As We Go. . .: I Gotta Shake My Booty

No, not me. Our youngest, Aubrie, announced last night as we were getting ready for bed that she had to shake her booty. So, she proceeded to run to her bedroom where she shook it...for a while...to a booty song she made up, apparently. How does she come up with this stuff? She is definitely the family comic, and her sense of comedic timing amazes us - she did NOT get this from me!

Christmas was wonderful here in the Williams house. We had my dad, two sisters, my brother-in-law, his sister, a friend from San Antonio, and my in-laws here at our house for Christmas. It was our first time to host the holiday, and I had a blast!! I would normally get pretty wound up about such a large gathering, but everything was really calm and pleasant - very un-Dee Dee-like. I followed a much-reduced menu that Judy (mom-in-law) gave me. I really don't know how she does this every year. I definitely have a new appreciation for her!

Todd was so sweet and remembered to take a picture of our Christmas Eve food. Judy told me that this tradition started so she didn't have to cook dinner the night before Christmas. So, we have snacks and sweets instead. The girls love it because they get to eat for dinner things that would typically be desert. What could be better than that?

Enjoying the mild weather Christmas Eve

Our friend Peggy's mother lives in Lockhart, only 30 minutes from us, so Peggy brought some of her family up to see us later in the evening. Peggy's mom Frances is 94 years old, very spry and can play anything on the piano in any key. I told Todd it was wonderful that he got me a piano for Christmas a few years back because it would truly have been a shame not to get to hear her play. The girls ran to put on dress-up clothes and danced away for as long as Miss Frances would play, and she knew all kinds of wonderful dancing songs. She also played a ton of Christmas carols - it was a wonderful way to end our Christmas day.

Backtracking just a bit, we really enjoyed lighting our advent wreath each week this year. I think there was added pleasure because Aubrie was old enough to participate. I've looked online for several different ways to celebrate the coming of the Savior and finally just decided to break up the telling of His arrival and the events leading up to it as they are found in Luke. We discuss the birth of John, the angels' visit to Mary, Mary's visit to Elizabeth, and finally, His birth. Next year, however, I'm hoping to be reading out of John's new book. I can't wait! Oh, I also wanted to steal Meredith's mom's idea of wrapping up baby Jesus from the nativity, but I forgot...maybe I'll remember that for next year.

I hope that you and yours had a blessed Christmas and have found or will determine to find time reflect upon what Jesus' coming means. I love the words from a song, "I'll never know how much it cost to see my sins upon that cross." I think that much of the cost was in His coming in the first place, leaving glory, leaving His father. We just couldn't have the cross without His willingness to leave it all to rescue us and to glorify His Father.