Christmas at the Kyzars/Without a Turkey

Our Christmas meal where we used Marval's Christmas china. It was so much fun!

Nate was excited about his new backpack. He really made everything so much fun this Christmas! He definitely should get an award for the most Christmas spirit!

BB (aka Aunt Bethany) sporting her new purse and scarf. We all had matching pj pants we wore too, but we never got around to taking a picture together.

Jake loved his new bumbo and caterpillar! How thankful we are for him as we celebrated his first Christmas.

The kids all ready to watch It's a Wonderful Life. The kids and I fell asleep before it was over.

The turkey that should have been!

We had alot of Christmas spirit this year that lead to alot of ambitious attempts like smoking a turkey in Garry's new smoker. Here's our "before" picture of the turkey and unfortunately we didn't get an "after" picture before we threw it in the trash. What fun memories! You see our table all set without the turkey. We actually smoked some chickens for a backup, but they weren't done in time so we just enjoyed the sides. This has been one of my most favorite Christmas times. On Christmas Eve, we went to the First Baptist service; then we went to see Grandma at the nursing home; then we went to look at Christmas lights; then we headed home to eat dinner and watch It's a Wonderful Life in our matching pj pants. On Christmas morning, we all got up and read the Christmas story together, and then Drew and Lilly handed out all the presents where we each opened them one at a time. Lilly Kate and Drew had a great time opening their presents and some of ours as well. Their stockings were full of chapstick (or as Lilly says wipstick) and jewelry and chic fil-a gift cards and all kinds of stuff! It actually would not all fit in the stocking since Grams and Paw Paw don't really communicate on who bought what or they forget that they had already bought stuff. It is really funny.

We definitely had a good time together as we really sought to teach Lilly Kate and Drew that the reason we celebrate is because of Jesus Christ. We pray that they would know Him as their greatest treasure and that one day they would teach their children the same.

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;

Psalm 78:5-7

Happy Birthday Grams!!!

Happy Birthday Grams!! We love you, and we are so thankful for all you do for us. Here are some things the kids say they love about you:

Drew loves that you take you him places.

Lilly loves that you love her.

Drew loves that you play GI Joe with him sometimes.

Lilly & Drew love that you let them make cookies with you.

Here are some things I love about you:

I love that you teach my children about Jesus and share your love for the Lord with them. I also love how servant-hearted you are. You are always wanting to do for us. I am so thankful to the Lord for a mother-in-law like you. You are not just my mother-in-law but one of my closest friends. Thanks Marval for all you do for us. I pray that this day would be extra special that the Lord would be your delight in every way! I also pray Colossians 1:9-10 that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Taking Pictures with the Smiths

Drew and Lilly Kate are always willing to take pictures with their friends. I wish they were as agreeable when it is just our family. Josiah and Annalee came over to play as they were all having withdrawals since they hadn't seen each other in quite some time. I was lucky to catch the girls still in their clothes b/c they are really quick to change their clothes into dress up. I think we had to take off dress up clothes in order to get this picture. How thankful we are for all our friends and their children and that we are raising our children together hopefully pointing them to Christ that their lives might be spent for His glory as well as ours!

Snaggle Tooth

Drew lost his first tooth at Ashley's the other night. It has been loose for some time, and he has constantly messed with it. We were so excited about this milestone. He just couldn't wait to find out if the tooth fairy was real. Needless to say he found $2 under his pillow and $1 on the floor, so he thinks the tooth fairy left $2 and he just happened to find the other dollar on the floor by his bed.

Holiday Season

Me, Mom, & Buffy doing our annual tradition of wearing our matching pjs while posing in front of the tree. Luckily you can't tell how bad my pants were flooding in the picture. They shrunk about 6 inches when I washed them.

Christmas at Granny & Pa's and most of their grandchildren.

My child would be the only one not looking!

Drew, Lilly Kate, & Jake were posing for our Christmas card.

Mom & Clint posing in front of their Christmas tree.

Mom & her four children. We rarely take a picture with just the four of us, so I will really cherish this picture. (especially because Brandon is not making a ridiculous face)

More posing!

Jake was a little frightened by the flash.

It has already been a wonderful holiday season! We have spent more time than usual with my family since Thanksgiving and Christmas have fallen so close this year and with the passing of my Granny. It has been really special. More than anything else my heart has been continually burdened for my family members who have not put their hope in Christ. As we celebrate Him this holiday season, I long for our families to love and cherish Christ for who He is and all that He has done in His birth, death, and resurrection!!! This has been the cry of both, Nathan and my heart for our children as well, that they would see Christ to be the treasure that He is.

Drew has been wanting a batman costume every since Josiah got one for his birthday. He had a great birthday with lots of toys like 3 transformers, teenage mutant ninja turtle, a few weapons, Star Wars figurines, and a light saber. This is all I can remember right now.

Lilly Kate asked me about a million times that day when she could have some cake. So she finally got some cake! I think she only ate the icing. She must be alot like her mommy.

Here's the birthday crew. Drew had a transformers cake! They did the slip 'n' slide and just ran around the back yard. It was a lot of fun! We celebrated a little early, so he's not quite 5 yet.

Drew & Lilly Kate had swimming lessons the first 2 weeks of June, and these are pictures from their last day where the parents get to come and watch what they have learned. They both did so good for Mrs. Paula. Drew's picture is a little deceiving because his form looks so good but he actually just jumps in and pretty much belly flops. It was pretty funny. He has really been wanting to swim without floaties when we go swimming, but he still struggles a little bit. But they have both improved so much because Lilly didn't even want to get in the pool at the first of summer. Now she swims around in her little ring and will jump in and go under as long as you hold her hands the whole time of course. We have been to Bro. Steve and Mrs. Darlene's pool a bunch this year, so we are getting a great deal of practice.

We spent part of our Memorial Day weekend with Alex, Anna Grace, and Aunt CC. Drew was so excited about them coming on Friday, and he kept asking over and over, "when are my cousins going to be here?" The first picture is us at Graceland in front of Elvis' plane. The kids had so much fun! The second picture is of us downtown Memphis. We ate at Huey's, and did a little stroll down Beale St. It certainly wasn't a kid friendly atmosphere, so we weren't there long. We were sad when they went home!

Lilly Kate made the transition from her toddler bed to a twin bed recently, so we had fun celebrating by getting in bed with her! She has done great in it from the start. We needed to free up that crib mattress for baby Jake, so we decided to go ahead and move Lilly Kate to the twin bed. Drew's pretty excited about Jake sleeping in his room, which I am thankful for but he may not always be happy about it. (unless he gets bunk beds which he seems to believe happens when you share a room with a sibling) The first thing Drew said when they said we were having a boy was "Yea, I get bunk beds!" We didn't tell him this, but he just assumes that will be the case.

Too Tough!

Andrew spent the night with us last Friday, and they were really posing for the camera showing off their muscles and mean faces!

The Kyzars are joining the world of blogging! I guess this will be my way of scrapbooking since I haven't been successful any other way. This will be my test to see if I can add pictures and such. This is actually last summer when we went to Disney, but now that I have accomplished this task I will only post more recent picts.