Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas day. The boys still wake early and eagerly to go downstairs for presents. Thankfully we have them trained to wait until a decent hour, so this year we actually held them off until nearly 8 a.m. Enjoy these pictures from our holiday:

MiMi and BaBa were here to enjoy the fun with us.

The boys show off their Christmas surprise: an iTouch.

Some sweet hugs from a thankful boy.

A family photo commemorating Christmas 2010. A very merry one, indeed.

A Christmas Invitation

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Luke 12:32

From Henri Nouwen's Advent and Christmas:

"God came to us because he wanted to join us on the road, to listen to our story, and to help us realize that we are not walking in circles but moving towards the house of peace and joy.

This is the great mystery of Christmas that continues to give us comfort and consolation: we are not alone on our journey. The God of love who gave us life sent us his only Son to be with us at all times and in all places, so that we never have to feel lost in our struggles but always can trust that he walks with us.

Christmas is the renewed invitation not to be afraid and let him - whose love is greater than our own hearts and minds can comprehend - be our companion."

Joy to the world...the Lord has come! Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas in LA

Our Christmas celebration begins with several days at my parents' home in LaFollette. My sister, Beth, joins us - along with her dog, Bella - for this time. She brought her new skills in origami to teach the boys and me how to make these beautiful origami snowflakes:

Uncle Barry joined us on Wednesday, and Tim came on Thursday afternoon. Thursday night we were joined by my Uncle David and cousins Diane and Karen for our big Christmas dinner prepared by Mom. Yum!

Christmas eve morning we excitedly opened our first presents.

Reed rests under the Christmas tree after all of the packages have been unwrapped.

Tim with my brother-in-law Barry.

The boys with MiMi and BaBa.

By lunchtime, it's time to say our goodbyes as Beth and Barry head back to Nashville for Christmas. We left soon thereafter for Knoxville, but we brought MiMi and BaBa with us to share the Christmas day fun.


Here's the entire Dunham clan, circa 2010, including our newest canine additions: Titan and Bella.

Surprise Snow

It seemed too good to be true! A snow day in December?! On Sunday night when we exited the movie theater after seeing the latest "Chronicles of Narnia" film, we entered our own personal Narnia. It was a snowy wonderland in West Knoxville.

In all we only received about two inches of snow, but that plus the ice was enough to merit a day off from school yesterday and a late start today. Here are a few pictures from our day of frigid fun:

This was our first snow with Titan, and he is definitely a fan of the fluffy white stuff! On Sunday night he checked out the first flakes as they fell.

Here are our two happy campers celebrating their day off from school. Given that this is our last week before Christmas break, it certainly felt like a bonus. I confess I was just as excited because it meant a day off from work for me too (one of the perks of working at their school).

Titan loved chasing his tennis ball in the snow but gladly abandoned it for one of the boys' snowy gloves. They spent a lot of time chasing him to retrieve their gloves.

Even though we didn't have a lot of snow, there was enough for some good sledding down our driveway. Here the boys enjoy their slippery ride to the bottom:

Titan came inside from the snow to find someone else cozied up inside his crate. Fred must have enjoyed a nap while we were all outside playing. Titan just sat patiently and watched Fred until he vacated the crate...so funny!