Christmas with the Praytors

The week before our Christmas get together with Jay's family, we were at Target and Truett saw this outfit and just HAD to have it.  It's definitely a little on the cheesy side, but he was so excited about wearing a vest and tie, that we let him get it and he proudly wore it to the Praytors for Christmas.

 

 My sister-in-law, Stephanie

Jay's Christmas tradition - making his Nanny's Lemon Icebox Pie

 PaPaw's Christmas tradition - reading the story of Mary, Joseph and the birth of baby Jesus to the kids

After lunch and hearing about the true meaning of Christmas, we all exchanged gifts.  Emma got a Repunzel outfit, complete with heels and a wig, that was the EXACT color of her own hair.  

Uncle Jim, Aunt Stephie & Dakota gave Emma a baby doll and stroller.  She was so cute playing with her baby in her high heels, but decided that being a mom was hard work and would rather sit in the stroller than push it around!

 Truett and Emma made a Nativity Scene plate for Gramma using their hand and footprints.

Truett surprised Jay and me with this precious nativity scene that he made at school.  It's probably one of the sweetest things I've ever seen and just love it.  I can't wait to pull it out each year and display it at Christmas time.

After opening gifts and spending the afternoon with the family, Jay and I loaded up the kids in the car and began our drive to Louisiana to spend Christmas with my family.



Safety Town

Jay and I took Truett and Emma to Safety Town in Frisco.  It's part of the Frisco Fire Department and they give tours of the fire department as well as a visit to Safety Town.  Safety Town, itself, is a miniature replica of the City of Frisco, complete with a Babes restaurant, bank, Wal-Mart and houses.  There's even a stop light and toll booth that the kids can ride battery-operated jeeps through. 

 We went with our friends, the McDonalds and toured the fire station, first.

 The kids checking out the inside of the fire truck

 Fireman Truett

 There is a 'house' inside the fire station that is used to different safety drills such as how to climb out of a 2nd story window incase of a fire.

Truett and Emma both practiced climbing out of the window and walking down the rooftop to safety.

 The firestation was covered with Christmas decorations, which included special firemen Christmas stockings.

Safety Town - City of Frisco Town Hall

 Unfortunately it was WAY to cold and windy outside for the kids to drive around in the Jeeps.  I think the parents were more bummed about it than the kids were, but all in all, we had a great time.  The kids LOVED running through the town and exploring inside the fire station.  Emma had so much fun, she through a small fit in the parking lot when we were leaving.  Of course, I took a picture of it!  :)

Baby Jesus Parties

Truett and Emma both had Baby Jesus parties at school.  Their school parties seem to get a little more and more over the top each year, but they always have a good time.

Emma joined Truett at his party and he was sweet enough to share his treats with her.

 Truett and his friends all made their own silver bells and sang "Silver Bells" for the parents at the party.

 They played Christmas Bingo and Truett won a slide whistle.  Ummm....whose idea was it to give THAT noisy prize???  Needless to say, it never made it to our house!  :)

 Truett and his teacher, Ms. Dawn

 Emma's party was the following day and I'm pretty sure her party was even MORE overboard than Truett's, especially for her age group, but she had a great time.

Emma & her Papa

 Emma's graham cracker manger that she's decorated.  The room mom pre-assembled 10 of these the day before and also made a piping bag with frosting for each TWO YEAR OLD to use to decorate their 'manger'.  Yeah...she only has one child and is pregnant with her 2nd.  I'm thinking next year, she'll probably just slap a sticky note that says "Merry Christmas" on a pack of Oreos and call it a day!  hahahaha!

 Emma and her little buddy, Brooks, snacking on their Christmas cookies

 Emma and her teachers, Ms. Amanda & Ms. Allena

Unto Us a Savior Is Born!

Truett's class performed a Christmas play, retelling the story of the birth of Christ.  Truett was Joseph and actually had lines to memorize.  "Do you have a place for us?  My wife is having a baby!" The whole play lasted less than 10 minutes and if I had not been practicing Truett's lines (all 2 of them) at home with him, I would not have had a CLUE what he said!  I'm pretty sure all the other parents felt the same way about their kids, too!  :)

Truett as Joseph the Carpenter

 The Manger

 Ahhh....Joseph and Mary amid the many shepherds and wisemen

Taylor's Gift & the Parade of Roses

Those of you who keep up with my blog may remember the story about Taylor Storch and Taylor's Gift (visit http://www.taylorsgift.org/ for more information). 

This year, Taylor's picture will be displayed on the Donate Life float during the Parade of Roses.  The float will have floragraphs of 75 organ donors which will be created entirely from natural products.  Taylor's floragraph was displayed at our church one day for us to see.  It looked EXACTLY like Taylor, but was 100% man-made.  Her lips were made from dried, crushed strawberries and her hair was made from ground up coffee beans.  It was a beautiful picture of her and such a special way to honor her.