Christmas Fun so far....

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. We have been staying pretty busy with fun things while John has been cramming for finals. The good new is that as of yesterday he is officially ours again! It is so nice to have him around now. The real festivities can begin!

We decorated the tree. Daddy got home just in time to help Brinley put the star on top! She loved decorating the tree. She literally did the bottom half by her self. I think he have another Christmas lover in the family! 

We have been baking up a storm also. We gave all of our friends goody bags with cookies and peppermint bark in them for Christmas this year. My kitchen was a disaster for 2 days! It was a lot of fun though and Brinley got really into it. Don't mind the fact that she is shirtless. I tried and tried to get her to put clothes on but to no prevail. At least we keep a warm house. I also apologize for looking so rough in the pictures also. I was covered in flour and chocolate and had been baking all day. 

Brinley and I bundled up one night and went to the Lincoln Memorial University Annual Tree lighting ceremony. There was caroling, Santa, candles, Christmas lights and warm treats. We ran into several other families from the ward there also which made it twice the fun! John had an exam the following day so he could not join us but Brinley and I had fun...even though it was freezing! 

We have also done our fare share of Christmas crafting. My dear friend Kami invited us to come over and paint homeade ornaments that she made. The girls really enjoyed painting while us older girls caught up. 

We went to the Middlesboro City Christmas parade. Some of our friends that are homeschooled were in it so we wanted to go show our support to them. Not to mention that Santa was there are Brinley was just bursting at the seams at a chance to get to see Santa again. That cute lady in the hat is Taralynn and she is such a doll. I adore her. She is like super woman. Not to mention that she is an incredible mom to two darling kiddos, she is also a 3rd year medical student and her husband is the bishopric. She is quite a woman. 

Brinley has been in ballet for about 3 months now. They had their first performance on Friday for the Wards Christmas Party. They were little sheep and the performance was adorable. However, I have no pictures of it because Brinley would not do it. She got a bad case of stage fright and refused to participate. So this is the only picture I got of her in her leotard. This was before the party started and she was having fun dancing around with her friend Ella.