Merry Christmas!

Well, this was one of the best Christmases ever! Watching Scout play and laugh was incredible. Matt, Carla, Scout, and Marcio (an 18 year old boy from Brazil who works for Matt) arrived late Saturday night. On Sunday morning, in our Christmas eve service, Scout was dedicated to the Lord. It was such a sweet service.







I was so excited that Luke, Erin, and Kate were home for Christmas and were able to come to Scout's dedication.



Sunday night we all spent the night with mom and dad. With all of us and Copper and Maggie, it was quite the full house. We woke up early and had a big breakfast. Then we gathered around the den to see what Santa brought. It was my favorite part of the weekend. Just hanging out in our pj's and enjoying each other.







After opening our gifts and cleaning up, we headed over to Ma and Papa's house. It was the first time in several years that we have all been together. It was a lot of fun. In this picture of Scout with Daniel and Danielle, you can see her new trick. Every time the red light on the camera blinks, she gets this hilarious grin where she closes her eyes and juts out her chin. Apparently she has had her picture taken so much that she knows when it is coming and she is into posing now. Haha!



Maggie and Scout are quickly becoming big buddies. They spent a lot of time chasing each other around.





We ended Christmas Day by taking Marcio to Clemson to see the campus and especially the stadium. He has definately be converted! Haha! Stephen, Holly, Sonny, and Jo gave him a Clemson football for Christmas and I gave him a Clemson t-shirt. He was so excited when he saw the stadium. It is always a good day when you end it in Clemson!

O Christmas Tree, part 2

Yeah! We pulled it off! We had a blast tonight! Several hundred people showed up and we had the most incredible night. It was so much fun to watch the people's faces that we sang to. We sang to several older ladies who cried. It was so touching to know that in some way you showed people that they were loved. We also gave out books called "Why A Manger?" It is a pretty good little book. I hope that through it many people will come to truly understand the gift of Christ! After that, we headed back to the church and drank some cocoa and ate some cookies. Then we sang carols around the tree while the kids put decorations up. So maybe the tree wasn't such a bad idea. :)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

I don't know why in the world I don't learn to keep my big mouth shut during staff meetings. But...here we go again! I came up with an idea to have a caroling night where the whole church family will come together for caroling and then trim a tree on the front lawn. Now a tree on the front lawn has to be a pretty big tree. So I started asking around and Mr. Roy Jones graciously cut one down at his farm and hauled it over to the church yesterday. He hauled all 27 feet of it. Holey Moley! That is one big tree! And now, we have to decorate it. So Marshall, Steve Bielby, Carson, Chris Garrick, and myself got to work decorating the tree this morning. Three hours later, we had about 1/8 of the lights hung with a crooked star on top. Haha! (By the way, thanks for the star Tommy) We were using a lift that reaches about 20 feet in the air. Chris and I got to the top and I kind of freaked out. It was swaying with the wind and there isn't a rail around half of it. I didn't say that I needed down, but I think Chris could read my face, because all of a sudden we were heading back down. Haha! It was really scary...but I didn't scream or cry...haha! So anyway, we took a lunch break (which I am currently on) and Marshall ordered a bucket lift. He and David Nabors are getting ready to start back up with the lights and I am going back in a little while to help with the ornaments. I can't wait for this part to be over, but I know that it is going to turn out great! I am really looking forward to Wednesday night too. We are going to meet and go caroling and then come back to the church to finish decorating the bottom 8 feet of the tree and snack on Christmas goodies and hot cocoa! I will upload some pics of the tree and the event next week!

Formal Nite Out

Twice a year, I take the college students on an outing called Formal Nite Out. This has become one of their absolute favorite things to do. The premise is that we all get dressed in formal wear and then go do things like bowling, putt putt, etc... So last weekend was our Winter Formal Nite Out. We had a blast. We went to Skin's hotdog's for dinner (for those of you not from here...the best hotdogs anywhere). Then we drove up to the Flatrock Playhouse to see "The Best Christmas Pagent Ever." It was great. The kids did a really good job! So after I cried at the end, when Imogene holds baby Jesus (like I do every year), we headed back down the mountain for dessert at City Range. Now that was good! Can you believe they found a way to make a Krispy Kreme doughnut even less healthy?

The Famous Skin's Hotdogs

Welcome to my life!

HAHA!!!! I know what you are thinking...like we care! Well, I will try to make this as entertaining and enlightening as possible. Haha! I actually thought that this would be a great way to keep up with my friends. See for my job, I do a lot of traveling. For example, this summer I was in Vancouver, Mexico, and Slovakia...not to mention my fun trips to Savannah and Williamsburg. Anyway, most of you guys are constantly ragging me about not knowing where I am, so now all you have to do is log on and find out. Haha!

For instance, I know many of you are thinking...what is Ange doing right this minute...well....





Being stupid...what did you expect...haha!



Don't you love this t-shirt? Haha! Props to Brandon for the sweet tee he gave me for my birthday! Thanks Bran! Haha!

Okay...I'll be back when I have more to say that actually means something! Oh, by the way, Happy Anniversary Mattie and Carlotta! I love having a sister...and I couldn't have hand-picked a better one...oh wait, I did hand-pick you! Haha!

Mattie, Carlotta, and the Scoutster!