And the Celebrating Continues...

The girls are beginning to believe every day is "present" day around our house these days...good thing we decided to save a few of their gifts from Mommy & Daddy until we got back home to Birmingham. A nice way to spread out the fun. We drove back home the night of Christmas but decided to wait until the next day where we could fully enjoy them getting excited about a few new additions to their toy collection. Their most special present this year was built by their daddy and boy did they light up when they saw the finished product! We can't wait to see the many memories they make from playing with their new kitchen, complete with pots and pans, dishes, baking supplies, & play food. I'm sure they will begin to "cook" up quite a few dishes as their imaginations continue to grow. Let's hope the worst is behind us when it comes to accidents though...at least she's ok and one day Makenzie will chuckle at how her eagerness to beat Maddie Grace to the prize earned her a nice little goose egg on her head...on the joys of sisters and sinfulness combined! =0)

The best we could capture of our growing toddlers...=)

Loving their new  toddler sized tailgating chairs!

All this excitement calls for a little relaxation...

Little Miss Content reading her new book!

A full understanding of how to open a present is no longer in question...

Lots of "yays" and "whoas" throughout the night..

Pretty adorable to see the girls signing thank you with each new gift....

Showing Mommy & Daddy their appreciation with happy faces =)

This is fun, but thumb is in so take my not so subtle hint and put me in my crib!

Makenzie smothering her "sissy" with some giant kisses and hugs!

The kitchen reveal...waiting anxiously for us to say GO!

They approved and had a ball testing out the oven, their sink, and stocking their refrigerator with some food!

Just as this time of year passes oh so quickly, we are realizing that so does the time we have to parent M & M's precious hearts! We hope and pray God gives us great grace as we strive to show them the Gospel on a daily basis in our home. We love the Lord and so desperately want them to share this same love! Thank you Lord for the greatest gift of all time! We are forever grateful!

A Baby Changes Everything...Merry Christmas!

These babies sure have changed life for us in ways we never could have foreseen or imagined. And while it's not all peaches and roses at our house with two toddlers, they sure have been two of the greatest blessings the Lord could have ever given us in His goodness. Marriage is a refiner of character, but Kendall and I would say hands down ten times over, that life with twins has been hands down the biggest refiner of our hearts as it has revealed selfishness, pride, and sin at the core of our hearts like never before. Nothing like two sets of eyes watching every action and word spoken, in addition to them needing us to meet all of their physical and emotional needs to date.Which I might add has been mind boggling. =) But even as we look at how these two have turned our world upside down, nothing in all of creation and nothing that will ever come in the future has held the power to change our eternal future inheritance like one baby did and that baby is Jesus. It is too much for my finite mind to attempt to grasp that my Savior, the one who is all God, came in the flesh, as a baby with the soul purpose of reconciling sinners unto God. If that doesn't bring us to our knees, then what will? And that He came as a baby, in the most humble of circumstances and environment, is such a  miracle to me. That provokes such awe in my heart now that we have had the privilege of bringing two precious girls into the world. And what a sweet and precious Christmas it has been this year. We made so many wonderful memories with our girls, but one of the highlights from the month of December was having our family worship time each night and celebrating the coming of our King and Savior through our Advent reading. We loved preparing our hearts for Christmas morning and the sweetness of singing of our Great God with our girls each night. They may have laughed due to our lack of memory of some Christmas carols & possibly giggled and played during the reading, but we sure will treasure that time together and just maybe, sooner rather than later, our girls will come to accept the greatest gift and treasure they could ever know-the gift of their Savior, the gift of freedom from sin and condemnation, the gift of eternal life, and the gift of living in communion with their God forever and ever and ever...to Him be the Glory for the Great Things He Has Done! 

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

We made it to Atlanta for Christmas! These girls LOVE the outdoors!

Just playing outside with their cousin...and lovin' it!

Enjoying the Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier with the whole family!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit...

Soaking up all the lights and rides and excitement, minus the reindeer antlers =)

Breakfast on Christmas morning...ready to move onto bigger and better things!

First things first Grandpa-let's get this train going & I'll be ride beside you to ensure that it happens! =)

The girls LOVING their new table! Thanks Uncle Scott, Aunt Mere, & cousin Connor! We love it already!

A few snapshots of our not so quiet Christmas morning! The girls better not think this kind of gift giving happens everyday! 

Our family loved being able to spend Christmas with Mommy's side of the family this year! There was a never a dull moment from feeding three toddlers to chasing them outside, to cleaning up their huge messes & tackling bedtimes/schedules but it sure was fun! Who ever thought children were this much work!?! =) Now the biggest task before us is teaching the girls that just because they sign "more presents" doesn't mean they will get them each day!

Christmas Memories...

Tis the season to be Jolly...and boy have we attempted to savor and make as many fun memories as possible in a short amount of time! The girls sure have had fun and mommy and daddy have enjoyed seeing their sweet little faces light up with delight! Of course the desire of our hearts is to make Jesus central in all that we do this Christmas season. 

The girls love their storytime with Ms. Eve at Emmet O'Neal each week immensely and to wrap up the end of the year, they had a Christmas Party, complete with Mrs. Claus arriving for some pictures. They had a ball doing the Reindeer Hokey Pokey, eating marshmallows for their snack, singing Christmas songs, and of course doing the bean bag dance and the bubble parachute! Such a fun, and free might I add, way to spend our Wednesday morning!

Not so sure about their "red" Rudolph noses!

My big girls putting their bean bags back in the bucket!

Not a fan of Santa and clearly not fond of Mrs. Claus either =) But they were willing to converse with her from a distance in order to receive their candy cane!

Makenzie & Maddie Grace LOVE any type of puzzle and have gotten quite good at them with all the practice we've had at home!

We enjoyed going with some dear friends from our new small group to the McWane Center and especially enjoyed their Winter Wonderland setup they have going on right now. It's been fun to see the girls become friends with Miles & Maddie and they know exactly who they are whenever we see them now! The highlights from our time there this time were exploring the many trains they have setup for the kids to watch, playing in the "snow," and riding the choo choo train!

First train ride, mommy tagged along. Then I almost teared up as they rode the train by themselves like big girls the second time around! They can't possibly be old enough to do such a thing!

As a family, we bundled up and headed to the Birmingham Zoo for Zoolight Safari, which the girls absolutely loved! They kept saying whoa to all the colorful lights and this year they really enjoyed riding the train and looking at the lights with mommy and daddy. Still weren't too sure about Santa making an appearance on the train ride, but they survived by holding on tight to mommy & daddy. They also LOVED walking independently through the petting zoo area and their constant animal noises sure did bring a smile to our faces. It is such fun to see them enjoying things at this age! What a difference a year makes!

We loved our family "Christmas Movie Night" that was full of pj's, cuddles, and bowlfuls of yogurt melts and marshmallows. We watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and they actually managed to sit nestled between the two of us for a full 18 minutes. Maybe they would have sat longer had we allowed them to have  their 5th bowl of snacks! =)

And finally, our last little outing/memory was a trip to the ice cream shop and a drive around our neighborhood to see Christmas lights! The girls ate every last drop of their strawberry ice cream and were bouncing off the walls for the rest of the evening. They thought they were "big stuff' being able to get out of their car seats to view the Christmas lights! They were precious as they continuously said WOW....each time we came to a new house! Such sweet memories that we will cherish!

There were plenty of things that we didn't cross off our Christmas Fun to-do list, but I am so thankful for the things we did make happen and for the special time we shared with our two little ones! They truly do make the season even brighter! 

Disney World

So this past weekend, Kendall and I had the privilege of turning a work conference he had scheduled down in Orlando into a mini-vacation/getaway complete with a few days at Disney World. Not a bad place to have  to do a little "work" if you asked me! =) Thankful once again that we have parents who are not only willing, but are eager to keep our two high-maintenance, high-energy, but oh-so-precious girls! It was a little harder to leave this time around because they came down with some nasty colds the morning Mommy was supposed to fly out. But Mimi told mommy not to worry, they had raised four kids just fine, and that they would take great care of our girls. She may have regretted that decision after their trip to the Urgent Care confirmed double ear infections, upper respiratory infections, pink eye, and a yeast infection. =( But alas, they all survived, the antibiotics worked wonders, and the girls were their happy selves before long! And while our girls were busy playing with Mimi and Grandpa + their uncle, aunts, and cousin, Mommy & Daddy were enjoying the magicalness (a new word in my book) of Disney!

First night: Dinner with my sweet Beth, who is now married and pregnant! Such a fun time catching up on life and all the ways God has been so good to our families!

Second night: touring the Wilderness & Animal Kingdom Lodge + Dinner at BOMA (part of Animal Kingdom lodge) which was fantastic & such a neat atmosphere!

Third Day: Epcot! We were able to ride all the rides and tour the World by mid-afternoon! Much easier without having two babies tagging along! =0)

Love our sweet girls, but thankful that our stroller was not a part of that picture!

Back at our place-Disney Yacht Club- Exhausted from all our walking!

Third night: Dinner at T-Rex-yes, my sweet husband is like a 5 year old and greatly enjoys the ambiance of such restaurants!

Fourth and final day: Animal Kingdom! This was our first time here and man were we impressed! We loved all the rides-the Kali River Rapids, Everest, & the Safari and we were thankful the lines weren't long at all!

The shows were fantastic and entertaining as well, especially A Bug's Life!

We had such a good time together being kids again! Our food was yummy but our time just as husband and wife was even better! Sure we missed our girls tons, just like we always do, but we are so so thankful for little getaways to be reminded that our marriage is our primary relationship here on earth! And the verdict is still out on whether or not our girls missed us with all the fun they had....=0)

The Latest Through Pictures...

This is how we do our grocery shopping when there aren't any carts left for 2 babes...

Who says this car has room for just one!?

 Performing our civic duty: all bundled up to go vote with Mommy!

All smiles after polishing off her glass of eggnog =)

A weekend with the whole Williams Clan in Auburn!

Mommy let us have playtime together in the crib!

Our sweet daddy learning to play "girl" things!

We LOVE Mother Goose Storytime with Ms. Eve!

 They might be ready for a new baby, but Mommy & Daddy sure aren't! =)

Sharing a moment in the baby doll pack n play! =)

 Impromptu Santa visit not a success!

Searching for the perfect Christmas tree...

What do you think about this one!? Hurry up & decide, we're ready for lunch!