Wednesday, December 30

Our Christmas!

Peter and James at Grandma and Grandpa Weldon's House - Christmas Eve





. .making a gingerbread house!




Christmas Day - At Grandma and Grandpa Shaeffer's House








Aunt Caralee had to step in and help Mr. James - or should I say Mr. Slowpoke!!!




Caralee - opening her gifts


(we took pictures of each other's gifts since we made our own bows this year!)


. . . I knitted her a blanket this year . . .


David - and the smallest playing cards in the world!



Tim - opening his presents!




December 27th - With Patrick and Catherine








James really loves his new bat!

Thursday, December 24

Christmas Festivities

This year, my Grandma Shaeffer paid the way for my entire extended family (all 42 of us) to a Christmas Concert in Columbus. It was amazing, to say the least. This enormous church gives a beautiful gospel presentation and they always tie it in with a modern family dialog.

Here's my sister, Caralee - my Grandma Shaeffer (dad's mom) and me!


My little sister, Caralee and her hubby, David - married for 3 years, just bought a new home (huge!) in Huber Heights.






Dad, trying to hide from the camera. This is a special year for us all - last year, at this time, dad was deployed overseas for over 5 months, missing Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthday's and his anniversary, so this year is going to be especially nice with him being home!






Mr. James - 2 years old. We almost had to pick his jaw up off of the floor after he saw that they used REAL LIFE camels (and super huge ones at that) in the Christmas Story.




After the program, my Grandma took us ALL out to dinner at the Der Dutchman, one of the most delicious restaurants around!
We had a really good time. In fact, when they had our tables ready, they announced "Shaeffer . . . party of 42, your table is now ready" . . and everyone in the restaurant started looking around for this army of Shaeffers!


This is my cousin, Sharon - she was actually in the beginning stages of labor (with her 5th baby), later the next day, she welcomed Ransom Isaiah to this world.







Grandma Shaeffer (Great Grandma, to most of us!)









My sister, Caralee - and my two beautiful cousins, Melanie (left), just graduated this year (and most say that she looks like me, even though her Mommy was adopted, so we get a kick out of that!) and, April (middle), away at college, I had the privilege of teaching her piano for a while.

Thursday, December 17

Pete's Thoughts

Driving on the Highway
Peter: WOW, Mom . . look at all of those bridges!
Mom: Yeah, buddy! There are lots of them!
Peter: God made those bridges, didn't He?
Mom: Well, God gave the strength to do the work to a bunch of bridge builders, so, yes - He DID make the bridges
Peter: God made EVERYTHING!!
Mom: That is right!
Peter: That sure was nice of God to do.



Night-Night Prayer
Peter: Dear Jesus, please forgive me of my sins, help me to be a better good boy. Thank You for the nice weather that we are having. Please help me to have humility. Thank You for Your goodness. Amen.


Listening to Mariah Cary's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' . . . .
Peter: Wow, she sure is excited to get something for Christmas!!

Tuesday, December 15

Christmas Concert

Tim and I have decided to start a new tradition in our little family . . . each year, just before Christmas, we all pack up and go out for a yummy dinner and then attend a local church's AWESOME Christmas concert. The gospel message is presented in very unique and different ways, each year and the music is out of this world!



Peter and James got to meet some fun characters and each one of them had a basket full of goodies for them to pick out from!



(wish I could have gotten a better picture of this . . . still super cute, though)


Thursday, December 10

So, the boys and I are in the car listening to Christmas music, on our way back from the mall, and this is the conversation . . .


Peter: Mom, this song is SO true! They ARE miles away!

Mom: (listening quickly to the song) What is Sweetie?

Peter: All of our troubles.


(song: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas)

Sunday, December 6

Finding Our Christmas Tree!

Looking . . . . . .







Looking . . . . . . .





FOUND IT!!!

Monday, November 30

Thanks~Giving

Every year, all of (my side) the Shaeffer's get together for a massive Thanksgiving celebration.

Typically, there are anywhere from 25-32 people, 4-5 tables, and at least 9 grandchildren with their own children - adding another 9 GREAT-grandchildren who all join together for our annual Thanksgiving feast . . . and, by 'feast' - I mean a colossal amount of food!!!


My cousin, Ben, prepares the turkeys all year long, for their debut and fattens them up and just before they are about to explode from overeating, he cooks them. This year, he smoked TWO 48 POUND turkeys . . . 48 POUNDS . . . . A PIECE! They were heavier than Peter!!
After our delicious lunch, the kids get to enjoy a hayride.

They look forward to this every year . . even despite the freezing rain and drizzle, they held on tight for a long, cold ride and enjoyed every second of it.

We did almost tank . . . but, thanks to Mr. Ben, he was able to get the tractor back down the hill without jackknifing the trailer!



It was a wonderful day, full of family, laughter, singing and praising our High Priest who intercedes for US . . . His chosen people, who have been more than blessed this year!!

Praise God for His Great Love!

Sunday, November 22

From Peter's View

He got ahold of my camera (after asking, of course!)