somedays....

Do you ever feel like somedays you're not sure if you want to laugh or cry?
Brooks does..........

Deck the Halls

"The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love."

Psalm 145:8

This verse was given at church today and I really really love it. It was a sweet reminder of the tenderness of my God. 

I LOVE this time of year so much. I love the magic of it! I confess I do love the wordly stuff: Santa, gifts, elves, christmas cookies, christmas music, lights, Christmas trees, nutcrackers and all that is so not Jesus centered! It's fun, it reminds me of being a kid and the pure joy and excitement of it all! 

Even though so many people do not truly grasp the meaning of Christmas, I love that our world makes such a big deal about this holiday, more than any other  holiday because ultimately...... it is because of the magnitude of the true meaning of it all. 

Our savior was born, 

a savior for all of us 

who desperately need a savior. 

I know we have a few years but I can't wait for Brooks to understand it all. 

I can't wait to see his excitement for Santa and to see his eyes light up on Christmas morning. 

I can't wait to teach him the true story of Christmas and to celebrate the birth of his savior!

Merry Merry!

first carousel ride

Our niece Maizy was in town and we rode the carousel at the mall with her. Here is some footage of the big ride. It's riveting. I did get a little nauseous standing backwards filming this on a moving carousel. Listen closely to Trip's sound effects.............

Thanksgiving and a birthday

So much to be thankful for this year. I always have a hard time grasping how blessed we are. We don't deserve any of our rich life. But God is gracious! We had our first Thanksgiving with Brooks. What a blessing he has been. And on my side of the family we had 4 babies this year. A big change from just one last year! I loved time with the family in the mountains. And we got to celebrate Lanier's 1st Birthday! The first year is a special one for sure! Hard to believe we'll be doing the same for Brooks in just 3 months!

grandmama and d-daddy with the 4 kiddos

first time behind the wheel

relaxin' in the hammock

feeding the horsies

the girls

party time

birthday girl!

9 months

Little man reached 9 months Friday. He had his 9 month appointment and is about 27 inches long and 19 lbs 13oz. His height and weight are in the 25-50th % but his head is in the 70-90th %. He must be really smart!!! We have really high hopes! And he just started crawling! Still working on our form but he's movin'! I am afraid I am really going to miss our simple stationary life!

waiting at the doctors office, looked like a tornado hit the table after we left!

looking forward to our first holiday season with the little man!

Baby Mason!

Brooks has a new cousin! Mason Allman was born on Monday! Brooks is so happy to have a boy to play with! We woke Brooks up Monday night to be there for the big news! 

Brooks waiting in the hospital for the big arrival!

meet Mason

proud daddy!

welcome to this big 'ole family Mason! You are an answered prayer!

Sharptop

We went to Sharptop this weekend because Trip was helping with program for NW atl weekend camp. It was Brooks first trip of probably many to Sharptop! We had a great time. I loved seeing everybody and personally really enjoyed time just sitting and talking with some friends that were there. As difficult as it can be to pack everything up that Brooks needs for just a weekend and having him sleep in the room with us it is so worth it to be there. I could have stayed home with Brooks and had two good nights of sleep and not have to pack up my entire car but going to camp just gives me that feeling of purpose, and reminder that life is much bigger than wordly things. It gives me eternal perspective again and brings me back to a place of humility.
I am so unbelievably blessed that Trip and I get to be surrounded by such great community of believers and that he gets to have a job that gives highschool kids the opportunity to hear the truth about God and his love for them.
I also told a friend this weekend that there is nothing greater than watching people love your child. I pray that Brooks will have a young adult one day that will walk beside him and that will live out the gospel and spur Brooks on to do the same.
I do think I have an even greater respect for watching leaders love on highschool kids now that I am a parent because I imagine if these highschool kids were my own children, how much I would appreciate their love poured out onto my child.

It was cold!

Watching the program team practice

Beautiful weekend!!

Brooks first Halloween

Halloween is so much more fun with a baby! Babies in costumes are the best. Too much cuteness! We went to the library in costume with our neighbor buddies Sally and Daye. The local library has a 30 minute baby bear lap time every monday morning! It's so fun, Brooks LOVES it. Stories, songs, bubbles, a color parachute..... 30 minutes of free entertainment! And he even got a free rubber ducky this time. SCORE!

cutest lady bug and monkey i've ever seen!

Then I took my little monkey to the grocery store with me......

and for our Young Life bowl-o-ween Brooks was UGA