Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas :)  I have been a little behind b/c my computer was acting up and John installed Windows 8 on it and now I have to learn how to use it again ;)  Sadly I don't have a single picture from the Ballard Family Christmas b/c everyones computers are on the fritz and I forgot my camera that day :(

Playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with Uncle Steve




Bailey was hysterical about her gloves! She has worn they everyday...all the time since :)











Here he is Christmas morning when he first walked in the room.  It was by far the best Christmas for Jackson, he really got everything this year.  He understood that Santa was coming and even told someone that he would make sure the fire was out so that Santa wouldn't get hurt, melt my heart! 


Here he is opening the gift he wanted Santa to bring him this year...Dinosaurs with wheels on them.  He was SOOOO excited! 

And we can't forget what Santa brought to our 3rd child ;) 

Christmas Parties!

We had our annual girls Christmas at Nicole's house this year.  We had the best time as usual!  It's funny, we really do act just like we did when we were 15 ;)  We are just as goofy and pick right back where we left off.  Fun news, Kayla got engaged!! And that very night she was saying he had no idea that she even wanted to get married-boys are so sneaky, and we all knew he was probably tricking her ;) 

We also had John's high school friends party the next night.  It was a blast too!!!

They had the coolest "roller coaster"!!  What a fun toy, I couldn't find the exact one online,but it was awesome!


Kelly bought stuff to make gingerbread houses too!  They LOVED it!

We are very lucky that all of the "wives" get along just as good as the boys :)  Love his group of friends so much!


And Payton even helped babysit the little ones so the adults could actually talk to each other :)

I helped throw Jackson's Christmas party for his class at school and it was so much fun :)  The kids made us laugh the entire time, I dont' know how they keep a straight face most of the time ;) 

The kids had Birthday hats on and sung Happy Birthday to Jesus , it was too cute!

What's happening

Here is a few pics of what we have been up to. The pic of the cow was in Manchester, TN. I went up there b/c sadly Pop pop's cousin passed away suddenly last week. It was a very very sad service.
Then we had last Friday to deal with. I still can't get over what happened in Connecticut. I think about it everyday and can't wrap my head around the thought that such a thing can and does happen in our country. Anything we have been dealing with just seems petty. I pray all the time for those families and all their loved ones who are surely being loved and taken care of by God right now. Of course as a parent you think of your own children's mortality and its just hard to shrug it off. Thinking about what those other 20 moms and dads and loved ones are going through. Heavy heart and a lot of prayers.

We had a very busy, but awesome weekend!!!  I was in charge of our church's breakfast with Santa this year.  It was held Saturday morning and we had 2 seating's with 500 people total. It went off without a hitch AND Amy, Dan, and the kids came along with one of my best friends Jessi and her crew!!  It was a lot of fun and I really do just absolutely love our church.  I learned a lot along the way and got to know so many more church members and staff.  It was a rewarding experience to say the least.  We had the best time with all the kids here and last night the adults didn't even turn on the TV, we just laughed for like 3 hrs :)  So much fun catching up.  

In case you were wondering...Jackson did GREAT talking to Santa!!! I was sooo excited.  He was very serious while talking to him about what he wanted and even made sure to tell him to get a present for Mama and Bailey (sorry John! hahaha)

Both kids even let Santa touch them AND they smiled! hahaha  This Mama was on cloud nine.

Amy and Dan were the biggest help ever this weekend.  Amy helped me stay after and clean up-even vacuuming our family life center with me ;)  Dan helped John move my Aunt into her new house in Alpharetta and did some heavy lifting at our house too.  We are so lucky to have them as brothers and sisters.

All the kids sort of listening to me read Elf on the Shelf ;)

Our classic picture at our house :)  Very sad the weekend is over.  But, very happy John is still alive after blowing the leaves out of the gutter and hanging our Christmas lights (wish he just wouldn't do it! ugh men!).