Christmas Card

Well it is time again for our family Christmas card, and instead of the normal family gathered around the Christmas tree, we decided to do something a little different, as you can see. Now when we ordered these we thought we ordered enough, but once we had them in hand we realized that we had fallen short, this then forced us to pick and choose who to send them to. If you don’t receive one of these masterpieces for your collection, we beg your forgiveness and promise to triple our order next year, and promise that next years will be even more spectacular. Until then we placed the card (front and back) for your viewing pleasure.

Front...

...and back


We made the photo a little small to make sure it fit into everyone's web page so just in case you can't read it, the back of the card says:

Dear friends and family,
We hope our silly card puts a smile on your face and joy in your heart. We sure had fun with those candy canes! As you can see the kids are growing up fast and we look youthful as ever (ha ha LOL).
We hope that during this busy season you will pause and remember the reason for the season; Happy Birthday Jesus.
We love you all and hope to hear from you soon. You can see what we are up to on a regular basis by checking out our blog at;
Love, kisses, and candy canes,
Cameron, Laura, Lindsey, Charlie, and Levi

Sitting in the Middle of My Mess

I received this e-mail below and it really blessed me, so I thought I'd share it on our blog today....

Sitting in the Middle of My Mess
Glynnis Whitwer

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.� Luke 10:38-39 (NIV)

Devotion:

I tend to consider myself a "Martha" type personality. And I don't mean Martha Stewart. By this time in December, that Martha probably has her hand-made cards mailed out, 10 batches of candy made and gift-wrapped, and her entire home decorated.

No, I'm nothing like Martha Stewart. (Me neither) In fact, last year I didn't even manage to decorate the tree. It got put up and because it was pre-lit, it had lights. I managed to put a few gifts under it before Christmas. That only happened because my dear children kept looking at me with those big hopeful eyes, asking when I was going to wrap SOMETHING. But that was it.

Last Christmas ended one of the most stressful years of my life. I'm thankful nothing devastating happened to my family. But the demands on my time exceeded my available time. When that happens, I get behind ... on everything. So I spend lots of time just trying to keep my head above water.

Back to being a Martha. If you know the Luke chapter 10 story of Martha and her sister Mary, that's the Martha I'm talking about. And it's not a flattering comparison. That Martha had the privilege of hostessing Jesus. Jesus actually came to her house. Instead of sitting at His feet like her sister Mary did, Martha worked and actually complained to Jesus that Mary wasn't helping her enough.

Jesus gently chided Martha, and affirmed Mary's choice to sit and spend time with Him in the middle of all the work that had to be done. I remember the day clearly last December when I decided to follow Mary's example and sit in the middle of my mess to spend time with Jesus.

Normally, I feel as if everything has to be clean before I can "treat" myself to some down time. I believe I have to have the dishes clean, counters cleared, urgent emails addressed, laundry going, home-based business checked for orders, etc. Normally, by the time I've done all that, something else has demanded my attention, and my time with Jesus is neglected - much like what happened to Martha.

But not that day. That day I sat at the kitchen table and looked at my mess. It was big. There were papers strewn over every surface, a lunch box left on the counter from the day before, breakfast dishes everywhere, jackets from yesterday, blankets that had been left on the couch, dog fur forming balls, and the list went on. I had to fight my instinct to get up. And I won.

I sat in the middle of my mess, and spent time with Jesus. I pictured Him sitting across the table from me. It was pure pleasure ... and the mess amazingly faded from my view. My stress melted away, and I felt renewed.

This Christmas, whether you've gotten your house decorated or not, whether you've mailed out cards or not ... Jesus has come to your house for a visit. I had such a good time sitting in the middle of my mess with Jesus last year, I'm planning on doing it again. Will you join us?

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Jesus to be a companion during my hectic days. Help me to remember that peace can only be found when I choose to set aside the pressing demands of my life, and quiet myself with You. Teach me to look for Jesus' presence in the middle of my mess. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

80's style Christmas party

Last night Cameron’s office had their Christmas party, and it had an “80’s Prom” theme, so you know we were psyched, Laura went and found an awesome dress and Cameron got his Don Johnson / Miami Vice outfit out of the attic (the one he got for an 80’s birthday party two years ago). Big hair for Laura and an earring in the left ear for Cameron and we had it going on. The party was downtown Raleigh and we didn’t even come close to being able to blend in when we walked from the parking garage to the party location. There were several who dressed up in 80’s style with some minor things like a Members Only jacket or an AC/DC t-shirt but there were only a few who really took it to the next level. We won the prize for the best dressed and won a basket full of 80’s movies.

Wilson Christmas Parade

For the past few years our church has had a float in the Wilson Christmas parade, and this year was no different. The theme for this year was that we are to reach out to the people of Wilson as Jesus would and we are to be Jesus to the community and to the world, so we had the kids dress as different people in the community and we had Jesus on the float with them (He is the only one able to keep them in line, LOL). We had to have the truck decorated as well so we came up with a rendering of some commonly know images of Wilson (commonly known to those from Wilson anyway). There were also dancers walking behind the float (everyone said they looked like angels) and behind them were people holding banners lifting up the name of the Lord.

Here is the link to the slideshow on Flickr


Here is the painting crew getting the decoration for the truck ready...


...and here is the finished product


here is the decorated truck and the float with all the kids on it


and the dancers during the parade


and some of the banners


Lindsey wore Laura's Air Force uniform, Levi was a police officer, Charlie was a construction worker, and Laura and Sue carried the church banner

Nicole and David

It was so great to visit with my cousin Nicole and her fiance David. They are getting married in a couple of weeks! Congrats you two, we love you! Nicole you got a keeper! Cole, we hope the Wilson clan didn't shy him away any ;)


Mommy Lisa and Markey


Uncle Greg and Markey



Papa Tom and Markey

Aunt Laura getting Markey hooked on her ice chomping habit. It was the only thing that made him stop crying...well, besides his momma of course...

Back at Mom and Tom's house

We headed back to Mom and Tom's house that night with Heather, Kyle and Noah. Friday evening papa Tom made a fire outside and the kids roasted marshmellows. Greg showed up after a day out fishing and brought home a really big rockfish. Here are some pics ...






Papa Tom takes kids for a ride around the farm in the truck

Thanksgiving Day Fun!

Thank you Greg and Weezy for the wonderful hospitality. Thank you Mom and Tom for all your hard work and delish goodies and thank you Lisa and Steve for the Cherry tart! Brad and Crystal the smoked salmon was amazing. Barry and Linda, it is always so nice to visit with you two. The kids loved the "champaign" (Welch's) you brought We are so thankful for all of you!

Hercules being ever so patient with Levi...such a good doggy

They had such a great time together

Markey looking adorable with his chubby little self. I just want to eat him up!

I love this picture

Noah....Justa swingin'!

Ali swingin' too!

The boys playing ball




The kids table

Mom and Katie

Heather, Lindsey and Emily hanging out on the roof

Where are these kids parents? oh yea...taking the pictures!lol

Trip to Maryland

What a great time we had visiting family in Maryland for Thanksgiving. We arrived at Gramma Judy and Papa Tom's house on Wed. They had delicious lasagna waiting for us!

Lindsey, Laura and Cameron were planning to run a 5k race in NC, but instead found a race right near Greg and Elyse's house in Fredrick, MD. We woke up on Thanksgiving morning around 4:30, drove to Greg and Elyse's, picked up Heather and scooted off to the Way Station Turkey Trot at Bakers Park in Fredrick. Here are a few pictures (Cameron took a some during the race too, he ran the race with his camera and camcorder, we will try to get the video up soon)


Heather, Laura and Lindsey before the race


Cameron in his cute hat and Laura, before the race


Lindsey and cousin Heather thawing out on the way home
The race brought out over 1700 people to help raise money for the mentally ill in Fredrick, Maryland.
There were no record breaking times on our part, but a lot of memories were made!