all is merry and bright

twas the night before christmas

a few photos from our special christmas eve.

we wish you a merry christmas

 

a photo before our family christmas eve outing. we started the evening with a wonderful dinner at cibola...which included a magical shooting star sighting by all of us, followed by a visit from santa as we departed. hampton was sooo excited! we then attended our church's candlelight service, where i sang one of my favorite christmas songs, "breath of heaven." following church, we returned home to open a few family gifts. what a magical evening! we wish you many blessings this day!

a twinkle in his eye

 hampton had fun visiting santa following her christmas program at school on wednesday! she told him everything on her list, including "the baby that swims!" she said as we left him..."mom, does santa have a twinkle in his eye? what is that? my song says he does!"

christmas baking buddies

 

today was the day for baking in our house! new baking buddies hampton & evie had fun frosting sugar cookies, in between spoonfuls of frosting (don't worry...we are keeping those for ourselves)! together with my very own baking buddy, and sister, jen we completed our annual all day bake-a-thon. we have done this for years...the items we bake vary from year to year, however, we did complete over 50 batches of peffernuse (a family tradition). including a mere 28 cups of flour, they are time-consuming, but well worth the effort. it just wouldn't be christmas to us without them! what a fun day...as always! look forward to many more years of baking together...including teaching our daughters how to make peffernuse!

 

 

 

 

rock the baby jesus

 
 
 
 hampton performed at her first preschool christmas program this morning. what a treat! she knew every word and every action...and was full of her usual animation! she sang about rocking the baby jesus, how she can make a funny face, and how santa's beard is long and white. absolutely darling! she is still singing all of the songs...and wishes YOU a merry christmas too!

let it snow...again

 

we awakened to the most beautiful snowfall this morning! after school, austin left with a friend, while coleman & hampton quickly donned their snow gear. the three of us had fun sledding, shoveling & making snow angels. hampton decided that snow was yummy...as she continually face planted to grab a bite! coleman had fun sledding down the slide, while hampton made a collection of snow angels. as the sun began to disappear, i was able to lure them back inside with hot chocolate!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

let it snow

austin & coleman couldn't wait to bundle up after school to enjoy the first snow of the winter. hampton is celebrating with a long winter's nap...and that is just wonderful! it is sooo cold! coleman did request hot chocolate before they ventured out into the three inches of snowflakes!

feelin' the love

 

a quick pic...well, (maybe not so quick) photo of the morris grandkids in all their glory! austin, coleman, hampton, evie & sallie! pure joy! such fun to have them all together...hey, we must savor the precious seconds that this is the case...despite the moments of pure chaos as their parents attempt to make them smile in unison!

give thanks

 

a photo of a turkey hampton made in preschool using her hand as the feather pattern. we would like to express our sincere thanks to each and every one of you...our family is truly blessed! happy turkey day!

special person

 

need i say more? this is the treasure i found in coleman's backpack this morning. he wrote and drew this about his big brother austin. the "sometimes" happens to be quite true!

bye bye coleman

 i just had to post the image that i let linger in my mind each and every morning as coleman walks to the driveway to wait for the bus. he turns around, after we have said our goodbyes, to flash yet another sweet smile. he makes my heart melt. can this just go on forever?