Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

December flew by so fast that we could hardly appreciate the excitement of the New Year! We had wonderful time celebrating Christmas with families, friends, co-workers, classmates, and fellow residents in McKinney. Among so many activities, we had our own way rejoicing over the greatest gift we've ever got - the birth of our Savior. It's kind of bittersweet to let 2012 go and move forward to 2013. But the hope that a new year brings has filled us with renewed strength to keep moving. The celebration of Jesus doesn't stop at the taking down the Christmas tree; the joy of giving and receiving doesn't stop at the unwrapping of the gift boxes; the warmth of fellowshiping with friends and families doesn't end at the parties; ... May 2013 be a year of more love shared, more service offered, more fun enjoyed, and more growth experienced!!

Below is the summary of our December activities:

We started the month with the Christmas parade in downtown McKinney. The weather was super nice that night. We really enjoyed the beautiful lights displayed by each float as well as their creativity. Emily and Andy enjoyed it more because they got lots of candies and jingle bells handed out by people.

The weather was so good in early December that we had lunch at our picnic table outside after church

 

 

 

Then we attended the Christmas party at David's office. The kids decorated and enjoyed the cookies; did crafts, took a picture with Santa, watched the puppet show, singing and magic show, ... 

 

 

David's aunt and uncle came to visit us in the mid-December. They got to feed and pat the horses when they were here.

 

As our Christmas tradition, we went to the Gift of Christmas show at Prestonwood. They did a great job this year presenting the nativity scene. We all thought the finality was the best of what we saw in years. The only drawback this year was the sound. It would be more enjoyable if they could lower down the sound level.

 

Another Christmas tradition was the Advent calendar and the mini books that go with it. This year we missed reading a few books. Hopefully we will do better next year.

 

After Christmas, the kids helped to put the items back into the pockets.

 

Our friend Lori organized the Jesse's tree ornaments swap. The kids enjoyed hanging one ornament each day along with the "Names of Jesus" ornaments that we had. Every time after they hang the ornaments, they would ask me:" Read about it!" Notice that Andy was holding his Bible in the picture. When he was interviewed for the New Year, he said his favorite book was his Bible.

 

 

We carried on the baking tradition. The kids really enjoyed making cookies with mommy and daddy.

 Andy always said, "Mommy, I just look at them. I don't eat them. OK?"

 

This was what Emily brought home from school one day. I think her teacher misunderstood what she asked. She wanted the OMGA-3 gummy fishies instead of a fish tank :-)

This is the second year that we visited the Gaylord Texan as a whole family during Christmas. There was so much to see that the kids really enjoyed it.

 Dad made a new friend there

 Oh, free balloons!

 

On Christmas day, we opened the gifts, ate lots of food, and was surprised by a big snow!

 

 

 

David's cousin's family visited us the next day. The kids played with more snow while the adults visited.

 

You are going to see more horse pictures below because the horses had learned to run to our fence as soon as they saw us through our windows. Chloe and Sophia got to feed the horses on Christmas Eve. Our friend Darren fed the horses while he visited us. Emily and Andy fed the horses many times: early in the morning; at noon; and in the evening.

 

We had dinner with Leslie at Houston's as our annual tradition; went to Jeff and Lea's house for their annual Christmas/New Year dinner; and enjoyed wonderful visits from old friends after Christmas.

Gayla's family and Mary Ellen came over on New Year's Eve. We exchanged the gifts because we didn't get to do it before Christmas due to the sickness on both sides. What a fun time we had, as always!

David wanted to have the Chinese hot pot for the New Year. So here we go! We had food that could feed six or more people for two of us! The kids got to taste a little bit of it.

As our New Year tradition, we interviewed the kids on New Year's day. It was the first year for Andy to be interviewed. They finished the interview so quickly. Andy made a comment "It was fun to have the interview!" in the end. I remembered Emily's answer to "Who is your best friend?" was "Andy!" last year. This year they both said their best friends were each other. And they really meant it! On New Year's Eve, Emily asked David before her bedtime prayer:" Daddy, can I ask God to give me more Andys?" So I'll end this post with pictures of the two kiddos giggling together. We wish you a bright new year full of giggles and laughters too!!