Christmas Day and the Day After 2008

Christmas has been a wonderful time with family this year.  We wish more of our loved ones from Michigan could have been here in North Carolina, but we were happy Paul and Liz could come from Michigan, and Tammy Carl and Griffin could come from Tennessee.  There were many special moments and these snapshots capture a few.

Christmas Eve 2008

We had a great time over at Matt and Katherine's house (my brother and sister-in-law).

Amanda and Emily's Christmas Performances

Amanda and Emily have had plenty of Christmas activities this year at church and at school:



Amanda and Emily at our Church children's musical.  Both girls sang.  Amanda had a lead speaking part and also played the piano.



Here is Emily's School Christmas Choir (on 12-16-08)



Here is Amanda and her Teacher, Rick Hendricks, at her Christmas Piano Recital (on 12-20-08).

The following are videos of both events:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPzowxMZ4Wc[/youtube]

Emily's Christmas Choir (12-16-08)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC7S43raLHk[/youtube]

Amanda's Piano Recital (12-20-08)

I'll have more Christmas posts soon.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Our Thanksgiving Trip to Williamsburg, VA

We decided to do something adventerous this Thanksgiving.  We were offered a free trip to Williamsburg and $150 spending money if we would listen to a timeshare salses pitch.  We were skeptical, but we thought we'd try it.  It turned out to be a lot of fun.  The presentation was about 3 hours.  We got to stay in a very nice condo and had fun touring Williamsburg.  We didn't buy the timeshare.

Thanksgiving Dinner at Matt's House on 11-27-2008

We had Thanksgiving Dinner at my brother Matt's house on 11-27-2008.  Here are some pictures:







Here are some videos expressing thanksgiving:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uND-MXb7BT4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fPSvYxh9h4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krFdULRKKFg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KaYrC_ePDM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1npWVR9REBo[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrNvXRtu0Y8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy9nLfT_3g0[/youtube]

Papa Don's Birthday Party

Here are some picture's from my Uncle's Birthday party on November 2, 2008.

Halloween 2008

We enjoyed "trunk or treat" at our church.  People put candy in their car trunks and meet at the church parking lot.  Everyone gets to see how the kids dressed up.  It was fun.  Emily dressed up like a girl from the 1950s and Amanda dressed up as a tree.

Dixie Classic Fair

My family always enjoys the fair.  We had a good time this past fall at the Dixie Classic Fair in Winston-Salem, NC.  We went on 10-11-08.

Here is a picture of Julie and me with Chris and Ashley (friends from church):



Emily enjoying a pony ride:



Amanda and Emily with Papa Don:



It was a lot of fun and I'm sure we will be back next fall.