Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that the holidays found you all rested, healthy, and full of peace. Monday evening, Maggie performed in our churches Christmas pagent. She was so excited because she would be performing as an angel, and everyone knows that angels are heaven's singers. She was a beautiful addition to show! Afterward we headed to Papa and Nana's for dinner. Darrel's aunt Dianne and cousins Jason and Robby joined us for dinner. Once dinner was over we all piled into the car (Maggie in her PJs) and took a drive around the neighbor looking at lights. It is always fun seeing the different styles of holiday lights. Once we returned, Maggie was ready for bed! We were all shocked but she was out in less than 10 minutes. I was not far behind her, either.
Morning was one exciting moment after another. I grew up with the tradition of spending Christmas morning with my grandparents. Infact the tradition was simple. Once my sisters and I woke up we would head over to PaPa and Grandmother's house (they lived right behind us). We would usually find them having coffee at the kitchen table waiting for our arrival. Then we would head back to our house for the frenzy of christmas morning presents. Later in the day we we rejoin my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for Christmas lunch.
Darrel's family introduced me to some new traditions. Over time, Darrel and I have blended the traditions together. Now we have a Family dinner on Christmas Eve, turkey, dressing, ham, and all the trimmings. Usually, our family of three spend the night at Papa and Nana's. In the morning, stockings are found filled to the brim with all kinds of fun treats. After stockings are explored we enjoy breakfast together. After breakfast we take turns opening gifts. From oldest to youngest (Maggie's rule) we each open one gift at a time. It may take us awhile to open our gifts but we are able to enjoy each other's reactions.
Later that day we return home to discover that Santa made one last stop hear at home. We are able to discuss the days events, reflect on our blessings and give thanks to heavenly father. For many years now Darrel and I have stuck to one shopping rule: If three gifts were good enough for Jesus then that is more than enough for us. Maggie receives one "gift of gold" from her list. We leave this one up to Santa. Then her daddy and I give her two more gifts. One "gift of frankensence", a gift that draws her closer to God and one "gift of myrhh", a gift that adorns the body. This shopping method has really helped us remain focused on the truth, remain sane during the shopping crazy, and help Maggie understand what this season is really about.
I shared our tradition with my MOPS group and was told I should write this down. I must say that I can not take credit for this plan. I read about it in a family values book several years ago.
As the season comes to a close I hope that you all have been blessed and that your new year is full of joy!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Thursday, August 9, 2007
The Beginning
Here we go! I have never kept a personal blog before but I have heard it is a great way to keep everyone up to date on our family.
As of today we offically have seven days of summer left before I return to work. Maggie will begin 1st grade on the 27th. Darrel has been busy all summer working on a new product for his team. They are in the home stretch now and they are all happy.
We have had a great summer. We began by visiting Corpus Christi. Darrel has attended the annual Southwest Texas Conference for our church for three years now. It is a nice chance for Maggie and I to hang out at hotel pool, visit the State Aquarium and this year we added the USS Lexington to our tour. As usual, Maggie met a new friend and she and I found ourselves spending the day with them. It was great for Maggie to have a little girl to play around with and I enjoyed the adult conversation.
Mid June we visited my sister Keesha and her family for a few days. We enjoyed a great swim meet, swimming at their pool, the Children's museum and fun at Johnny Rockets. While at the Children's museum we found that Maggie and cousin Chloe really enjoy being on camera!
July brought so much rain we started looking for an ark! Last summer the hill country was praying for rain. No one really wanted to say that this year we almost had, dare I say it....too much rain. It seemed that from the last week of June until the 20th of July it rained everyday with very few exceptions. In fact on the 14th we had 8 inches of rain in one day. Too escape the rain we headed to Redbird Ranch for the fourth of July. The entire Owens family headed northward for the holiday. We played threw rocks into the river (which use to be a creek), played games while it rained, fixed bar-b-que in the rain and finally when the rain took a break we went out to our own firework show. Aunt Sheri and Darrel did a great job.
VBS was spared morning rain but usually by the afternoon we had thunderstorms. This was okay with us because we were exhausted and ready for a nap by the time it started raining. My PaPa used to say that a good thunderstorm was a great time to take a nap.
Keesha and her family came through for a brief visited. TriTondera triathalon competed in Kyle (and they did really well, too). We visited our grandparents, Natural Bridge Caverns, and Seaworld. We missed having our little sister and her family. Oh it was also the weekend that the new Harry Potter book was delivered. Why mention this... well Darrel had a hard time pulling away from the book.
So here we are at the end of the summer. We are thinking about another trip to the ranch and Maggie and I will be having our special day of lunch at the River House Tearoom and back to school shopping. It is sad to see the end of summer, but we are looking forward to the new school year. There is something about the look of new school supplies that we all get excited about.
As of today we offically have seven days of summer left before I return to work. Maggie will begin 1st grade on the 27th. Darrel has been busy all summer working on a new product for his team. They are in the home stretch now and they are all happy.
We have had a great summer. We began by visiting Corpus Christi. Darrel has attended the annual Southwest Texas Conference for our church for three years now. It is a nice chance for Maggie and I to hang out at hotel pool, visit the State Aquarium and this year we added the USS Lexington to our tour. As usual, Maggie met a new friend and she and I found ourselves spending the day with them. It was great for Maggie to have a little girl to play around with and I enjoyed the adult conversation.
Mid June we visited my sister Keesha and her family for a few days. We enjoyed a great swim meet, swimming at their pool, the Children's museum and fun at Johnny Rockets. While at the Children's museum we found that Maggie and cousin Chloe really enjoy being on camera!
July brought so much rain we started looking for an ark! Last summer the hill country was praying for rain. No one really wanted to say that this year we almost had, dare I say it....too much rain. It seemed that from the last week of June until the 20th of July it rained everyday with very few exceptions. In fact on the 14th we had 8 inches of rain in one day. Too escape the rain we headed to Redbird Ranch for the fourth of July. The entire Owens family headed northward for the holiday. We played threw rocks into the river (which use to be a creek), played games while it rained, fixed bar-b-que in the rain and finally when the rain took a break we went out to our own firework show. Aunt Sheri and Darrel did a great job.
VBS was spared morning rain but usually by the afternoon we had thunderstorms. This was okay with us because we were exhausted and ready for a nap by the time it started raining. My PaPa used to say that a good thunderstorm was a great time to take a nap.
Keesha and her family came through for a brief visited. TriTondera triathalon competed in Kyle (and they did really well, too). We visited our grandparents, Natural Bridge Caverns, and Seaworld. We missed having our little sister and her family. Oh it was also the weekend that the new Harry Potter book was delivered. Why mention this... well Darrel had a hard time pulling away from the book.
So here we are at the end of the summer. We are thinking about another trip to the ranch and Maggie and I will be having our special day of lunch at the River House Tearoom and back to school shopping. It is sad to see the end of summer, but we are looking forward to the new school year. There is something about the look of new school supplies that we all get excited about.
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