Finally...

I have finally found the time to post again. It's been forever, hasn't it? We've been doing a lot of school work lately, trying to catch up on the time we missed when we moved. Then there was Jacob's birthday and Christmas. I spent a lot of time on this, so I'll expect some good comments : )

Enjoy!

Tricia Ann

The Search for the Perfect Tree

This year, instead of buying a Christmas tree, we decided to be agrarian and cut our own. Accordingly, about two weeks before Christmas, on a sunshiny day, we hiked down the hill to the woods to look for a tree. We looked at several promising cedars, and selected the one that was the best shape. Daddy and Jacob dug it up and hauled it up the hill. They put it in a pot, then took it inside. We commenced decorating it. It was fun for a change to have a tree from our woods, though the needles on it were rather sharp. It turned out to be quite pretty. Yesterday, we took all the ornaments off of it, and Daddy re-planted it.

The whole family participated in this novel activity.

It was difficult trying to find a pot large enough for the tree.

Daddy and Jacob put the lights on the tree for us.

Christmas Eve

We went to Granddaddy and Grammie's house on Friday night and stayed until the Lord's Day evening. Grammie, Mom, and I cooked and baked ALL day Saturday. We made all sorts of things...chocolate cake, holiday salad, chocolate covered fruit, cheese trays, pepper jelly tarts, etc. As you can see from the photos, Jacob decided to help with the reindeer cookies. On the Lord's Day, we went to my Uncle's church. When we came home, my Uncle and Aunt, and their children and grandchildren joined us for lunch. Granddaddy had grilled a Sinclair Duck (that is, a standing rib roast for those of you who don't speak Granddaddy Language), our traditional Christmas Eve dish, and it was delicious! After that, we read the Luke 2. Then, we opened our presents.



Can you guess which ones Jacob decorated?
Before church

Christmas Day

Pop pop and Maw maw came to our house on Monday. We had potato soup for lunch. We then opened presents. After that, we took a bunch of family pictures. Banjo was allowed to come inside to have his picture made. Gimli would not sit still. When the photo shoot was over, we played Carrom all afternoon (read about it in the following post).

Carrom

If you've never played it, you need to come over, and we'll show you how. It takes daring and skill. You must be alert at all times, in case an ill-shot ring flies off the board (especially if you're playing with me). Ever since last Wednesday, when the UPS man brought our Carrom set to the door, we have played it every chance we get. Jacob and I called Granddaddy to thank him for the game, but he insisted that Bubba Clause (Santa's North Georgia colleague) sent it. Thanks, Bubba (not you, Chris)!

Daddy, Pop pop, and Jacob getting ready for another round.

Paintball

A couple of weeks ago, the young men from our church had a paintball war. It lasted the whole afternoon, and they all had a great time. I could only get one picture, so here it is.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

Tomorrow is my brother's 16th birthday! I can't believe he is that old! I had to post this today because we are going to be gone all day tomorrow. Anyway, Jacob is a wonderful brother. He has grown into a strong, godly young man. He keeps our yard looking nice (11 acres is a lot to keep up). He turns the compost pile so I don't have to do it (I admit it. I'm afraid of the hundreds of yellow jackets that are constantly swarming around the pile. Thankfully, the cold has killed most of them.). He faithfully takes out the trash. He has been very diligent in his Algebra. He takes care of Gimli when I'm busy or gone. When I can't reach something he will get it for me (NO comments from the peanut gallery). Those are just a few of the many things he does. Our family would not function without him.

I went through some old photos and found some good ones of Jacob. I scanned them and posted them here. I hope you enjoy them!

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

Love,
Tricia Ann

This picture is one of my favorites.

This is Jacob looking out of the window of the space ship Daddy helped us build. We spent many hours in space that summer :)

Ready to ski (he's always been better than I am at it)

Speed Break: The most difficult break to execute, in my opinion.
This was taken at our black belt test. Jacob was 8 years old, the youngest of those testing.

Here we are in Jacob's canoe. I think this was in 2001.

"Cowboy Jake"

One word...Sharp

Working on the flooring

We were trying to get a photo for last year's Christmas card. He never can behave when he is having his picture made.

Much Better!
(Although, if you look closely, you can see he is poking me in the ribs:)