Christmas 2009

This Christmas was a little sad for all of us this year. We all get together for Christmas every other year and this was the off year. Chuck and Sara stayed in Florida and spent that time with their kids and Gabe and Lindsay stayed in California and spent Christmas with Gabe's family. The flu spread through the rest of us like a plague and Christmas Eve, Jim got hit with it. So we all felt a little down. But Preston and Owen more than made up for that fact.

Okay, Preston, we're in our Christmas jammies, now what?

Presents??? Did somebody say presents?

Oh boy, oh boy, I think I like presents.

Now what do I do?

Oh, wow, is this for me?

Hey Preston? What did you get?

Thanksgiving at Walt Disney World

All of our family met at Walt Disney World this year for Thanksgiving. Chuck and Sara have a time share in Orlando right near the Disney entrance and we had such a wonderful time staying there and going to Disney. Thanks, again, Chuck and Sara! Disney really goes all out when it comes to the holidays and this year was no exception. All the Christmas decorations were up already when we were there, so that was fun.

Cinderella's castle was strung with icicle lights and was just beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Mike and Mandy at the main entrance.

This was the Osbourne Family Light Show at Hollywood Studios. The lights were set to music and it was really cool to watch.


It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world. That song just doesn't seem to leave your head for quite a while.

We told Mike if he was a good little boy, he could have a lollipop. He never got to eat one as a child (he had a very rough childhood...just ask him).

Waiting for the rope to drop at Epcot.

It poured down rain for most of the morning at Epcot. But eventually the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy ourselves.

Haiti

I know that all of us have been watching the news about the earthquake in Haiti and if you're like me, you wonder, what can I do to help. I just finished reading a blog entry from Beth Moore and she said we can do two things right now. First and most important, pray. Then get off your knees and open your checkbook. I think that's pretty good advice. There are so many charities that will be popping up and asking for donations, but my choices will be the tried and true. Those who have demonstrated fiscal responsibility and also have good track records. In case you were looking to donate, my suggestions would be Samaritan's Purse (Franklin Graham's organization) , Compassion International and World Vision. If you know of any other Christian organization that is helping, please leave a comment. Also, I would love to know what your churches are doing. If you know of any other tangible ways to help out, please leave a comment.

I was planning my next shopping trip to the grocery store and counting on the good bargains that I would be getting when God spoke to my heart. What a blessed life I have and what poverty and heartache there is around the world. They are all God's children. Jesus says in Matthew 25:40 "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

The Blue Tongued Creechs

Chuck and Sara had the kids over Christmas break and on the way back to Oklahoma, they stopped at our house for the night. Jacob, Rachel and Aaron are the sweetest kids and we had such a wonderful time eating pizza, watching movies and getting to know them. Whenever they visit Chuck and Sara, I send them cookies that I've decorated, so for dessert I made mittens, hats and snowmen. The frosting for the hats and mittens were bright blue and turned everyone's tongues blue.

Brrrr!

Well we're finally thawing out down here. Last week the temps were only in the high teens to low 20s during the day and at night they went down to the low teens. Sunday morning we woke up to this. 8 degrees. Now I know that up north these are not temps that would raise an eyebrow, but down here it's a big deal. Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel broadcast all day Thursday from Memphis. We have a new mayor in Memphis and this cold snap really brought out the good in people. MLGW (Memphis Light Gas and Water) turned the utilities back on of all the people who had their power turned off because of nonpayment of bills. The Memphis mayor erected two warming tents in downtown so the homeless would have a warm place to go. The churches in the area staffed the tents and our church supplied all the food. A group collected 250 sleeping bags and handed them out to the homeless so they could stay warm. The weather dominated the news for almost a week. But now, the cold snap is over. Temps yesterday were high 40s and by the end of the week, we're supposed to be in the 50s. I like those temps a lot better. I tell you, since we've moved down here, we have become wimps where cold weather is concerned.

I've Been So Bad

Okay, okay, I know. I haven't posted anything since November. I have no excuse. But I am going to try to do better. Maybe a New Year's resolution? Okay, I resolve to post at least once a week. Our lives tends to get boring down here at times, but I will try to come up with something. Anyway, when we went to Indianapolis for Christmas week, guess what? It snowed. Surprise, surprise. But it really was fun. See, in Memphis we don't get snow for Christmas. So it tends to get hard to be in the Christmas spirit or even get excited. But these few inches were so much fun. You see, this was Preston's first time this year actually playing in the snow. So we were there when he went on his first sled ride and built his first snowman and made his first snow angel. That, my friends, is priceless.

The little girl in the pictures is Jenny, Preston's next door neighbor.