Christmas 2013

So thankful that Brian had 2 weeks off from work because he's a teacher.  It was really nice to have him home so he could spend some extra time with us, especially Jaxon.  I loved having an extra set of hands.  We were supposed to get see my parents for Christmas but my dad was sick and so we decided to stay home.  It seems like we always are traveling for the holidays, even when I was growing up.  It was actually very relaxing to be at home and get some things done.
I was praying that we could stay well after being around my family that had been sick in South Carolina the weekend prior to Christmas.  Even though we didn't go to Virginia to see my parents I was thankful we were able to see them in South Carolina.

Christmas Eve we went to church for a special service.  We woke up at our house on Christmas morning and had Jaxon open some presents.  We didn't get Jaxon a whole lot because we didn't want to over do it and take away from the real meaning of Christmas.  Besides at this age he would much rather play with the wrapping paper and boxes.  But he got a tunnel and tent, Veggie Tale movies, a tractor, a construction worker hat, and some other little things. Then my inlaws came over that afternoon for lunch and we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.

We enjoyed going to Charlotte for the day one Saturday.  My friend from college is a missionary with her family in South Africa.  I hadn't seen her in probably 10 years.  I got to finally meet her husband and 3 kids.  Then my other 2 friends and their family came to meet up with us too.  We met at a park and then off to Chick fil a for the kids to play.  The Chick Fil A in Charlotte was outdoors and they had tables for us to eat at outside.  So it was so nice to have the kids confined in one area while the adults tried to talk.  It was great to have the husbands come along to help us with the kids so us girls could catch up.  It was Jaxon's first time climbing in the play area.  My friend had to go get him because he kind of got scared and couldn't figure out how to get down.  I was a little claustrophobic so I didn't really want to climb up there to get him.

Then we went to Lynchburg for the day to see Lyle and Joy and their daughter, some friends of Brian's, that he hadn't seen in a while.  He went on a missions trip with them years ago.