Main Street Bethlehem

We had the opportunity to experience something amazing this holiday season. We were told about this wonderful production that a Baptist church puts on in Burnett,TX. The production was about the night the Savior was born. It is an actual plot of land dedicated to this event that is put on every year. The buildings were made out of stone and wood. There were people dressed up and walking around, sitting by fires, selling animals, food, etc. It was a depiction of a Bethlehem and what it must have been like the night our Savior was born. There were sooo many people. It truly was a spiritual experience. So what you do, is walk through like you are a citizen of Bethlehem. The people talk to you. We walked through a church, a candle makers house, a leather place, and so on...too many places to describe. It was a bit overwhelming because there were so many people there. We waited in line for over an hour and a half just to get into the town. Here are a few pictures that I took. It was hard to take good pictures because we went in the evening.









It is such a beautiful thing to have the knowledge that we have. That Jesus Christ was born in a stable (cave!) in a busy city called Bethlehem and that He is the Savior of the world. I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life.

Sunday Best

I decided to try and get a picture of all of the kids in their Sunday best. The girls had their darling Christmas dresses on. I think that it turned out pretty cute. I can't believe that Gabriel actually smiled!! I am soooo blessed to have four wonderful children and one on the way :)

Kassi's Shining Stars Costumes

Kassadi was so excited to be in a dance group. Little does she realize how much it really costs to get started. But it is a good Christian based group. The costumes are supposed to be modest...but the blue one showed a bit in the belly. I guess that is a no no. Because after these pics, all of the kids had to turn in their shirts so that they could be lengthened. But she looks cute! :) She even got to wear fun makeup. She had her team pictures tonight and these are the two costumes that they are wearing for their competition in January. Getting Kassi to pose for a picture was like pulling teeth. Halle, on the other hand, had a ball wearing the makeup and coming up with funny poses for the camera. Gotta love a poser.

Gabriel the Ham! :)

I wanted to get pictures of all the kids on Thanksgiving. Why? I am not sure. I like to think that someday I will scrapbook them :) Well, I found Gabe on the stairs and thought that I would take a shot. I didn't think that he knew what to do for the camera. Little did I know that he was a natural born HAM! I love these shots! ENJOY...

Kassadi's Mishap!

It doesn't fail. Someone always gets hurt! This time it was Sass. Apparently, she and the rest of the kids on Thanksgiving evening were running around. She got pushed and fell on her arm wrong. Jad Smith was upstairs when it happened and he said that he heard a really loud pop. He knew that something was wrong. We were down stairs and heard this scream that was foreign to any of our children. We knew that something was really wrong. Steve ran upstairs and got the scoop. He freaked out a bit... got her in the car and off to the ER he drove. I stayed home and ushered everyone on their way. I waited for Steve to call and let me know what was going on. He called right away. The ER was really slow that night. She had a broken humorous and needed to have surgery. They wanted to keep her overnight so that the surgeon could fix her up in the morning. So a couple of people stayed at the house and I went up to the hospital to send Steve home to sleep. Tyler Crompton came along to assist in a blessing. I got the privilege of staying on one of those wonderful hospital cots that are oh so comfortable! Kassi did really well. The nurses gave her a stuffed horse as soon as she got there. They all thought that she was so cute.

Notice the cut shirt. They didn't bother to get it off of her. They went straight for the scissors! That was the first day that she wore the shirt. Oh well, we will just cut the other side and call it a short sleeve! :)



They didn't have any kids hospital gowns, so they went with the really large adult one!



After an awful night sleep, she was off to surgery at 7:30 in the morning. She went later than planned because in the middle of the night a little girl (the same age as Kass) fell out of her bunkbed and broke the same bone! She had surgery before Kass. The nurses told us that they expected another break sometime that day because usually everything happened in threes. Crazy!





Kassi did great in surgery. She was a little bit wheepy coming out of the anesthesia. But all in all she was a trooper. We were really proud of her! After surgery, they took her back to her room and she reminded the nurse of the popsicle that he promised her.



After another hour or so, she was sent home to recover. She was to return to the doctors office to have her pins removed in 4 weeks.



When we got home, she chose to go up to bed and sleep for a bit. After she had a nap, we brought her downstairs to be with the family. She hadn't really eaten anything and was pretty hungry. Kyle decided that he would make her a root beer float and feed it to her. It was pretty entertaining.



Kassadi's best friend Kiley Jennings stopped by to bring Sass some of her (Kiley's) favorite comfort things from home. She brought her a big stuffed My Little Pony and some of her favorite candy. It was a really sweet thing and I know that it meant a lot to her.



Kassadi also received a few cards from Nana & Papa and a fun box of gifts (slippers, fake nails and a game) from her cousins, Emmy & Claire. Thanks guys for keeping her in your prayers.

Thanksgiving at our HOME!!

This is Kyle's idea of smiling for the camera on Thanksgiving. Can anyone say pre-teen?



This is how the girls love to watch movies. Comfortable?


The girls having snacks before a very big dinner!! You gotta love chocolate.



We had the Smith's (Pam, Jad, Hayley and Hayden) & the Crompton's (Tyler, Jamie, Easton & Trey) over. I am not the best of hosts. I like to be entirely too casual. I wish that I could be a bit more like Martha Stuart and actually set a beautiful table for Thanksgiving! Instead...everyone just got their plates and went through the buffet at the counter! Maybe someday I will get creative and make it a bit more fancy. But this works! I was really nervous about making my 1st turkey. Can you believe that? I am 31 and I have never made a turkey. CRAZY! I called my mom several times to get tips. (She usually had moist turkeys!)Well, I put my turkey in one of those oven bags with an onion, some butter, and some italian seasonings and I have to say that it was very moist and super flavorful! I was so proud of myself.



The boys (Steve & Tyler Crompton) fried a turkey. It turned out pretty good (expensive to do though.) I think that mine was better. :)





I also made a few side dishes. Nothing spectacular. Like I said, I wish that I could be a bit more like Martha Stuart! But it didn't really matter. It was the company that counts. They are the ones that make this special. I am so very thankful for amazing friends.





It was hard to move away from our family, but new wonderful friends helped the loneliness. Thanks guys and gals :) I am also grateful for my parents. They are such great parents and I am thankful for the memories of all the past Thanksgivings. We always had a wonderful time. I am also thankful for the Colquitt's and for the memories that I have shared with them. I am thankful for my amazing husband and for the strength that he is to me. He is so supportive and helpful around the house! He is also a wonderful father. I am thankful for 4 amazing, beautiful, patient, and kind children. They bring such joy into my life. I don't know what I would do without their smiling faces everyday. I am grateful for wonderful friends that I know that I will have for a lifetime. I love you all. Thanks for making my life great!!

Finally...A few pics of our HOME!

This is all a work in progress! But you all have been bugging me for weeks to pictures of our home posted! There will definitely be more to come! We hope you love it as much as we do!