Where have I been?!!! Let me just tell you...

We had a SURPRISE party for my father-in-law who turned 80 on December 16th.

Opened presents early, the weekend before Christmas, with my hubby's side of the family, since we wouldn't be together the next weekend.

(Kayla and her cousin Claire with their stockings...)

Went to see my beautiful family in north Arkansas, Christmas weekend.

(My mom, dad, sister, 3 nephews are pictured here with me and the kids.)

I bought my dad a puzzle for us all to work while we were there.

(He Likes John Wayne, so I thought this puzzle would be fun...IT WAS HARD!!! As you can see, we were up for the challenge, though.)

We DESTROYED some pretty packages on Christmas Eve. :)

(But I LOVED everything I received in those pretty packages!!! Thanks everyone!!!)

ATE A LOT of food the whole month of December. The week of Christmas was horrible for the scales, but oh so yummy for the tummy!!! :)

(Since Christmas was on Sunday this year, we went to Christmas service, came home for a lunch of sandwiches and finger foods and had our BIG Christmas meal that night.)

Monday after Christmas, the kiddos, my dad and hubby all decorated gingerbread houses.

(You can tell Jordan was really excited.)

We spent a lot of time in PJ's...that is ALWAYS fun!

(Here all us girls modeled our new Christmas pajamas.)

We watched Anne Shirley from her orphaned childhood till she settled down with her Gilbert in all three of the Anne mini series.

(They are a family favorite. I LOVE some Anne!!!)

On Tuesday we went to the Sight and Sound theater in Branson and watched "The Christmas Miracle," which is the story of the Nativity. IT was AWESOME!!!

(If you ever have a chance to go to a Sight and Sound theater, you will not be disappointed. We saw "Noah" two years ago and it was great too.)

And then we came home.

I was excited to hop on my little computer and share all my pictures and holiday stories with everyone and then I discover that my phone line is DEAD.

That means in my house, no computer, no netflix and no facebook or blogging for me unless I want to on the tiny screen of my blackberry. I was NOT a happy camper!!! :(

But maybe it was good. Instead of being on the computer, I finished my holiday from work, by cleaning out closets and catching up on laundry. And then today, the phone line was fixed. Gotta love that AT&T repair man whoever he is.

So there is a summary of what I have been up to the last few weeks. I will probably show a few more Christmas pics through the next week, but thought I would try to put it all neatly in one post, so not to bore you to death. :)

Hope you all had a beautiful Christmas. I really did. It was full of family, fun, lots of hugs and laughter and blessings from the Lord.

I pray that the New Year holds so much promise for us all!

Happy New Year, friends!!!

(Even if I am a few days late. :) )