Holiday Season

Wow! This Christmas Season has passed us by in a flash and oh boy, do I have quite a bit of updating to do for yall.


Putting up the Christmas tree is always a very special time for us.  It was in December of 2008, while putting up the Christmas tree, that Kelly asked me to marry him.  He had an ornament made with the date and our names underneath two little bears, one proposing to the other.  This was the first Christmas tree decorating day for Catie Grace and marked our third Christmas tree decorating for Kelly and I. 

My family with the ornament Kelly gave me three years ago

Kelly keeping Catie from pulling stuff off the tree

Catie and I *Christmas 2011

Another family tradition that I had growing up was cookie making.  This was another tradition that I wanted to instill with Catie and Kelly.  We made gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, and neaman markus cookies.  I tried to make 'health' version of sugar cookies and that first round of healthy cookies was thrown out and given to the birds.  Literally! So we went back to the old recipes and they did not fail us :)

Adding Home-made icing

Catie Grace watching Veggie Tales

Kelly pulling Catie's hands out of the dry ingredients

She loved the feeling of flour

Baby blue eyes

Our first Christmas we celebrated this year was at the Rexroat's.  Catie Grace enjoyed time with her Uncle and Grandparents. 

Kisses from Jacob

Playing with her new lamb

The Rexroat *Christmas 2011

Grandma and Grandpa

On Christmas Eve, we made another trip out to Frankfort for the extended family's Christmas.  It was full of laughs and good food.

On Christmas day, we made the drive down to Campbellsville to be with my family.  My cousin Ronald was in with his family.  He has spent the past several years serving our country over seas and this was the first Christmas he and his family had been able to spend with us in Campbellsville for several years.  His sweet wife, Sara, was gracious enough to point out to my mother that their son, Koben , appeared to have spots on his torso that resembled chicken pocks.  Koben had not been exposed to chicken pocks but had received the vaccine two weeks earlier.  Mom did some quick research online and found that 1/20 children who receive the vaccine end up getting a mild version of the infection and when they develop the infection then they are contagious.   Even though he was contagious, we made the decision to still go.  The three kids there were asked to distance themselves from Catie and we decided that Catie would be passed around only between the adults that did not have contact with the kids.  All three kids, Koben, Kyla, and Andrew were very good about obeying our requests and we enjoyed time with family we had not seen in months and years.  This was the first Christmas without Pa, but our first Christmas with Catie.  It was bitter sweet. 

Catie and Nahna

The kids and some of the adults stayed in the family room while we stayed in the den

Chilling in the den with the Bug

UK wind suit

Cousin Steven

Catie's Princess Pony

The Melton's

On a trip back to Frankfort, Catie fell in love with this musical carousel.  :)

On New Year's Eve, we wrapped up our Christmas holidays with a trip to my Mother's mom.  Grami got the opportunity to see how much Catie Grace has grown and developed and we had the chance to catch up with Grami.

Nahna and Bug

Grami and Catie

Sitting with Grami

We also went to Russell Springs on New Years Eve and saw more of Kelly's extended family.  Kelly's aunt Karen was gracious enough to take pictures for the whole family :)

Catie with Uncle Jacob

Kelly and Sarah *New Years Eve 2011