Merry Christmas!

Christmas was an absolute blast this year. The best one yet. The girls were so in to the whole Santa thing this year. On Christmas Eve Chris kept the Internet up so the girls could track Santa. Before we left for Christmas Eve service at our church the girls called the Santa hotline and found out he was in Europe and then before bed they called again and found out he was in South America. The guy on the phone asked where they were calling from and Katie told him Oklahoma. He told her that Santa would be there in about 5 to 6 hours but they needed to go on to bed if they wanted Santa to stop. Katie and Bree both had big smiles on their faces and raced to bed. (I have to say the volunteers at the Santa Hotline are so good. They just talk with the kids and give them all sorts of info on Santa. So cute!)


The guy was right Santa did arrive a few hours later and he left lots of goodies for two very good little girls.

Checking out the stash Santa left. Katie got a Barbie scooter, Nintendo DS with some games and a Princess sofa, plus a stocking full of goodies.

Bree checking out her stash. She got her Dora house, a Mobi Go video game system and a Dora Sofa, plus a stocking full of goodies.

Time to dive into the rest of the presents. The girls got up at 6:30 that morning and all the presents were open by 8:10. It was like the Tazmania Devil tore through our living room. I was trying my best to get photos of the girls but they were so fast in opening it was almost impossible. Good thing Daddy had the video camera on and filming.

Katie is making her Magic Fabric creations. You can make your own puffy little friends.

Bree working hard to help her little critters with her critter vet clinic.

Samson even got a stocking full of goodies. Guess he was a good boy too.

Chris and his dad helping Katie build with her legos.

After lunch, Katie was dying to try out her new scooter. Even though it was super cold we told her we could go for a quick walk. See the Barbie on the front. Grandma and Grandpa got her this Barbie and it has a video camera in it. Crazy I know! Her scooter has a place where a Barbie can ride with you so she put it there and recorded her entire ride. Creative little girl!

Katie got the Loopz game also. She was making her own music here. The game itself is really fun. Test your memory which I learned isn't very good for me anymore. :)

This Christmas was fun but it was also special as Chris' mom and dad stayed with us for Christmas this year. They came up the week before for Chris' graduation and stayed until the day after Christmas. We don't get to spend a lot of time with his parents so it was really nice having them here and the girls got to really connect with them.

While they were here God gave Chris and opportunity to share about Jesus with his mom. We knew his mom believed in God but it has always been heavy on his heart to make sure his mom really understood. Chris was able to help her understand that it is not just saying you believe in God but that you believe he sent His son Jesus to earth to die for our sins on the cross and that he rose three days later. We have to believe the Jesus is the only way to heaven. We have to believe in him and ask him to forgive us of our sins and invite him to live in us in our hearts, so that we can live our life for Him. Chris' mom said she never knew that, know one every explained that to her. A few days later she told Chris that she prayed and asked Jesus to come live in her heart. We were so excited. Praise God for giving Chris the opportunity and for giving him the words to share with his mom. We ordered her a bible that is written in Thai she said she would rather read in her native language than in English. She was so excited to get it. It was so amazing to see the peace this gave to Chris to know his mom understood and was now safe in the hands of God.

I love how God just works everything in his time and gave us this time with his parents. The girls were sad to see them go on Sunday, but hopefully they will come back soon for a visit.

Now we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of my parents to spend a week with us!