I begged the kids to let me spend 20 minutes with them downtown to capture an image for over the mantle, so here's some of my fav's sorry for so many, I guess I should've made a slide show....plus the new banner has the best ones. The image on the banner that is of all three of them...the one on the left is the one I chose to do a gallery wrap. I can't wait until it arrives. 
This family is very near and dear to me. In fact there are only a few people that know me like these guys! Over Christmas they were all in and so we took advantage of the great weather we had the day after Christmas. Here's a few of my favorites.
I haven't even blogged on the kids Christmas' parties, our scavenger hunt for the Christmas Eve gift, or Christmas morning, baking goodies in our new house for our neighbors...... here's a few pictures to sum it all up. Doug and the kids got Rock Band for PSIII from me, so they had to work extra hard to find that gift. We stayed up way late playing with our new toy on Christmas Eve. The kids parties at school were very fun and festive. Bryant was the funny one on Christmas Morning. He didn't want to wake up and I couldn't get the other two to wait on him to see what Santa had dropped off. I've posted a classic picture of Bryant pouting on the stairs. I bet next year, he'll be ready to wake up. Tis the Season
Well, you would think I was family. I just couldn't wait for Owen, Emily and Nathan to arrive home. Here is the slideshow of the airport party and his arrival after the 20 hour flight. (yikes) They are all three real troopers for making this journey to bring him home. Honestly is there anything sweeter than this for Christmas, really. I just love this sweet ending and just the beginning for you guys. Kiss those cheeks for me.
We had our annual Hasley Christmas today. For the last two years, we have had it on Mulberry Hill, which is off the pig trail. It is the perfect country Christmas....plenty of space for the whole crew. We actually beat the bitter cold and snapped a family portrait and a few of the individual families! Merry Christmas Everyone.
Here are my sweet friends seeing their little boy face to face for the first time. They will fly home from Korea and arrive here a couple of days before Christmas. Please pray for their flight with their new son. My cheeks hurt from smiling for them. Their names are Emily, Nathan and Owen. and you can check their blog here.
I can't decide if my childhood or my adult Christmas' are more special. How about you other moms? My childhood Christmas went something like this......I remember opening one gift, reading the Christmas story and going to sleep on the bunk beds on Christmas eve in my brother's room. Our Christmas morning started at 3:30 a.m. yep! We had presents to open, coffee to drink and sausage balls to eat before we headed to Dumas to spend the morning with my "mom" really my grandmother, but that's the name we called her. The day after Christmas we made the trip to Mobile to spend several days with Grandmother and Papaw and all the Sheppard cousins. In my memory there were very few Christmas that were cold in Mobile, so we would spend a lot of time outside. The Sheppard family is huge, so there was never a dull moment, that's for sure. It is mostly girl cousins on that side, we always had the best barbies, baby dolls, hair stuff, make-up...you name it. You girls remember the kit and kaboodles, (or is that the name of dog food).....I can't seem to seperate it, but anyway, Jennifer, Jenelle, Blair, and me had so much fun.
Next is the adult Christmas memories. I can't tell you how much fun, Doug and I have had being parents on Christmas. To be honest I don't recall the first few Christmas Doug and I shared before kids, really. From the gifts we have purchased to late night "instruction reading" sessions to put the toys together, it has been a blast. Last Christmas was the most fun, I guess. All three kids really "got" Santa, Bryant was 2 1/2, so it was all fun and games. Everyone in the family asked Santa for a Wii, if you don't remember they were impossible to find until Dec. 23rd! We got ours, thank goodness to Santa. Doug and I spent Christmas Eve playing with the new toy. Even with all the parties and church things around this time of year, being an adult and celebrating our Savior's birth is the best.
Some special memories we know we'll have from this year
our first Christmas in the new house( even though we have hardly any decor out)
Bryant being afraid of Santa, "Because he has scary shoes"....(who knows where he got that one)
Nathan and Emily bringing Owen home!
Bennett and Addison asking Santa for the exact same thing, (ninento ds)
having a fireplace on Christmas morning
baking goodies in my new kitchen
I hope the next few days are filled with love, joy, and hope for all of you
Well, we managed to squeeze in three sessions this afternoon, before the rain hit. But, the wind was aweful. Poor Tressa....but actually I really like them after I got home, it doesn't look near that windy in the images compared to how it felt. The next senior was Amy, both girls are super smart and will go really far next year and the years to come. I know I say that about each one of my seniors, but I really do mean it! They rep Northside in a great way. Last, my day was finished with another fav family. How cute is this Parker and Kendall! Love them all. This is the last of the schedule appt's for 2008. It has been a year that's for sure for Still Moments. God has truly blessed my family...I hope I've been able to pass the blessings on to all of you. I absolutely love this time of year. I'm going to enjoy my new house this week, do some baking, attend some Holiday parties and watch Christmas movies with the kids. I can't wait for Santa....oh, yea. He came over Thanksgiving and brought a new house. Well the kids haven't had Santa yet, so I'll enjoy that just as much. 
