Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!







"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, who He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..."

Hebrews 1:1-3

Christmas Party!

On Saturday night, Jason, Jennifer, Tripp, and I hosted our annual Christmas party. And we had so much fun! Jason and Jennifer let us use their beautiful home for the party and the Christmas decorations looked perfect. Jennifer and I were smart this year and had the food catered. With a busy December and an 18 month old and 2 1/2 year old, we thought we may not have the time or energy to prepare the food!

We had a wonderful night visiting with friends! It was a fun group of people, some we have known for years and some new friends we have made recently. We snapped a few pictures before the party started.

Me and Jenn. This was the first Christmas party where neither of us was pregnant! We had a fun time!



Tripp and I all dressed up and ready to celebrate with friends!



Best friends!

Christmas with Charlotte

On Friday morning, Caroline and I went over to Charlotte's house to play and exchange Christmas presents. Caroline loves Charlotte so much and enjoys playing with her. She was so excited about Christmas presents, too!

The girls enjoyed coloring together and playing with stickers (and eating cheese nips, I think Caroline has a mouth full!)



Caroline was so excited to open her first Christmas present this year!



Checking out her new pink tutu, crown, fairy wings, and wand!



Charlotte checking out her presents!



Jennifer and I attempted to get a good picture of the girls but that is getting harder and harder as they get older! But I love to see them interacting with each other in pictures!







Here is the picture we took of them last year. Wow, we have two growing girls!



Merry Christmas!

Dinner with Santa

Last week we took Caroline to the Early Works Museum for dinner with Santa. Caroline was so excited to see Santa and spend time with Charlotte! Every table had a place especially reserved for Santa. He went from table to table and visited with the children. The second Caroline laid eyes on Santa at another table she started saying, "Mommy, I don't love Santa" over and over again!



Tripp explained to Caroline that Santa was going to ask her what she wanted for Christmas. When Santa approached, Caroline sat in her Daddy's lap! Santa sat down and asked Caroline her name. Caroline yelled out "A puppy dog and a kitty cat"! She was ready to tell Santa what she wanted! She did fine with Santa but she did not take her eyes off him for second!



Caroline loved the elves and wanted her picture made with them!



Caroline had a great time after she got over the initial shock of Santa!



After dinner with Santa, we went across the street to Santa's Village. It was so cold, one of the coldest nights we have had, so we did not stay too long. But Caroline had fun while we were there and she didn't want to leave!

Mailing her wish list to Santa!



The cutest Christmas tree I have ever seen!



Since there was no line to see Santa, we tried a picture with Santa at Santa's Village. Caroline was not very excited to see Santa again!



Writing her Christmas list which included a pretend puppy dog, a pretend kitty cat, and jelly beans!



Our last stop was decorating gingerbread cookies!

Deeper Still

Last weekend Jennifer and I went to Deeper Still in Birmingham. The conference featured Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore as speakers and Travis Cottrell as the worship leader. Need I say more! What an awesome weekend being taught from the Word of God and worshiping with 14,000 women.

When I left for the conference on Friday I was feeling very overwhelmed with life. On Thursday we had gotten our Christmas tree, and I wanted to have it decorated and ready by Friday when my Mom came in town. So Tripp and I were up until 2am decorating the tree. Then on Friday, I cleaned the house all morning and decorated some more for Christmas. I was worn out and tired and just overwhelmed.

When I got back home Saturday night, I was overwhelmed in a completely different way, a good way. I was overwhelmed by God's love for me. I was overwhelmed by His faithfulness towards me. I was overwhelmed by the fact that He desires to use me to bring Himself glory. I was overwhelmed by Jesus' sacrifice for me. I was overwhelmed by the blessings that God has given me. I was overwhelmed that I am His daughter and He loves me like a Father.

Needless to say, it was an awesome weekend which I needed to get reenergized and refocused on what is important in my life. And that is Jesus. God has already used this weekend in an amazing way, and I know that He will continue to as I go deeper still.

(A highlight of the weekend was when Jennifer and I and other "siestas" got to meet Beth Moore and get our picture made with her!)

The Dixon Family Christmas Tree

On Thursday we loaded up in our 4-wheel drive sleigh to find the most important of Christmas symbols, our Christmas tree! We drove a few miles to the Young Life Christmas Tree lot to find the Dixon Family Christmas Tree. It was a great time to go because we were the only people at the Christmas tree lot, and we picked out a tree in a matter of minutes (this is a huge feat for me because usually I agonize over the trees for a least an hour!). Tripp and I let Caroline choose between 2 trees we liked, and she picked the perfect tree!

Caroline loved running around the lot and looking at the trees.





The Dixon Family Christmas Tree!



It was very cold so we were bundled up!



Caroline and Tripp watering the Christmas tree



Our beautiful tree!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family in Mississippi! We were so happy to be home and get to celebrate with family. We started with the Gardner family Thanksgiving (Tripp's Mom's family). Caroline was so excited to see Winnie and Granddaddy!



Caroline ate lunch with Winnie at the kids table!





Caroline loved playing with Ruby. Ruby just turned 3 so they are very close in age and had a great time together. I am just so glad I brought 2 babies and 2 bottles or we may have had a problem!



We had a great time visiting with family, some of which we see only once a year. The weather was very warm so we spent most of the day outside. It was great to see Tyler and Taylor and hang out with them, too!


One group of Gardners


Ken, Tracy, Taylor, and Tyler. Ken and Tracy are so sweet to host this large group of family every year at their home!


Cousins -- Sara Gaines, Patrick, and Ashley. They are high school seniors this year.


Caroline requested to have her picture made with Ashley and Sara Gaines. They are both so sweet to Caroline and she loves them!

We spent Thanksgiving night celebrating with my family at my parents' house.


The Sisters


Enjoying dinner! (Notice Rebel trying to eat Dad's roll!)


Caroline eating dinner with Aunt Dodo and Puppy

Tripp and I have so much to be thankful for this year. At the top of our list is our precious daughter, Caroline, and our families. It was such a blessing to spend Thanksgiving with our family. We enjoyed every minute of it and cannot wait to be back in Mississippi for Christmas!

Mommy-Daddy-Daughter Day

Caroline and I always love when Tripp has a day off during the week. Tripp and I try to plan something special for our family on these days! And we call it "Mommy-Daddy-Daughter Day" to get Caroline really excited!

The first thing on the agenda for our Mommy-Daddy-Daughter Day in November was a trip to Pottery By You so Caroline could make some Christmas ornaments. She picked out two Christmas trees and one ball to paint.





Caroline had a great time, but it was a little stressful for me (I am not very crafty)!

Next we went to eat lunch at one of our favorite places, Shea's Express. We had a delicious lunch and we were ready for the next activity, the Early Works Museum. We spent the whole time in Biscuit's Backyard. It is the perfect place to play on cold days!





Caroline enjoyed fishing in the water with Daddy and doing puppet shows! The trees out in front of the museum were beautiful so I had to take a picture of Caroline and her Daddy in front of them.



We had a wonderful family day. I am already planning our Mommy-Daddy-Daughter Day for December!