Christmas Surprise!

The whole gang gathered before dinner.

So . . .  we were talking with Liberty on the phone Christmas morning around 10 a.m.  The boys were telling us about their presents.  And we were talking about when they would come home to visit.  All of a sudden, Tommy says to Liberty, "Do you want to go to her house?"  Liberty says, "Who's house?"  Tommy says, "Your mom's."  Next thing I know, they've decided to drive home and be here in time for our Christmas dinner at 6 p.m.!  This was a wonderful surprise for us!  The last time we were all together for Christmas was in 2007.  They left from here and drove to their new home in Florida.


Grandparents, aunts and uncles were there too!


I feel so blessed that we were all together on Christmas Day this year.  Who knows how often this will  happen as all three of our children build their own lives.  And so I offer this prayer of thanks and appreciation of this special day:

Oh Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the food on the table, the rooves over our heads, and for our family being here together to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Help us to remember that family is for growing up in, going away from, and for coming back to.  It is for love and concern, helping each one of us through the happy times and the sad ones.  Even though we may live far apart, with your blessing, Father, we will always be together in our hearts and in our memories, permitting us to lead our own lives and be our own persons.  Amen.

This is Addison playing "Paper Jam" - I had never heard of this before, but basically, the "amps" provide the vocals and will provide the music if you strum the guitar.  It's pretty neat!

Grayson played Paper Jam, too!  He did a great job and even danced a little as he played.

Pap and Uncle Jacob provided the spotlights for the performances!

Tommy is standing behind the rocker, Liberty is sitting in the rocker, Addison is in the fore ground playing with the train, and Grayson is in the background playing Paper Jam.  It was truly a special Christmas!

A Great Christmas

There weren't huge piles of presents under our tree this year.  The kids are getting older and the things they wanted cost more . . .  And we try hard to find the balance between having a nice amount of gifts and a ridiculous amount of gifts - Christmas isn't about the presents, it's about how you treat people all year long. 

Jacob wasn't truly surprised by his big gift.  I had asked him whether he really wanted a PS3 or more train cars for his Farmall collectible train set.  After some deliberation, he said he wanted the PS3.  I never committed to the PS3, but he knows me well enough to know that I would get him what he really wanted.  I think he's really enjoying the PS3!

I did manage to surprise Jordana.  Over the last couple years, she has said she wanted her own skates.  I would always respond, "We don't skate often enough to make it worth while to buy skates."  So not only have I always said no, I also wrapped them in a cowboy boot box.  When she unwrapped it and saw the box, she thought it was boots.  She was really surprised when she opened the box!  We are going skating this weekend for sure!

Jesse gets the prize for orchestrating the biggest surprise. He had a custom coat made for me! I had not asked for anything. In fact, I truly didn't have any idea of what I wanted for Christmas. So, he had to be creative in trying to think of something I would really like. He did good.

Jesse has needed a new cordless drill for some time.  Every time he tries to use his drill, the batteries are dead because they won't hold a charge anymore.  I wasn't sure what brand to buy, so I had the kids print out a picture of a cordless drill and we put it in a card.  I'm going to let him pick it out so I'm sure he gets the kind of drill he wants. 

Jordana had asked for a reversible saddle pad which her Pap and Grammy Trick gave her.  Pap and Grammy Hughes gave her money which she wants to put towards a skate case for her new skates.  Aunt Dee gave her a very nice reconditioned lap top.  She was pretty happy all day!

Pap and Grammy Trick gave Jacob the caboose for the collectible train set.  Even though he chose the PS3, they wanted him to have the caboose because it would probably sell out quickly.  Pap and Grammy Hughes gave him money which he wants to put towards another PS3 game.  He was a pretty happy camper too!

Merry Christmas to All!

This, the spirit of Christmas, that forever and ever endures.  May it leave its richest blessing in the hearts of you and yours.

~ Author Unknown

Merry Christmas to All! 

from the Wagners

Jesse, Classy, Kate, and Anita

Jacob and Cletus

Jordana and Mac

Semi Formal

Jordana went to our school's semi-formal dance tonight.  She looked so beautiful!  And she had a great time hanging out with her friends.

Jordana with proud papa!

Jordana with me.

My mom hemmed the dress for us.  Jordana and I went shopping for the shoes and earrings.  And, I did her hair by curling all of it and having it cascade down the back of her head.  She was stunning!

Holiday Party

We had our annual Christmas Party at my mom and stepdad's house on Sunday, 12/12.  It's always a nice time when we get together for some great food and conversation!

This is my mom, Sharon.  Jacob was taking the pictures and she struck a pose for him.  We also celebrated her birthday (12/14) with a cake that Jordana baked for dessert.

This is me!  I'm usually the one taking pictures - so there aren't too many of me at family functions.  But Jacob took my picture so here I am!

This is a pic of all the girls hiding from the camera!  It was Jordana (age 13), Katie (age 16), Ashley (age 16), and Molley (age 14).  There are 7 grandchildren between the ages of 13 and 16.

This is Jesse on the steps talking to Mom.  Julie, Gordon, Dee, and Chuck are in the background.

We put tables up in the clock room to put the food on.  Nobody left hungry for sure.

This is a beautiful Christmas Cactus.  It was on Mom's porch and actually was frosted twice before she brought it in.  It is huge - I bet it's 2.5 or 3 feet in diameter.  And the blooms are so pretty!

Historical Society Train Show

Our local historical society hosted a train exhibit recently.  The proprietors of the train exhibit are two very special people for sure!

This is Jacob and Jordana with Cindy M (aka Hobo Cindy).  Cindy was our school nurse for years and the kids both really like her.  And she was the instructor for childbirth classes when I was pregnant with Liberty; and was actually working the day Liberty was born.  We've known her for years and just absolutely adore her!

This is one end of the Polar Express Display.  The 10' long train disappears in the 2.5 wide tunnel (the the left center of the pic).  It's pretty amazing!

And this is the other end of the display.  Around the Christmas Tree, there are 350 "people" made out of pipe cleaners.  This is awesome train display!  Engineer Rob is sitting in the background.

This is my stepdad (center in suspenders) with the model of the local railroad that he created and donated to the historical society.  He was on hand that day to answer questions and talk about the local history.

And here are Rob & Cindy M. (Engineer Rob and Hobo Cindy) with their Polar Express train.  All the kids who came to the display just loved it.  Mr. M. was my elementary school gym teacher.  When I was in 5th grade, I broke my foot and was casted for a few months.  He used to lift me on and off the stage in the multi-purpose room so I could watch gym class.  He was one of my favorite teachers!

Toy Show

Jacob took his toy tractor and train collection to a local toy show.  He has a large assortment of tractors, mostly featuring Allis Chalmers and Farmall; with a few John Deere for good measure.

Jacob received a trophy for best open class display.  He was pretty happy!

This is a shot of the display - hard to see the details, but he has a nice limited edition Farmall train, and some precision/Franklin Mint tractors.  The pedal tractor in front is actually Jordana's but she loans it to him for shows!

And, on a side note, Jacob got a deer on 12/2.  It's an honorable thing to be able to put food on your family's table and we have no doubt that he will be a good provider to his own family.  With our own eggs, pork, venison and beef, we are pretty self-sufficient when it comes to groceries.