Highlights from the past few weeks

Instead of trying to tell in depth what has been going on in the Harkey household, I thought I'd give a few highlights:

1. Christmas. We hosted our families here for Christmas. There's nothing quite like watching a 4 (almost 5) year old and a 2 year old get excited about the Christmas tree, gifts, Christmas lights, Happy Birthday Jesus cupcakes (with sprinkles, of course), and singing Christmas carols. One of my favorite gifts that they got was the Chronicles of Narnia (from us). Starting a day or two after Christmas, we started reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. We just finished that one and we're about to start The Magician's Nephew. Maitlyn is totally captivated, and Elspeth is even understanding a lot of the story. Amelia doesn't seem to be getting it yet, but she sure listens intently...

New "fairy wings" and "tinkerbell wands"...


Amelia's just excited to be there...


2. A week off. The Grove (our church and employer) can't afford to give traditional "Christmas Bonuses", so it does something even cooler. The office is closed for the week between Christmas and New Year's. That means that we get the entire week off without having to use any of our vacation time. Of course, services still have to happen, but with a little advanced planning, those were ready before Christmas. It was a good week of spending time with family. It always seems like this sort of time goes by too fast, though...

3. Maitlyn's 5th Birthday. 6 days after Christmas (Dec 30), we honored Maitlyn. God gave her to our family 5 years ago, and it has flown by so fast! We took her to eat doughnuts in the morning, then opened gifts. That evening, 3 of her friends, Sarah Cait, Mary Hadley and Peyton came with us to Fuddrucker's (her choice) for a Birthday meal. We took a Birthday cake that Maitlyn decorated herself with this cool edible paper that you can draw on with food-safe markers (thanks, Grammy), opened gifts and had a grand time. Then Mary Hadley spent the night. It's funny, Maitlyn seemed more excited about her birthday than even Christmas (just a little bit). I guess she loves to be the center of attention...

Maitlyn's new birthday scarf...

All the girls with the cake...


4. New Year's Eve. We gathered with a bunch of our good friends at the Harper's house for NYE. We had a great time of fellowship, playing lots of games, trying Stacey's family Margarita recipe and watching Dick Clark mug down with his wife on national TV at midnight. Oh, and Lafe finally won his first poker game...

5. NCAA Football National Championship. A bunch of us hung out at Rodney and Angie Driver's house to watch the game last Wednesday. It was just about the hardest thing I've ever done, but I rooted for the Longhorns. Actually, I just rooted against USC. I can't stand to hear them brag and I just wanted to see them go down. Is that cruel? Maybe. Rest assured, I'm back to my Longhorn hating ways. I hope we beat them 108-0 next fall...