::hattiejo's first christmas::

..brace yourself... I am going to give you the skinny version of our christmas... previous posts show our time in FL with the hopper family.. then we traveled to sc to be with my side of the family.. my uncle and aunt came over wed. night to have dinner and meet hattiejo. it was GREAT to see them.. they are doing a traveling ministry now where they go and work on different projects for churches.. its really neat, but they were home for christmas, so we got to sit around and catch up!..then christmas eve we spent having breakfast with friends from college who had a baby the same day that i had hattiejo.. then i went to visit a friend i used to teach with who had a baby a week before hattiejo arrived.. it was great fun! ...that afternoon i went on a motorcycle ride with my dad, then andrew took his bike for a spin...
..after the motorcyle rides, we just relaxed until dinner time, (hattiejo helped my mom and dad wrap some gifts) and my mom made a delicious spread.. then we opened some gifts.. however hattiejo went to sleep at 7 and didn't wake up until midnight to eat!...
..snuggle time with daddy..yes she is sporting leg warmers..

..here we are coming into the living room on christmas morning to see what santa had left us!...
..hattiejo LOVED opening all her gifts.. she must have been a pretty good girl these 4months, b/c she sure did rack up!.....then she got tired and decided it was best to go help grandma get breakfast cooked...
...we are SO THANKFUL for both our families... we had a great time visiting with all of them and our friends.. hattiejo had a great first Christmas.. in all of the hustle and bustle of the season, it would be easy to forget the true meaning.. thank you God that you sent your one and only Son to live a perfect sinless life, who then died on the cross to take our sin upon His shoulders, who then rose after 3 days and is seated at God's right hand...because of Him we have salvation!!.. what a joy! what an incredible Savior we serve...