Christmas

Christmas this year was much different from every other one Ryan and I have spent together. For the first time, we did not spend it in Arlington. This is a busy time of year for me at work, so I was only off Christmas Eve and Christmas. Ryan's mom was able to come, though, and spend Christmas with us here in Louisville.

I tell you, Ryan and I have really come to appreciate the convenience of online shopping. With so many gifts to be sent to Arlington, it was much easier to order online than to spend hours in line at the post office.

We've been married for nearly five years and were engaged for two years, but we're still trying to figure out our own Christmas traditions. It was in a sense, kind of like our first Christmas together since it was in our home this time. We would love to hear any of your Christmas traditions, so please feel free to post them. One of ours is that we give each other new pajamas on Christmas Eve. Wally got his first pair of pjs and was so adorable!
Ryan made an elaborate feast on Christmas, while his mom and I did all we could to help with cutting, stirring and cleaning up. The food was amazing!

A few days after Christmas, we drove to Nashville to celebrate with Brandon, Jill, Joshua and Aby. It was so much fun watching Joshua and Aby open their gifts! Joshua is really in to Cars (the movie) and Superman stuff, while Aby loves anything Elmo. We only had two days there, but we kept busy playing Sequence, Guesstures and Killer Uno (a game Jill learned while on a mission trip in Ecuador), as well as racquetball.

I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone, but we're excited about what the Lord will teach us in 2007.

Sunday School Christmas Party

Our Sunday school class had their annual Christmas party at our teacher, Dr's Wellum's house. Dr. Wellum is also a professor at Southern Seminary, where Ryan goes to school.

Anyway, we gathered at the Wellums' house for appetizers, desserts, a White Elephant gift exchange and of course, fellowship. It was a great night with friends, and the gift exchange was particularly funny. There was a $3 limit on each gift, so they ranged from a bag of Sun Chips to an interesting painting of Jesus knocking on a door to our gift. Our gift was actually a regift. Ryan's brother, Brandon, had given Ryan a book a couple of years ago by Benny Hinn called He Touched Me. He found it at a gas station and decided it was a must have. Ryan had a hard time parting with the book because he thought it was so funny, but it was well worth it. The expression on Uche's face (the lucky recipient of the gift) was priceless and was followed by the response, "Aww man! That's not right!"

We have been very blessed by the friends we have made here in Louisville and were thankful to celebrate with them this Christmas season.

Our First Snow!

That's right, we had our first official Louisville snow. It didn't snow much, and it was gone before noon, but it was fun nonetheless. Growing up in Texas, we hardly saw any snow so it doesn't take much to excite us.

We recently set up our Christmas tree, and Ryan even hung up lights around our back patio, so it's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Good Friends

One of the blessings of being in Louisville is being surrounded by other couples in seminary. It's neat to see how God uses everyone to encourage one another since we're all going through a lot of the same things. We have made some wonderful friends since we moved here. Unfortunately, some of the sweetest friendships will soon become long distance, as our friends graduate from seminary and are called elsewhere for ministry.

Two couples in our Sunday school class, Jeff and Heather Miller and Jonathan and Jaime Farrell, will be greatly missed. We've enjoyed the short time we've been able to spend with them, but we often wonder why God granted us so little time together.

We were able to have dinner with Jeff, Heather and their two precious girls, Rayah and Ashlyn, the other night. It was a lot of fun, and we were reminded how blessed we are just to have met them.

Yesterday, I had lunch with a group of girls, including Heather and Jaime. It was the first time I had seen Jaime since she gave birth to little Jorja, who is almost two weeks old. Jaime and Jonathan will likely be moving at the end of this month, which is also very sad. We've had some good times with them, and we have even been credited with putting Jaime into labor after a hilarious game night.

Another sweet girl from my women's Bible study, Ashley Flurry, will be moving soon since her husband will be graduating as well this Saturday.

Thank you, Lord, for the time you have given us with these sweet friends. May we be better people for the time we have spent together.