Christmas season

We are having so much fun, I can't seem to find enough time to stop and write about it! Julia had a wonderful birthday with her two bestest friends over for a small party. She got lots of fun presents and just loved the attention and fun of celebrating a birthday. She also grew at least an inch in the month of November. I will post pictures of her birthday when I get them developed.
Thanksgiving was a time of peace and gratitude. We were grateful to spend the holiday with Chris' mom and ourselves reflecting on the blessings that we are enjoying. Plus we stuffed ourselves silly!! Julia and Ethan were excited to have another holiday to celebrate too. I was able to find some nice Thanksgiving decorations for the house at 90% off!!! Woohoo, so our home was festive and fun in fall colors to match our own yard's beautiful fall colors. The kids enjoyed playing outside for the last few days of fall before it started getting too cold in the beginning of December.

We have had a wonderful Christmas season so far. We put the tree and other decorations up on December 1st and Julia and Ethan had so much fun watching the sparkling lights and magic of Christmas unfold around them. They spread the ornaments very carefully on the tree, all on one branch, of course, and then we managed to disperse them in a more balance manner later on with their help to make sure that the tree didn't fall over. :) We put up our stockings and lights around the house too. Ethan loves to plug in the lights every morning and they ask every day if it is Christmas time yet. I keep telling them that Christmas time is for lots of days and we have to wait 25 days until Santa comes. They don't like to wait and I almost wonder if they actually believe that Christmas time is a real event or not, how do you explain time to a 3 year old?! :) They are being so very patient and are loving counting down the days with their advent calendars. Ethan will be most sad when he realizes that there won't be any more chocolate days.
We had a nice Family Home Evening last week and taught Julia and Ethan the real meaning of Christmas again and every night when they look outside the first star they see is the "New Star." It is precious.
Our little town of Lincoln had Santa come to visit tonight with a parade and a chance to sit on his lap. We were able to go to that and got to be right at the beginning of the line. Ethan went right up to Santa and said, Hi. Santa asked him his name and he told him and then he was asked what he wanted for Christmas. He said a race track and then Santa asked him what else he wanted and he said a Barbie for Julia. It was so sweet that he wouldn't ask for more for himself but for his sister. Julia got real shy right before it was our turn but in the end talked to Santa and told him what she wanted. I think I got some great photos and I will post them asap. We then walked around the square and enjoyed the lights and our town. We love living here with everyone so friendly and nice. This is such a wonderful place to raise a family. I feel very blessed! We went to dinner at our local cafe which is dirt cheap and delicious with everything made from scratch! Our day started out like most Saturdays and we went out to the mountains to what we call The huntin' land. Yes we are in Arkansas! It is a remote 160 acres of wooded land in the middle of the Ozark mountains. There are some great cabins up there and wonderful friends. We go and play in the woods and love being able to enjoy nature and visit with our friends. Julia's best friend is Augusta and her parents own the land, so Julia and Augusta romp around the camp and have a blast. Ethan loves the big boy time as he gets to hang out with Chris and Garry and ride a tractor or in the truck or roam the creek or woods.
We receive compliments all the time about how well behaved our children are and how beautiful they are and we just say thank you and agree whole heartedly, Julia and Ethan are a joy.
JC is doing well in Utah as far as I can see and hear. He is doing well in school and loves his teacher and has lots of friends in his class. He is enjoying Juitsu (sp?) and the individual attention he is getting. We miss him terribly, and are so glad he is happy.
We have a new niece, Olivia Segui that was born December 5, 2008. She was 6lbs 110z and 20 inches long. We are so excited to welcome her into the family!! We were able to go up to Springfield this week and visit and see her! Ethan and Julia both loved to see how small she is. They can't wait to be able to hold her. We plan on getting in lots of holding when we go up during the Christmas holidays.
We look forward to the rest of the season and reflecting on our Savior and his birth. We are so grateful for His gospel in our lives. May everyone that reads this know of His love for each of us and remember His sacrifice for us.

Merry Christmas!!!!