Southern at Heart

As you can imagine, this was also the best Christmas...ever! Chris and I spent the night at mom and dads along with Justin and the rest of the family. We got up at the crack of dawn and celebrated the birth of our Savior. Every year I wonder how Christmas became all about gifts, santa, trees, hanging lights on your house, all the decorations...it really is not about any of that. Especially the gifts. Jesus was and is the greatest gift that could ever be given. This year my eyes were opened to a whole new world. It wasn't about buying the most awesome gift ever or asking for the most expensive or latest thing. It actually wasn't about gifts at all. This was the first year that I didn't care about presents. I did care about what I gave others but I did that out of love so they could see how much I love them. When I think about that I realize that that is exactly what Jesus did for us. He gave His only Son for me! He loves me so much that He went and hung on a cross so that I…

= best Christmas eve ever! Every Christmas Eve is spent in Newport with grandma and grandpa styll. It's normally just my family which consists of chris, mom, dad, megan, GF, GM, Janet and Bob. This year 5 more people were there!!! My family from Tennessee came out to spend Christmas with us!!!! It was the first time in 21 years that we were all together for Christmas!!! Well everyone except for Stephanie who is in Iraq and we missed her so much. Christmas eve was so precious. I could hardly eat my dinner because I just wanted to soak it in, I kept looking around the table and really couldn't believe that we were all together. It made grandma and grandpa so happy and that was the greatest gift ever. We all went to church together (half of us walked there in the rain), we sat around and shared memories and I was thanking God for the precious family He has blessed me with. Family is such a gift from God.

grandpa and I the whole gang

Last night Chris and I attempted to build a gingerbread house...we failed miserably. I don't know what happened to our poor house but its not very pretty. We made the biggest mess ever, got sick from eating too much frosting, taste tested all the candies and did the worst decorating and building job ever. Oh well..we had fun. Thanks Mom A for the kit!

The Parker family has a ton of Christmas traditions. I can't even begin to think of them because there are so many and some how every year we add new ones. So far we've added two more this year. Last night mom and dad Parker and Chris and I had a double date. We went to dinner at Fashion Island, walked around, spent lots of time snuggling the cutest puppies on earth and then went to Rogers Garden (which has been a tradition). It is breathtaking beautiful there and Christmas time is just out of this world. I go crazy there. I got my dads green thumb and love my flowers. One day we will have a big backyard and it will look like Rogers garden, that is my dream! After Rogers we went down the coast and took mom and dad to our favorite place in California, the Montage. It was their first time there and definitely not their last! We got peppermint hot cocoas and walked around the gorgeous grounds. We took them in the spa and showed them where we got engaged...we know that place like …

Chris and I are still looking for a new home church, we have found one that we absolutely love and it's also right down the street from our house. We've been going there for a couple months but still want to try a couple more that we've heard great things about. This past Saturday night Chris and I along with my family went to Rock Harbor. We've been hearing about this church for years and had never been. I've heard nothing but awesome things about it and we agree with all the "rave reviews". It is a church that truly loves Jesus and just wants to worship Him. They are doing a study on the Holy Spirit right now and it is very clear that it is a Spirit filled church. This is what we have been craving for the past year!! The Pastor gave a message on generosity. It struck a cord in my heart that goes deep. I am very passionate about giving. It is the best thing in the world. It was such a perfect message to be given this week, 10 days before Christmas where …

Yesterday morning we went to a Christmas brunch at the clubhouse in our community. They had everyone bring an ornament to put on the tree. We all decorated it together, had some breakfast and coffee and met our neighbors! We've owned our house for almost 2 years and we know 5 out of the 10 houses on our culd a sac. It ended up being a great time. Met the nicest people, one family who lives on our same street! We see and wave to them daily but never officially met until yesterday. It was a blessing. They are the sweetest family who moved here 3 years ago from New Zealand. (beautiful accents!) The husband uprooted his wife, two boys and a girl here to study ministry at Talbot. We love them. The husband is a big fishermen who has been looking for someone to fish with. He found his buddy yesterday in Chris. His wife is darling and the kids and so fun! Who knew that 2 houses down would be a family who loves Jesus and is living to serve Him! The Lord is so good in providing fellowship a…

So, tonight I went through and read every entry we have posted on our blog. We started this online journal in January and I am amazed tonight as I sit in my little leather chair in our office. It is so incredible to see how the Lord has worked in our life in 2008. It has been one of the toughest years to get through but we are SO thankful for it! As this year comes to a close we wanted to take time to look back and reflect on our trials, heart aches, blessings and answered prayers.
2008 started with the loss of my Pops. Words can't even express how much we miss him. I think of him all the time and want so badly to pick up the call and hear his voice one more time. We rest in peace knowing that Pops is with Jesus! He has met Him and seen Him face to face. That very though brings tears to my eyes. I can't even imagine the glory and joy my Pops is experiencing at this very moment! I know that he is shining down on us. I'm so thankful that he doesn't have to endure the ach…

As most of you know I am in a Bible study on Monday mornings. We have been meeting every Monday since June. We're on our 3rd book on the Holy Spirit. It is an incredible group filled with my most favorite ladies! There are 13 of us and now (since August) our husbands are doing the same Bible study on Thursday nights. It has been such a blessing for Chris and I. Last night was our Christmas party! The young(er) girls....Sarah, Rach and I were in charge of the party. Boy was it fun!! We had dinner at Sarah and Paul's beautiful house and then went to my parents for dessert. It was so much fun having all of us girls together with our men. The dinner was out of this world, dessert was delicious, the fellowship was precious, our Christmas carols were entertaining and the night ended with dad singing "what a wonderful world"..perfect. We are so blessed to have such awesome friends.

Table of 14
Table of 12
Cutest mother & daughter
Sarah and Frankie

Sarah, me and Rach

December has to be one of the best months but also one of the most stressful. We've been talking about this all night. Its such a bummer because Christmas is so special and such a sweet time of year but the hustle and bustle and expenses always throws us for a loop and gets out focus off what really matters. It seems like when it rains....it pours!!! We just paid our lovely property taxes along with our mortgage and homeowners dues and now today Chris finds out that its going to cost $700 to fix his car! Ahhh. Why now?! Its going to be cheaper to fix it than to buy a new car right now but why now?! After an hour of freaking out we talked it out and calmed each other down. We have a beautiful home that is totally remodeled and cars to get us from point A to point B and a savings account. We have much to be thankful for. Its times like tonight that bring us back to our knees. Our flesh tries to take over and freak out. One thing we have learned this year is that fear is not of the L…