Because we have zero still photos from
Christmas morning that would meet with
general photo approval I thought I would
post this one of Gregg and I.
And to be true to myself I will pick it apart...
YES! A strand of lights are out on the tree.
The very droopy, up before Thanksgiving
tree. It needs some serious undressing before
my pretty glass ornaments bounce their lovely selves
all over the tile floor into smithereens.

Merry Christmas!
What a wonderful day it has been.
Full of fa-la-la and merriment to be certain.
One new Christmas present (Gregg's!?!?!?) just begged to be
tried out and so we did. However, we are not
sure you want to see the video of us in our
jammies eating our breakfast. This is the
next tidbit of our day...and with that...here
we are on our way to the movie theater.

PS Something tells me you might see far more
of the Mattson Family then you ever wanted to...

Also included in our Christmas celebrations was the
annual party at Beautiful Feet church.
The Mattson kids have spend quite a bit of time
at this mission in Fort Worth.
This night we were supervising a Christmas
party for the children who attend Sunday School at this church.
It goes without saying it is the furthest
extreme from the NCL tea.
The kids LOVE to have their photos taken
and ask repeatedly for you to take one with them.
A close second is the digital review.

Because I know I will want to post some Christmas photos
(although I am pretty sure most of us are not game for the AM jammie shots)
I better get caught up!
NCL had their Christmas tea early in the month.
Most notable about that is the fact that it was Brynne's last!
Now she is finally prepared to be thrust into a receiving line after
6 years of practice!
Lacey on the other hand has another year.
She might need it.
She had the punch pouring task this year and
while we are certain it was a mechanical issue with the ladle
she was sticky and drippy after every pour!

I missed Lacey's class photo because I had to dash to another
home for Brynne's tea.
I know you probably don't care, but I will feel better mentioning
that I do have black in my mustard skirt. I don't think I
looked as terribly mismatched as the photo would lead you to believe.

And while this sort of looks like the January '09 group shot from
The Bachelor, complete with roses, this is the last tea shot of our
senior girls. Now they can celebrate no more meetings, no more
community service (except Brynne...you need 30 more minutes, babe) and the
Senior Recognition dress shopping can begin!

This time next year we will be tucking Jacob in
as a teenager, but today we were celebrating his
12th birthday!
It was a simple celebration with family tonight.
He did celebrate with some extended family
over Thanksgiving and he is excited about
celebrating with friends (paintball!) during the
Christmas break.

Brynne and her favorite girls went to the Christmas parade
for some fa-la-la and ho-ho-ho
and are now officially in the spirit!

The oldest four grandchildren...
Andrew, Lacey, Hannah, Brynne

The oldest and youngest grandchildren...
Brynne and Julia

Our family...
Lacey, Gregg, Jacob, Elizabeth, Brynne

Suzanne and her family...
Scott, Stephen, Hannah, Andrew

Debbie and her family...
Brian, Lauren and Matthew

Josh and his family...
Miranda, Jonathan, Joshua and Julia

The grandkids...Oldest to Youngest

MiMi and PopPop with their 11 grandchildren

Mom and Dad

The four siblings...
Debbie, Elizabeth, Josh and Suzanne

Mom and Dad with their 4 kids...
Josh, Suzanne, Debbie, Elizabeth

The Sisters-in-Law
Elizabeth, Suzanne, Debbie, Miranda

The Brothers-in-Law
Scott, Gregg, Brian, Josh

The guys...

The girls...

A year ago an invitation was extended to my parents and siblings
to all gather in Texas for Thanksgiving. Thankfully everyone
was able to make it and what a week we had...
We managed to pack lots in!
Family pictures.
5 November/December birthdays were celebrated.
Thanksgiving Eve worship which included Julia's baptism.
A Thanksgiving feast.
Football...both in the street and on TV.
Christmas! Adult and cousin gift exchanges.
Plus hang out time, movies, walks, trips to the park and
eating, eating and more eating!

Bilingual Buddies Fall Fiesta!
Brynne's community program is in its second year.
They have moved it to a second campus to the delight of a bunch of 4th graders.
The big and little buddies had already swapped letters and pictures,
but now they got to meet in person for games, treats and fun.
This is Brynne with her little buddy.

I have been home over a week now, but just can't let this one go!
I got to slip off to NYC for a fun weekend with some of my favorite girls!
There was lots of shopping to be done...
Too much catching up to do...
An awesome Broadway show with some really big names providing
their audience with intense, live theater...
Great eating...
Tabla...think Indian Tapas and let me just say WOW
to going out on a culinary limb!
Carmines...perfect family style Italian for after Broadway eating!
Rue 57... for one of the best brunch dishes I have ever had!
My Christopher Radko ornament made it home safely and
will soon find itself nestled in my little NYC Christmas tree.

Evidently a bum knee and crutches didn't
slow down our Patriot.

Trick or Treat!
Jacob and his friend, Nick, have a long standing tradition
of trolling the neighborhood together.
Just in case a bit of explanation is in order
Jacob went as Tom Brady complete with oozing knee
that is keeping him out of the current season.

Thanks to an 18th birthday and an engaging
AP Government teacher this semester Brynne has been
very interested/involved/knowledgeable
about the upcoming election. She has spent two
Saturdays working the local chapter's campaign office
by making phone calls and after week one was declared
a natural by the gals in the office. Today she came home
with a pink Palin sticker that we are told is a hot commodity.
Second only to the shirts that are gone!
While I was not quite going along with the yardsign
idea Brynne was giving her sticker prominent
window placement. And did I mention that today
Brynne placed her VOTE?

Will the real Pocohantas please stand up?
From Crayons in '06 to 80's-ish sweatshirt/leg warmer girls in '07
to Indians in '08 this fab five have spent
countless hours planning and executing their costumes.
Last night it was our turn to host the team here
for costumes and snacks and scavenger hunt and
let's just say the whole night went swimmingly.

If you haven't heard Kari sing before you need to. She performed Revelation Song last night by request and it is awesome!

Last night was the first Students Standing Strong
rally of the year. We had a phenomenal crowd of kids
who were able to hear a powerful student testimony,
an impacting talk by Joe White of Kanakuk Kamps and
amazing worship music led by Kari Jobe.
Kari posed with our officers before the event began.
Check out the new officer shirts!
They were designed by Brynne and
sport the condensed version of
1 Corinthians 15:58
The SSS verse.

5 Swimmers and a Soccer Player off to the
Homecoming Game!

Foreshadowing? Kind of!
When the girls were little we had about 4-5 summers
of fun mother/daughter road trips with another family.
Two moms and 4 girls.
Most trips were to San Antonio with
a Galveston trip thrown in.
There was some serious matching in the
clothing department. One year they all
sported Minnie Mouse and the photo is still crystal clear
in my mind. Who would have thought that some years
later Lindsey would be under contract with Disney!
Brynne's favorite middle schoolers know Lindsey as
Lexi from As the Bell Rings. Imagine their surprise
when she came over to greet them and encourage them
and take pictures with them!
They were literally speechless!

Is this not the most pathetic little face ever?
Payton hung close to the float making activity.

Take a group of (dry) swimmers...
Add a few sheets of plywood...
Some power tools...
Yellow paint and gobs of tissue paper squares...
A long weekend and an awesome resident floatmaster and
TaDaaaaaaa!
A Homecoming float John, Paul, Ringo and George would approve!

Homecoming Garters Texas Style -
That means a trip to your local craft store where
you purchase a ridiculous
amount of ribbons, streamers, stickers, trinkets,
and other assorted decor...
Add a few small snacks and some of your very best friends...
Liberally apply all of said purchases to plain paper mum...
Allowing a minimum of 3 hours...
Which must include evaluations and opinions of said friends...
Never, ever settle for done unless you have reached said time limit...
And then finally...VOILA...a Texas Homecoming
MASTERPIECE!!!