

Hoping to continue this tradition for a long time, finishing the "quilt" as my little ones head out on their own so I will always have a treasure of the times we had together :0)

Hey Baby, It's Snowing outside :0)

It has been snowing for the last few days. We went to MOPS (Mothers of preschoolers) at church this am, and after lunch, Mama decided we needed to get out and play for a little bit. (Cabin fever has been gaining a reputation around these here parts....)

We got all bundled up and headed out- thinking we'd shovel for just a little bit. Since he doesn't have a snow shovel- he just used his garden shovel- after a few minutes, we headed down into the snow and made our first snowballs. His little mittens just weren't doing his little hands justice. So, on to the next thing....

On we went to our first snowman.....For only spending about 5 min or less on it, his little friend turned out pretty well, don't you think? I can't wait to see what Papa comes up with- he is the snow expert.
We will have such fun playing together!! I can't wait!!


Then it was time to head in for the afternoon nap. What a trooper- only a few tears as we shucked the winter gear and went back inside.

I remembered we had to fill the humidifier reservoir, so I told him to go ahead upstairs, get the stool, put up the lid, pull down his pants and diaper and go potty and I'd be right up. He has never done this completely by himself, so I didn't think he would today, but as I walked up the steps with the water a few minutes later, he came running out of the bathroom with his top and socks on, excitedly telling me how he went got his diaper off and went Pee Pee all by himself. Aaahhhh!!! My little boy is growing up!! I am so incredibly proud of him!!

On to dreamland, little guy, on to dreamland......

Appreciation Dinner

Our church had a wonderful evening planned last night in honor of those who volunteer.  This group of youth and their leaders did an amazing job at making us feel loved and honored for all we do.  It was a real "black tie" affair- they transformed the lobby- I felt as if I were a movie star in the midst of everything.  And it sure was fun to get all dressed up and go out with Tim!

Thank you to the Franks for keeping Elisha for us- we had a wonderful time and really enjoyed seeing everyone that was there.  Kudos to our youth pastor- Lonnie and everyone that helped to make the evening such a success!! :0)

Oh, the memories....

Our son's memory skills are simply amazing me!

We are planning another trip south next month, and I wanted to make sure Eli was OK with it, since the hurricane and tornadoes hit last time we went and there wasn't a lot of beach and play time.

He calls the beach "Papaw Biii nandbo" (Papaw's big sandbox) due to the description I gave him last year- he was playing in Mamaw and Papaw's little 3'X4' sandbox and I told him we were going to a sandbox bigger than our whole yard..... and he began calling it Papaw's BBBIIIIIGGGGG sandbox:0)

So, I mention that we would be going back. The first thing he says is, "Dry gra kaa?" We rented a car when we were there in October, and he was very sad to leave the grey car, so his first question was if we could drive it again.

Then he asked it we were going to "dry Papa lit'l gree Kaa" to the airport. It took me a minute, then I did remember that we had taken Tim's little green car to the airport, instead of our larger family car.

I guess cars are very important to him- he remembers them very well!!

Oh the fun and joy of watching his little mind grow and develop... I find it so hard to believe that we are coordinating our 1 year follow up report- he has been with us almost 10 months now. It seems like so much longer- as if we had never been apart since his birth. How amazing is God to bring that growth and bond to our lives.

Tim and I will be celebrating our 9th anniversary while in St Croix this year. What a time to think back and count our many blessings!!!

New Year Update

We are settling into a new routine as the new year is a little over a week old. Elisha got a new outfit for Christmas that came with a corduroy hat. He calls it his "drumming hat," and has to wear it as he is practicing.
Last week, Elisha figured out how to effectively climb out of his crib when he wakes up. So far it has only been at appropriate times- like when he wakes up in the morning and after his nap is over. I'm praying it continues to be at "appropriate times," though I can already hear the "experienced" mother's laughter coming at me thinking how "naive" I am to even think this. Who knows? I'm always hopeful!!

Monday night was our small group, and I had the wonderful privilege of bringing snacks. Charity and Brian had given us a gingerbread train kit for Christmas. What do you think, Charity? Turned out pretty good, didn't it? I made the caramel corn we had over Christmas, too.... Yummy!! The caboose is full of mixed nuts for something to break the sweet.



Yes, folks, my son is eating caramel corn!!!! He was going for the chocolate, but I was soon able to steer him towards the plain popcorn, apples, oranges and animal crackers we brought for the children. MMMmmmmmm.........

Here is a pretty sweet close up!! Making me hungry, just looking at it!!

We took the drum to practice. He did enjoy beating on it while we sang- but still wanted to play the big drums- "Jayon bii drum" (Jason's big drums) I think he's still catching up from being off his schedule for so many days...... but boy was it fun!!

Fox Family Christmas/New Year Week

Sunday was nice to see all my old friends at church. Elisha stayed in the nursery, and it wasn't soo full that I felt I needed to stay and help. It was nice to relax with the adults :0)

Afterwords, we all came home and took a nap.... or so I thought..... I found out I missed out on a walk with my sweet hubby as I fell asleep on the bed in Elisha's room as he was laying down for his nap. *** sigh*** I asked for a rain check :0)

We had a fun time with Mom and Dad, Amity and Justin (My sister and brother-in-law), watching them as they interacted and got to know Elisha a little better. And the yummy caramel corn we made wasn't a bad treat, either!! We all sat down and watched Evan Almighty together after we got Eli settled in for the night. How nice to snuggle with my sweetie, surrounded by family.

Monday morning, Katie, the adorable little 18-month old girl my mom cares for, arrived. Worked out perfectly that Elisha woke up and was out of the crib just in time for Katie's morning nap. They seemed to have fun playing together- the little bit they were awake at the same time :0)

Monday afternoon my brother and his family, Rick, Tara, Kylie and Veronica arrived. I had been looking forward to seeing the girls- kids grow up sooo quickly!! and we don't get to see these little ones that often, and it is nearly impossible to keep up with a child over the phone.
What fun we had fitting all our family, plus some friends around the table for dinner. Conversations elicited quite a bit of laughter and groans as it usually does when we are all able to get together.

Tuesday evening we gathered the children in the living room and each opened a gift. Elisha saw the presents and asked if it was a drum......

He got a cool bowling set!! Here we are with me teaching him how the game goes. Unfortunately, he had more fun running into the set and knocking them over than using the ball... very frustrating for his 2 slightly older cousins who kept trying to set up the pins....

My other sister, Charity and her fiance, Brian, arrived on Wed afternoon. Again, I must say, how wonderful it is to see family again after a long time apart. I haven't seen all my siblings together since July- and Christmas before that. Life is so busy.... Makes me thankful for the holiday tradition of spending time together.

My how the household has grown!! From 4 kids growing up to 8 adults, 3 grandchildren, 4 children Mom has watched through the years, a few close friends of the family, Mom and Dad and you have what Christmas dreams are made of- quite a full house!!!!
Mama wasn't feeling the greatest over the week, but we had lots of fun!!!
After dinner, on New Year's eve, we celebrated Christmas with my family. It was fun to gather together and give and receive gifts and feel the love of family all around.
Elisha was very thankful for his presents- here he is hugging Kylie, thanking her for the gift she gave him....
Yeah!! Presents~~~

Tim and I got that rain check walk in on Thursday before we headed out. Elisha didn't take very long naps through the week, but today, when we planned to leave a little early, he slept until almost 5!! This is the covered bridge one door down from our house. I remember the little old lady my mom used to buy groceries for that lived up the street. She would tell me stories of how she and her friends would play house on the bridge and when a horse and buggy came along, they'd have to pick up all their toys and get off for the drivers to pass. Ahhhh- I wonder what memories she would have had of Christmas....... We walked down past the cemetery to the Cumberland Falls. We always just called it "the Falls" growing up- part of Muddy Creek. It was quite pretty- especially as the sun was sending it's rays down through the mist, creating a "Mary's veil" look that was just stunning.
You can see it a little bit here in this picture. We are standing under the overhang where the falls come down. One of my favorite places to come and think and pray as I was growing up- during those teenage troubled times.

Before we all went to bed on New Year's Eve, we got the family photo. How nice to have us all there together.... All of us. I remember last year praying, hoping, yet sometimes doubting our little guy would ever be in that picture. Thank you, God, for such a beautiful end to our 2008!!!

The Fox Family Photo

Happy New Year to everyone!!

PS we made it to Oglebay on the way home. The lights were pretty and Elisha loved being able to ride on Mama's lap through most of it during the scenic tour.

Over the River and Through the Woods....

Friday dawned. I was up early, making sure we had set aside everything we would need. Tim and Eli were headed off to Columbus to take back costumes from the drama at church. (Tim was a donkey- I sooo wish I could have taken a picture of that!!!)

Mamaw dropped me off for a steady day of work- though it was rather rainy. When Tim and Eli came by to get me around 5:30, it had slowed down raining, but was getting rather foggy. Not quite the best weather to see the lights at Oglebay by...

After a quick meal in Cambridge, we headed on out, and as we were approaching the I470 bypass around Wheeling, we caught a road sign out of the corner of our eyes telling us to use I470 for the festival. Or so we thought it said.....

After driving past where we thought it should have been, we decided to just go on over the river and through the woods, on to Grandma's house we go- to Pennsylvania for some homemade punkin' pie...... Oh- we also were able to listen to the lovely Christmas music while we traveled,,,, can you tell...... ? ***grin***

It was so nice to be home!! And we got in early enough that it wasn't too awful late to get Elisha tucked in for the night and talk for a little bit with my folks. I was so glad to have that time. Family time is sooo wonderful, but it is almost like going to a big event, like a wedding. There doesn't seem to be a lot of time to talk to the hosts of the event as they are so busy taking care of everything.

Sat morning dawned clear and beautiful!! Eli and I decided to go for a walk to the playground area at the local elementary school. Mom came with us- and, again, as I look back I treasure the few moments we had to live life at such a leisurely pace :0)


The sky was absolutely beautiful!! On one horizon, the clouds were trying to block the sun, but it was heroicly peaking through and beginning to dissipate the clouds with the help of the strong breeze blowing through.

Here are a few pics of Elisha with the other horizon in the background. Doesn't look like late December in South Eastern Pennsylvania, does it? It was B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.!!!!!!




Here is Elisha, swinging with Grandma, or Babuska- sometimes referred to as BuBu. Elisha was soo glad to see Grandma and Grandpa. I am so glad he remembers them so well from visit to visit and is not shy around them:0)

Saturday, after lunch, Mom had out the big exercise ball and the little basket ball in the living room for Elisha to play with. Uncle Justin mentioned taking him over to play basketball (or did Aunt Amity volunteer him for that???) and I told Elisha he had to take a nap first. If he remembered after his nap, he could ask Uncle Justin to go with him to play basketball.

Sure enough, a couple of hours later, I went up to get him out of bed. After finishing in the bathroom, as we headed down the steps, he looked up at me and said, "Baket Ball? Unca Junin pay Baket Ball Eli??"

I was floored. What a memory this child has- it amazes me!!

So, off to the parking lot across the street to play basketball......
Here they are doing the shots... I got a little video, too, which I may post later..... only my camera doesn't do audio.....**sighs** lol

Christmas Day

Christmas Day dawned sunny and beautiful. I heard Elisha moving around upstairs, so, after getting dressed, I went up and got him out of bed, but left on his cute Christmas PJ's. I grabbed the toddler book story of the very first Christmas and Baka, Elisha and I went into our bedroom and piled under the covers with Papa. (Making this his first Christmas to be awakened by the patter of little feet- across the bed :0) hehe).

I realized belatedly that I had "hidden" the big drum set in our room so Elisha wouldn't see it until we had opened our other presents. I was afraid he'd want nothing to do with anything else if he could get his hands on the "big boom booms." Fortunately he was easily distracted and we were able to get all tucked in together.

So, we snuggled close and read of the most amazing thing that has ever happened on that starry night so long ago. We spoke again about how we were celebrating baby Jesus birthday this day.

Tim's sister and family had given us a breakfast gift basket from Cracker Barrel the night before, so we had a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, fried apples and hot chocolate. Yummy!! As I was fixing breakfast, Elisha wondered over to the living room area. We had set up his new table and chairs for him the night before and I tossed a throw over top of it and placed a couple of his new books and Christmas ornaments on it- trying to keep it under wraps for a little while longer. He removed those items and quickly removed the throw and was so excited to see a table and chairs his own size. He circled around and named all the colors of the new set- excited and amazed that they were his and all in his size :0) We were excited and amazed to find the seats could hold up to 200 pounds :0)
He went over with his "Appa joo" (Apple juice) and sat down, quite content to wait until breakfast was ready. Oh what fun we had- all 3 of us sat at his new table for breakfast. Wish I had a pic to share of that :0)

So, we opened the remaining presents- though Elisha seemed tired of opening gifts. (I know,,, ????) Tired of presents???

I think he enjoyed Baka's new doggy bed more than she did :0)

One of his gifts was a little piggy bank from some friends of ours at church- along with a small bag of coins. He enjoyed putting them in a few at a time over the next few days. Then he got to the wee little drum set we got him. Not anything even close to the beautiful set Mamaw and Papaw got, but he was sooo excited when he opened them. (In fact, over the next week as we did Christmas with my family, every time we opened presents, his first question was, "Lya drum?" (Elisha's Drum?) As if he expected to receive his favorite gift every time we opened gifts.... lol

He wanted us to set up the new little drums next to the big drums and he had the time of his life going from one set to the other. Tim and I determined we'd take the little set with us to church so he could play while we are practicing our praise and worship music. It doesn't have a very loud sound, so it shouldn't be too distracting while we are practicing.The Big Boom Booms from Papa's SLR

Here you can see both drums set up next to each other, him playing the little set.

Little boom booms

Here he is, looking every part the professional drum player, playing the Big Boom Booms.
He enjoys them sooo much, and it is almost eerie some of the beats he'll pick out. One sounds almost like a Russian march. He is able to keep a pretty steady beat and gets all 3 drums and the cymbal going. It is sooo amazing to watch! I have to keep reminding myself he is only 2!!

A very content Mama enjoying her first Christmas with her new family

Around noon we headed over to Mamaw and Papaw's again, this time just us, for Christmas lunch. We thought it would be a simple fare, but Mamaw went all out!! Yummmmy!! Turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade chicken noodles, Cranberry sauce, homemade corn caserole- what a wonderful meal and great time!! We enjoyed spending the time so much with them- such a laid back and relaxed meal- and we even had cake left over from the night before to have for dessert :0)

We left and went home- I WAS going to pack, but ended up napping for a little instead, while Tim helped Papaw install the new wind guard Mamaw got him for his all terrain mule. How nice that is!!

So, eventually, we got all the items packed and ready to go that we would need for our trip to PA to celebrate with my family- Christmas over New Years :0) We packed up the night before with the intention of Mamaw dropping me off at work the next morning and then Tim and Eli picking me up from work (already 1/2 hour closer to Mom and Dad's house) so we could get started a bit earlier and catch the lights at Olgalby in West Virginia on the way to my family's home.

Here is a photo of Mama and Eli while Papa sets up the camera for the family photo


Had to throw this one in, too- love the looks Eli is giving as we waited:0)

Here is our Family Photo from the morning - my favorite- though it did turn out a little too dark...And our beautiful family photo!!

What a wonderful day to celebrate with my newly expanded family the birth of our Lord!! Merry Christmas, one and all!!