Ode to Joy!

These last couple of weeks of 2011, our days have been filled with 

sweet joy!!  

Celebrating our daughter's engagement and getting in the

thick of it with dress shopping, preparations for her

engagement photo shoot, and of course...

celebrating the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Do you know Him yet? 

{He is sooo amazing!}

If you don't, 2012 presents the perfect opportunity

to at least check out what all the buzz is about...

{His book has been a best seller longer than any other

book ever written!!}

You just might make the greatest discovery of your life!!

{in fact, I'm sure you will!} ☺

Here are some fun photos that capture snippets of our JOY!!

Continuing a tradition Randy's Grandma began, 

each year at Christmas time,

we have a gingerbread cookie decorating party!

I cut free-hand boy and girl shapes, 

and anyone who wants to decorate one can!!

Brittany and John made bride and groom ginger people!!  Too cute!!

Love the hearts for eyes!!  And the ring on her finger!

Me and Maddy stenciled these burlap save-the-date banners!  

Just kind of winged it, and love how they came out!

Love my Cricut machine!

Needless to say, they have opted for a rustic

outdoor wedding, and have secured the perfect venue!

YAY!!  The dress and venue can be checked off the list!!

Brittany's long time friend, Megan, shot the photos!!  Sure love them!!

And just look at this sillyness!!

Hannah dressed up as a Christmas tree!!

Too hilarious!!  She loved it!

The ribbon fell off of her head right as I was snapping the photo!

Doesn't Kris' shirt with Chuck Norris on it look funny in this shot?

Like he is watching over her!!
{the eyes of the ranger are upon you!  LOL!!}

Those eyes are so gorgeous!!

She is 7 months as of yesterday!

 Checking out the bow

And her big sis with one of her presents!

Adorable!

Thank you all for being a part of my journey!

I appreciate each and every one of you, 

and sooo look forward to the New Year

and all the promise it holds!!

I am starting work on revamping the shop,

adding some spring inventory,

and will reopen it on January 9th!!

Hugs and Joy to You!!!

The Holidays~~Keeping It Real!!

This past weekend we made our annual family

 trip to Santa's Christmas Tree Forest!

It is always fun and this year was no exception! 

 We had everyone in tow, boyfriend, 

fiance, cousin, and our crew!

If you live in central Florida and have young

children or grand children in your family

you definitely need to check it out!

We have been going for years and years, 

and it is some of the best holiday family fun to be had!!

You can cut your own tree, {or buy a cut northern tree}

 there's a petting zoo, horse and pony

rides, a zip line, a maze, a bounce pad, wreath shop, wonderful

concession, hay ride, reindeer ride for toddlers, bonfire for roasting

marshmallows and cooking hot dogs, gift shop...just too much fun!

Here are our four delightful daughters...

They all still really look forward to the tree farm each year!!

{where have the years gone?}

{sigh}

 And this photo includes our niece, and our two grandies.

**********

Well, my friends, 

I came to a place last week where I had a decision to make.

I was going to do a Creating Christmas series, and share all kinds of fun

and inexpensive ideas with you for your home decor and gifts.

Well, God put it on my heart to spend my time 

Creating Christmas

for our family! 

So that is what I'm going to do!

Some big changes are coming with a wedding in April, and a soon coming

announcement of another wedding in the fall, so I feel the need to take the time

to make our holidays extra special, and memorable.  

You know, 

These are the good ol' days!!

and I don't want to miss a thing!!

{Stephen Tyler is now singing in my head}

So, to keep it real, and keep my priorities in place,

I won't be doing my Creating Christmas series,

and I will be on vacation from Junk to Joy Shop

beginning this Sunday  

until the second week of January.

When Junk to Joy Shop reopens, SPRING will be making

it's way into the shop, and the shop will have a fresh

look and some other changes!!

My blog posts will be few and far between as well, though

I will visit and stalk when possible  {smile}

I am praying that the love of Christ will permeate your heart,

home and holidays this year, and that He will stir you up in your love

for Him and for one another!!

Blessings, hugs and joy to you!!

JOYFUL!

The Christmas season is always such a joy to me!

I love seeing all the decorations and lights, and changing 

things up around our home.

And I am so thankful for God, who gave this world

the gift of His Son, Jesus~~whose birthday we are celebrating!

This year we have something else special to celebrate...

The engagement of our daughter Brittany!!

Love this photo of her!

God has blessed her {and us} with the most wonderful young man!

His name is John and he is a young man of honor, integrity, respect,

and is so much fun to be around, too!

They make an absolutely charming couple, and are

so totally in LOVE!

It is so cool to meet the young man I have prayed for
since Britt was a little girl!  I didn't know who he was,
but God did!!

He proposed to her at a local park a little after sunrise,

and surprised her by showing up in a tuxedo!

They spent the rest of the day at Disney World,

and wore the "Just Engaged" buttons 

and were congratulated the whole day by the park's

employees!  

I sooo love seeing how God just works all things out for good 

for His children!!

We have our "meet the soon to be in-laws" dinner tonight!!

Too much fun!

Have a lovely afternoon and evening!

I will post my Creating Christmas gift idea tomorrow!!

Just been too much going on!!

You can relate, right??  :o)

Hugs!