OKC Christmas with Bethany's family -UPDATE

UPDATE: The baby's name is "Calvin" NOT "Calving" as I have typed in several places! I think I'm used to typing "ing" together. I wouldn't want you to think Shawn and JIll named their baby something that strange :)

Our family is so spread out with Trav/Reba/Zion in Pittsburgh, us in Nashville, Mom/Dad/Jordan in New Mexico, and Shawn/Jill/Calvin in OKC. But, we usually congregate in Oklahoma City because Aunt Susan and Uncle Brent, and Grandma and Grandpa also live nearby. Unfortunately Travis, Reba, and Zion couldn't make it to OKC this year because they had just moved and we missed them a ton. But, we are planning on going where they can go next year. We had such a great time with everyone. I absolutely love having a huge family. It is so wonderful. I really want to have a big family of my own and the only thing that is keeping me from it is the fear of saddlebags and stretch marks :) Maybe I'll adopt :)


Anyway, everyone was so generous with their giving. We appreciate it so much. Thank you Aunt Susan and Uncle Brent, Grandma and Grandpa, and Shawn and Jill for housing everyone for a week.

(The gang minus Grandma, Grandpa, Calvin, Trav, Reba, Zion)

Seeing Calving was, of course, the highlight of the trip ;) Here he is in all his cuteness.

Here is a quick video of him during bathtime. I thought I was just taking a regular picture but I had accidently hit video on my camera. Sorry I couldn't get it turned upright.

Christmas at the McAtee's - Springfield, MO

We were so glad to be able to see Erin's parents this Christmas since we didn't think we would get to. We got to see them on Christmas Day, no less!

It was extra meaningful because E's sister, Jennifer, had just been a serious car accident were her brand new Pontiac Solstice sustained major injuries, but fortunately Jennifer did not! She did get a pretty narly black eye though. The whole experience reminded us to be thankful for our families and God's provision.

Sharon and I have found something that we both enjoy doing: sewing. It was fun to discover this commonality and we both spent almost all of Christmas Day making fun things. She made me a really great dish carrier and I will probably begin making them for wedding presents! E's parents and sister were very generous as always. We got way too many awesome things. Thank you so much!

Erin's family and my family have very different Christmas traditions and it has been fun to be involved in some new ones. Erin's family is very particular about their wrapping. They always have the most beautiful packages under their tree and they put a lot of thought into it. My family is NOT that way... some of our packages probably have duct tape on them :) Anway, I've enjoyed wrapping pretty packages.

Crafty Christmas

This year I made several gifts. It was fun being crafty and creative.

I made this coloring roll for Zion. Reba can carry it in her purse and pull it out when she needs Z to keep occupied (i.e. restaurants and church). It has pockets for crayons on the left, finished artwork in the middle, and fresh paper on the right. Sorry I could't get some of the photo's to turn.

I made bibs for Calvin....these are pics of some of the ones I made Amber because I forgot to take pics of Cal's. But, a few of them were similar so I posted those. (My favorite one for Cal was one with chili peppers all over it and it said "CALiente" :)