Christmas Festivities

(Sorry, I didn't mean for this to be a book. There are pictures at the end:o))

As the Christmas holiday is coming to an end, I am constantly reminding myself what the real meaning of Christmas is. I don't want to forget that Jesus is the reason we have this wonderful day of spending time with family, opening gifts, and enjoying life. We have started a tradition where we have created a "Blessings Book" where we take time out to look at our last year and remember all the times the Lord has blessed us. We can get so distraught at the horrible things that happen in our lives, that we don't even see the blessings that are freely given to us. I know there are many more blessings that the Lord has done but here are a few that we remember:

* Patience and perserverence to endure a challenging and stressful year
* People to help us take care of the girls while Brian was at school
* He has met all our financial needs for 2009.
* He has kept us under His wing and kept us safe.
* Protected me through surgery and has given me more chances to get pregnant
* Stayed with Brian through a tough year of school and graduated with his EMBA
* Loves us unconditionally no matter how far away we may have gone in 2009

There are so many more, but these are only a few that have been posted in our notebook. we will get it out each year to remind us that God is always in the midst of us, working with us to become what He always anticipated us to come.

We were very busy celebrating Brian's 30th birthday and Christmas with all the families. On Dec. 20th, the Wiles family came up to our house for the first Christmas in Tennessee. It was so nice to have everyone here. The cousins had fun playing together and we all enjoyed getting together for Christmas! We always read the Christmas Story and then open presents which remained the tradition this year. Then everyone takes turns opening presents. It is so nice to see what everyone is getting!

For Brian's birthday, some friends came over and ate cake and ice cream. We stayed up late but had lots of fun talking, catching up and of course, playing with Brian's new PS3 game (Thank you Teri and Sid!).

Then we traveled with Brian to his work and then to his parents house to exchange gifts on Skype with the other McEacherns. It was a great thing to do since they live on the other side of the US. Ella and Ava enjoyed seeing Josh, Marcie, and Isabel opening gifts! We spent the night there and woke up in the morning to a great breakfast and lots of presents to open. Ella and Ava got a kitchen set for Christmas and just loved it! Thank you Gramma and Grampa! We still haven't unpacked all their toys and clothes they got. But that gives us new toys each day this week. YAY! The girls had a blast there and then we head up to Brian's grandparent's house. We had a wonderful lunch, played Christmas songs with the bells and began opening gifts. Grandpa/Papa always passes out the gifts, Jeremy always has surprise gifts from Santa, someone always reads the Christmas Story, and there is always lots of love and laughter. We had a great time being up there and makes Christmas more enjoyable.

We took the long 2 hour trip back home and played games and got into new pajamas which was quite relaxing. Gramma and Grampa came over to spend the night for Christmas morning. We all went to sleep after setting up the tree and actually slept in till 7:30! The girls were a little apprehensive at first but once they saw all the presents, got excited. We let everyone open their stockings and then we read "Happy Birthday Jesus". After opening gifts, I would say that Ella and Ava's favorite gift was their big pink chairs. Ella loved the keyboard and played it like crazy. Ava loved this little coffee pot we got the girls and made coffee for everyone all day long.

All in all, we have had the best Christmas ever! It has been so fun to watch the girls faces as they opened the gifts. It was fun to make time to just play and not worry about all the other things going on around us. We have been so blessed this year and we are anticipating an even more fruitful year next year. We expect to learn new things about ourselves and each other. We expect the best and can't wait to see what the Lord has planned!

Merry Christmas!

School's Out for Christmas!!

Today was our last day at work! I feel like a weight has been lifted and it feels wonderful! I got to see Brian and the girls, which made it that much better! And one of my new friends helped me clean my house! It has been a fantastic day! And now I get two days with my entire family! Then 2 weeks with the girls before going back to work. It can not get much better than that!

We are having the Wiles Family Christmas on Sunday. It will be so nice to see everyone! We are celebrating the holiday at our house for the first time ever! I am a little nervous about cooking because we have never cooked a large meal so we will see how it turns out:o) I am sure there will be pictures to follow all the festivities so stay tuned!

First McEachern Gingerbread House

Wow! Was this an experience! Last night,we read The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. The girls were not that into it, however, I finished reading it while the girls played with Daddy. I got this bright idea to buy a gingerbread house so we could make it all together. It was a lot of fun but a very big mess. Ella and Ava used half of the candy to decorate and the other half found it's way to their mouths! It was fun to watch them try and put the candy on without getting icing all over their hands. That didn't last too long after they tasted the icing! Here are a few pictures of the event:o)

Back to Normal Life...YAY!

Well first, I want to say how proud I am of Brian! He is absolutely wonderful in every way. Although it has been a tough year, now that Brian has graduated, it seems like this year has passed quickly! Brian graduated with his EMBA on Friday, December 11. Brian's grandparents, parents, and mother-in-law were all able to come up to Knoxville, TN to see him hooded. Thank you all for being so supportive of him while he went through school. There are no words to express all the sacrifices and changes several of you committed to while Brian was at school. We love you so much and just want you to know that we appreciate your kindness and generosity over this last year. We could not have survived the year as well as did without family and friends helping us through it:o)

Today, we simply enjoyed relaxing without thinking of anything else! It was so nice! We stayed home all day and played with the girls, watched movies, and cleaned a little! The girls are so glad to have Daddy home but we are definitely challenged with getting back to our regular routine. Let's just say, we were ready for 7:30 to come so we could put the girls to bed. Hopefully they will get back into the routine quickly!

We don't know what is in our future but we know that this next year will be an amazing year, full of opportunity in all aspects of our life! The Lord is our guide and we are spending this year really listening and embodying His truths. He holds our future so I know that it is bright!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

We woke up this morning to a telphone call from Brian. He asked us what the weather looked like. I had not even looked outside. When we did, it was pouring down snow! The girls were so excited to see the snow! I was too. The ground was covered and we wanted to get out there before it melted away. So we got bundled up and headed out! Here are a few pictures of the girls in their winter wonderland!

On their way outside!


Ella jumping and loving the snow! She didn't want to go in!

Ava was a little unsure about stepping in the snow, but once she saw everyone else walking through, she decided to venture in and love it!


The cat seemed to enjoy the snow too!