An Alabama White Christmas!! It's about as close to snow as we usually get.
We have had a wonderful year, we have been so blessed. We are still in Alabama and enjoying the things that comes with it (warmer weather, rain, the history here, etc).
I was trying to take pictures of the kids for Christmas, and a friend told me about this old building downtown. It was just what I wanted, I had wanted a rustic background, and then I tried to dilute the color in the picture to make it look more rustic. I am posting both the pictures so enjoy, tell me what you think. We had a hard time getting Ryan to sit on the step, he found some kind of bug way under the porch and he didn't want to sit there. I told him the quicker you sit the quicker we are done. After some coaxing he finally did it and the pictures look great. He does not like bugs!
Sorry this is so late in the month, I had good intentions of getting it done sooner, so bear with me as I recap the month of December.
Warning: picture overload!
Our latest family picture. Clark's parents and sister were here for Thanksgiving and to meet their newest grandson, so one of the days we took off for Old Cawhaba. We wanted to take them there and show them a little bit of Alabama history and I thought it would be a great place for a family picture so that's what we did (We even got a good one of them for our wall). Notice the Spanish Moss hanging off the trees in the back ground I think that looks so cool.
Where the Cahaba River meets the Alabama River.
Clark in front of one of the slaves quarters still standing. They were one the the wealthier families that lived there.
On the way to Old Cawhaba we passed a plant where they bale the cotton. It was so cool, this picture dosen't do justice because the bales are huge!!!
Emma's second grade Christmas program. She was so funny she loved walking around to house singing her songs, she did a great job!!
Ryan joined his schools choir program again this year. Here he is singing at the mall and doing a wonderful job. Way to go Ryan. I think it's funny, I can't get him to sing at church but he school he volunteers.
It's Basketball time again and the boys are so excited. Ryan is on a team with his friend Zack, and Dad is coaching Clark's team. The teams are off to a great start. Ryan's team is 2-0, and Clark's is 1-1. It is so fun to watch them progress from year to year. They have had two weeks off for Christmas Vacation so they are getting ancy to get going again this next week.
Getting ready to watch the game.
Daddy's had a Birthday shout Hooray!! Yes, it had to happen sometime!
Putting up the Christmas tree. The kids think this is great, they did a great job.
It's Christmas Day in the morning!!
I
Andrew's first Christmas!
Attack baby: "give me that paper and let me eat it!"
Christmas Day 2009!! I even got Andrew smiling!
All dressed up for church! What a handsome guy...good thing he looks like his dad!!
Over Christmas Vacation we took another trip out to Old Cawhaba. I really enjoy going out there. It is a really great place to visit. There isn't a lot of buildings there but there is a great history that is told as you walk around. I just get the feeling that it would have been awesome to see life then.
Reading on of the markers
The group we went with (or the kids at least).
Rockets!! The boys got some rockets for Christmas and they had a blast puting them together and launching them. I think Dad and Emma needs one too. It was fun to watch!
Ha Stephanie is away from the computer...now I get to type in some commentary! :) This is a great shot Stephanie got of Ryan's rocket launch. Ryan and Clark got rockets for Christmas and it was fun to go out and blast them off in the field near our house.
I think this is a the final launch of the morning. Clark let Emma push the button.
"Ummm...Dad, it's starting to drift." The wind caught Clark's launch and carried it about 200 yards to the East into the backyard of one of the homes in our neighborhood. Clark was nervous about knocking on the door, but as expected they were nice and let him retrieve it!
I hope that you enjoyed looking back on this last month with me. I know there was a lot going on with the Christmas season. I also hope that you were able to reflect on the reason for the season and enjoy the blessings that it brings.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
The Drapers:-)
