Rickman Family Christmas

I didn't take many pictures of this occasion, but it was fun! Everyone opened their stockings and then we gave my Mimi her gift. My mom put it together and it was from everyone. She had each person write a letter to my grandmother telling her how we were saved and what God has been doing in our life. The book was incredible and what a gift to give her! We also shared with each other how we had served others this year.

My grandmother sings and plays piano, so after we have gifts, we always go into the living room and sing all kinds of Christmas songs. It is a great tradition, and wonderful to hear my grandmother sing "Sweet little Jesus boy." Some also like to do the 12 days of Christmas, but I don't care for that one. Some people sing solos, but we all sing together too. I love it!

My mom, Zachary and dad in the back; Justin and Adam in the front

Aunt Patti, Daniel, and Uncle Tim

My mom with both Josh's

Micah and Uncle Scott

Aunt Twila & Jeffrey

Jared, Uncle Mark, and Aunt Shari--everyone got goodies in their stocking!

Monroe Family Christmas

me, Butch with Ethan, Sarah, Dolly with Jadyn, and Bruce

Brady and Jacob got each other the same gift--balls!

Grandad, Mommu, Debbie, Gary, Glen in back, and Marisa. We all sat in a big circle with 2 piles of presents. The girls had a pile and the guys had a pile. Then we played the game where you have a number and you can steal a present from someone or take from the pile. We get pretty vicious!

Uncle Lenis, Aunt Rhonda with Cyla, Aunt Betty, Jeremy with Pacey, Rachel, Abigail, & Alex

Lou, Rebecca, Chris, Lendy, and Uncle Lenis

Some of the kids opening their present that they got from one of their cousins.

Here is Grace with some of her cousins. They have the best time because they are so close in age! Josh only has 7 cousins, but amongst the 8 of them, there are 14 great grandchildren all 5 yrs old and younger. And #15 is on the way! Needless to say, all those little ones are too crazy to have in a house, so we had our Christmas at his cousin's church. It was great because we could eat in the fellowship hall with the big kitchen and the kids could play in the nursery. Another room had several pack n plays in it for all the sleeping babies! Craziness!

Here is our family with Josh's grandparents. We were so glad to see them and visit with them over the holidays! Grandad just retired and he worked for the same company for something like 53 yrs!

Christmas in Lubbock!

Papaw got new leather gloves!

My mom got pj's. Also if you notice the stockings above her, there are 26 total stocking and my mom made all of them! My Mimi likes for everyone to have their stocking.

I got a new coat, purse, make up brushes and some other things. It was a great Christmas.

Josh got money for trees for our front yard and some DVD burning software.

Here's the long-awaited pic of Micah and Erica. She is an only child and braved her holiday down in Texas with all of our family sleeping in the same house. She is just the greatest and we are so happy to have her in our family. They will be getting married Aug. 2 in TN!

My brothers Micah and Zachary opening their gifts.

Granna and Papaw gave Grace the American Doll Bitty Baby and she loves it! It came with a diaper bag full of stuff.

Brady got Little People!

Grace's favorite gift, even to this day, is an umbrella that Micah's fiance' Erica gave her. It has matching golashes, and she plays with it daily!

Christmas morning! We opened presents with just our immediate family before all the days festivities began. What a day!

Fighting over the one toy Mimi has had at her house since 1977. I think it's time for bed!

Grace in her Christmas Eve pajamas before bed.

Christmas Eve we went to church with my uncle and his family who live in town. It was a good service. We watched part of "It's a Wonderful Life" because you have to do that! Here is Brady and Papaw before bed. We stayed at my Mimi's house and at one point 15 or so people were sleeping there. We kicked some out to stay at my uncle's, but it was a great time!

Grace's Class Party

The kids are singing a few songs for us, and I didn't know or I would've videoed it! I think here they are singing "Three Wise Men" to the tune of "Three Blind Mice." Grace is in the middle standing next to her good friend Isabelle. Both she and Isabelle want to wear dresses every day of their life!

On the last day of school before Christmas break, Grace's class had their party and we were invited. We got to decorate cakes and see what the kids had been doing. I've said this before, but her teacher is excellent and they are learning so much!

"Christmas Eve"

Playing with the new toys!
(Sidenote: I can't ever figure out what order to put these pictures in, so each post is completely backwards. Sorry!)

We also got the kids the video karoke machine. Here they are singing after Grace's dance class one day. Brady seems to like it more than Grace right now, although Grace never stops singing around the house. Josh enjoys it too. They all like to make up their own songs better than using the cartridges it came with.

Grace must have been a good girl this year (or Mommy couldn't stop buying!). She got a princess scooter, a Doodle writer, princess pj's, princess lip gloss and magnet dolls, a mini Snow White and a Snow White dress, sidewalk chalks, and shoes. Recognize a theme here?! I bet many of you know about this princess phase. Mommy and Daddy got her a cash register.

Santa brought Brady lots of nice things: Buzz lightyear pj's, Fox & the Hound movie, balls, books, a Doodle writer and a vaccuum. Don't ask--he loves the vaccuum. Mommy and Daddy got him a golf club set.

We asked Santa to come early since we were driving to West Texas for Christmas, and he happily agreed. The kids loved baking cookies for Santa and putting their wish list by his treats. Grace got more excited this year, but we try to make a bigger deal out of Jesus' birth than Santa, so we'll see how that pans out down the road.

Christmas with the Palmers

Grace got butterfly wings that have a microphone attached. It also plays songs. And Brady got a Bubble mower that he will have to use inside until it gets warmer outside. They loved Christmas at Grammy and Pop's house.

Last year, Grace would yell "cheeeeese" when we took her picture and had this silly look on her face. This year, she just gives you the most serious "miller" face and won't smile at all. She did love her new Cinderella dress though.

These pictures are of the Palmer family Christmas. We had a nice meal at Josh's parents house on Dec. 15 and opened all our gifts. Watching the kids was the most fun. We are very excited because in the spring we will finally have a real first cousin! Josh's sister and her husband are having a boy and we cannot wait!

I have to brag on Josh for being such a good Daddy. He bathes the kids (he does it every other night) and puts them to bed. I don't know many Daddys that do it without fail, and he is glad to play with them, say prayers, and put them to bed. It is my time to relax-Yipee! Brady is finally not scared of being in his baby tub and enjoys baths with sister.

This was Dec. 8, and Grace and Josh came to see me perform with our church choir. Grace loved watching the ballerina most of all, and poor Brady had to be in the nursery. I just love this picture because years down the road I can show it to the kids and remind them how innocent they once were.