Our New Dog

Last Monday, December 22nd, I ignored the voice inside my head and left the vet with a new dog. She was a stray who was already fixed and house broken. It seemed the thing to do, especially since the ladies who found her were going to have to take her to the pound 3 days before Christmas. Molly was ecstatic to say the least. We have talked about getting a dog for some time, but the little voice inside my head always talks me out of it. I'm glad I didn't listen this time since Lucy is proving herself to be a great dog for us.

Molly is taking a lot of responsibility for Lucy. Lucy even sleeps in Molly's room!

Lucy loves to play fetch and tug-o-war. She also loves to chow down on a good bone.

A Very Blessed Christmas

Well, I'm finally getting with it and starting a blog. I have enjoyed Johnny & Tara's and Chris & Sarah's so much that it has encouraged me to start one too. With family and friends so spread out, it is a great way to stay connected. Christmas seems like a great place to start. So...here goes. I am new at this, so things are a bit out of order. Here are some pictures from our Christmas 2008. We had a wonderful Christmas--we are so very blessed.

Molly received many "American Girl" things including a sleeping bag for her and her doll from Grandma (Nancy) and Grandpa (Bob) in Washington state, matching outfits for her and her doll from Grandmol (Susan) in Birmingham, "Coconut the Dog" from Uncle Jimmy in Birmingham, and the "Mia" doll complete with wardrobe and bedroom furniture from Santa. She said it was a very "American Girl" Christmas.

Grandpol (Jim), Becky, Daniel, and Philip came over in the afternoon on Christmas to visit and exchange gifts with Molly, Darryl, and me. Molly cannot wait to plan her "Build A Bear" date with Grandpol!

Molly got so many wonderful gifts and was thrilled with every single one!

Molly was super proud of the G.I. Joe she got Darryl as part of a joke between them. Since he is a diver for SeaWorld, she picked out a diver G.I. Joe.

Darryl took Molly shopping so she could pick out gifts for me. She spoiled me with lots of wonderful smelling lotions and a hat, glove, and scarf set to wear with my new dress coat from Darryl. She is so good to her mama!

Milk and cookies for Santa.

This year Molly took part in our church's Children's Christmas Eve services. She was a Magi attendant which meant she helped lead one of the Wise Men and his camel. She was part of both the 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. services. Our church does a really amazing job of designing 2 services early in the day geared toward families with young children. They even have characters with "big heads" to make sure everyone can see what's going on!

Pretty girl.

We had fun taking some pictures in front of our tree.

If I'd sent out a Christmas card, here's how it might have looked! ;)

My Nice girl acting Naughty.

We had our own private photo shoot with Santa at our friends' home. Jim and Karen Flinn had us over to dinner, and then Molly took pictures with Santa Jim with his REAL beard and beautiful Santa suit made by Karen.

I love the pictures we did of Molly and Santa with Baby Jesus! What an awesome way to remind her of the true meaning of Christmas.

So sweet!