Family is SO important

Christmas has been such an exciting time this year. First and foremost, we were able to spend time with family. Family is more important to me now than it used to be. The older I get, the more I realize how much I love my family and I am so glad we are so close.






Christmas Eve morning, we went to Bear and Tobie's for "brunch". Heath had to work at the firestation Christmas Eve, but he was able to come and spend a couple of hours with us. Here is my parents, Ben and Tina Quick.
Here is my dad and my niece, Baylee.

Here is my brother and his family...Bear, Tobie, Baylee (9), Graycee (4), and Jake (3).

Here is my family....Heath, Leslie, Claire (11), Macie and Conner (4).

This is my grandmother, Maxine Sandlin Taft Isbell.

And lets see... this is my extended family on my mom's side. This is my mom and her generation...Rebecca Sparks Bunn, Russell Sandlin, my mom Tina Taft Quick, Larry Taft (my mom's brother) and Connie Harper.

Then, it is my generation...Kelli Sandlin(daughter of Russell), Justin Masisak (son of Rebecca), Stephen Sandlin (son of Russell), Jason "Bear" Quick (son of Tina), Natalie Taft Gregory (daughter of Larry), me (daughter of Tina), Brett Taft (son of Larry, and his 3 children, Trayton, Brexton, and Britton), Tristan Bunn (son of Rebecca), Josh Lewis (son of Rebecca) and Hunter Harper (son of Connie).Can you see who I look like...

And finally, my grandmother's generation... The Beginning of the Sandlin generation (still living anyway)...(youngest to oldest)...Diane Sparks (mom to Rebecca), Phyllis Diffy (mom of Scott, who wasn't there), Dan Sandlin (dad to Russell), Sue Roth (mom to Connie) and Maxine (my grandmother).

That night, Santa came to our house. Macie and Conner's "Jeep"

Conner playing his drums.

Heaths mom, Louise, gave Claire as walnut...You can see by the look on Claire's face, that she is confused... she wonders what in the world she got a walnut for... and she doesn't even like nuts. :)

Once she finally opens the walnut, it is stuffed with a hundred dollar bill. That makes Claire a little happier. I thought this was a really neat idea.

Does anybody see anything wrong with this picture...Have I not taught my son better that this...

I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas. I know I personally spent time reflecting on what Christmas is all about... The gift of Jesus Christ. Tonight, to ring in the new year, I think the twins and I are going to talk about everything we remember from 2008 and what we hope 2009 is like. Claire is spending a few days with Grandmother Maxine, and Heath is working on the ambulance. My prayer is that everyone has a year of God's blessings. Happy New Year!