Leader!

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 
Ephesians 5:22-23

I have never known the full meaning of the above verses until recently!  Graham came to me this year and told me that he felt called to leave his Landscaping company behind to pursue other opportunities.  And though the initial thought scared me to death I felt a strong peace.  You see, God is never surprised.  He is not surprised at the fact that I am now a stay-at-home mom.  He actually planned that!
We had begun a book in our homegroup by John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life and in that book I had read this quote: (spoken by John Piper's wife to John) "If that's where God leads you, that's where I'll go."  So, we prayed, and waited, and prayed, and waited, and waited, and our waiting became disobedience, and we began to question, and our questions led us to a place of...well, not a very good place.  Needless to say we arrived at a very pivotal point of WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH!  It was time to move!  I looked at Graham, who was looking up at Him, and I said..."What next?"  I am so thankful to have a husband who isn't afraid to LEAD!  Thanks for leading us Graham!  We are pulling for you!

What We've Been Missing...

So, for quite some time we have heard the constant buzz.  We knew that something huge and hilarious was going on.  Graham and I buried our heads and just ignored the revolution!  I don't know if we were scared to be sucked into something new, or maybe we were refusing to jump on the bandwagon.  Regardless of the reason, we were really missing out on something great.  Well, thanks to my wonderful sister and brother-in-law, Missy and Archer, and a Season One box-set we are finally out of the dark!  And seriously, we now know what we've been missing!  We're hooked!  And frankly, our week is now a little brighter and filled with more laughter!  And, it's all because of these people:   

It Was So Merry!

And it was White!

It was such a merry Christmas!  The special day was full of love, laughter, and joy.  And the whole thing left me feeling...well, pretty darn blessed!  Christmas is by far one of my favorite times of the year and Christmas day is always so magical!  You can see why for yourself:

CeCe, Patterson, and Wells waiting to go in and see if Santa came!  I'm sure he did...these are some mighty sweet kiddos!

He came! 

Forget presents...Santa left cookies!  How are they buddy?

Playing with Mommy and Daddy!

Such a big boy on Christmas day!



We all love D.D. and GrandJohn!



Johnny, looking like such a natural with baby Tee!



CeCe and Aunt Mare ready to open some presents! 



I'm not sure how CeCe feels but Mommy and Daddy look pretty excited!  And Patterson's shirt...a witch on Christmas day, perfect choice! :)



My pretty mama!

The soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Westmoreland!  We are so excited about March 12!

I love this paper!

Wells sure is having fun!

Peek-a-boo!

 Our annual pajama pant picture!

This is so Pat Pat!  Please notice the snow in the background!  Patterson, a bathing suit is a perfect accessory for the snow!
  

If we were dreaming of a white Christmas, our dreams came true!  Christmas and snow sure do bring out the kids in all of us!  We had "snow" much fun playing!

 Happy Birthday Jesus!  With all of the fun, snow, and presents it's sometimes easy to forget to celebrate the reason.  But you, precious and holy one, are by far the greatest gift of all! 

It's a BOY!

Brooke and Craig are having a BOY!  And we are beyond thrilled for them!  Here is the happy couple cutting their cake to reveal the gender! 

Brooke and Craig, we are so excited for the 3 of you!  We are excited to see all of the joy that this little guy is going to bring to ALL of our lives!  And we are also absolutely pumped that Wells is going to have a new best friend!  Little boys bring so much wonder, love, and energy into a home!  Get ready for FUN!  Here's to the Caudills...a family of THREE!  We love you!

A few more pictures from the night:


Boy or Girl?



Kristy and Linds thought it was a girl!



Excited friends!  (Notice Jami at the bottom, homegirl has not missed one yet!  She has been right with me, Lindsey, and now Brooke!  Note to self...bet with  Jami!)



Counts and Wells can't wait to meet Baby BOY Caudill! 



The Manger Scene!

Our niece Caroline wrote a play that the kiddos performed on Christmas Eve!  The play was Caroline's version of the Christmas story and it was so precious!  They held two showings that day, one at Aunt JoJo's house and again that night at Mama Tut's house.  The kids did great!  And, it appears as if someone has a career as a playwright! :) 

Take One:

The Angel!

The cast looks ready!  Break a Leg!

Baby Jesus getting ready for his Bethlehem debut! 

Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and the Inn Keeper....notice the cell phone!  This was the modern day version!

Melissa was a great narrator!

 

The grand finale: carols with hand bells! 

One happy boy!

 Take Two:

Perfect, even with a wardrobe malfunction!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way!

Great job everyone!  





Pumpkins and Christmas Trees in Campobello!

Pumpkins!
In October Graham and I headed to Campobello, SC for an awesome fall evening with our bests!  We had a night full of great food, fellowship, and fun! (complete with smores by a bonfire!) 



Jami, Kristy, and Katie

Wells loved playing with Jake! 



Silly girls!



 Christmas Trees!
And just last week Graham and I headed back to Campobello for a fun and festive evening complete with a gift exchange!  Here we are again...Merry Christmas!



What?



Thomas is opening our gift...wonder what it is?





Tyler and his toilet paper!  Not for long, it was actually stolen twice!





Me and the mommy to be!



That's Craig...and that is so Craig! ;)



And well, maybe that is so me! ;)





I think the picture says enough here!



Much better guys!

Our gracious hosts!  Thanks for the fun guys!  We're already looking forward to the next time!

Kristy and Kirk!