Waiting to Board

This year we left for St. Louis on December 29. I really liked being able to be home for the holiday season and then leaving at the end to go to St. Louis. That way we got to enjoy all the Christmas festivities and traditions as a nuclear family and also got to celebrate Christmas a second time with Grandma and Grandpa and cousins. It was perfect and I hope we can do this for most Christmases.

This is William waiting to board the plane. He did great for the entire trip.

Christmas Day Morning

Christmas morning we all woke up…late. Don’t know how many years we’ll be able to say that, but I was delighted. We had cranberry scones and clotted cream for breakfast and then opened more presents.

William first looked through his shoe box. He found a nut about which he was not very excited.


But then he found the candy and gobbled one up as fast as he could.

William loves using the broom and dust pan. He finds a little piece of paper, puts it on the dust pan and then tries so hard to make it stay while he carries it towards the trash can to dump it.

William seemed to enjoy all his presents but he loved the box that Russ's tie tack came in just as much.

Later that morning our wonderful neighbor came over to give William a present.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at our home. We had finger food for dinner and opened a few presents. William got two different balls, a Nerf ball and a Sky ball. The Sky ball is really bouncy. He loved both and played with them a long time. He was even able to catch them pretty well.

Cleaning the Beaters

This year we invited people from our church to our house for a Christmas celebration. First we all caroled at a local nursing home and then met back at our house for food and fellowship. William and I had lots of fun making food for the event. I really did have fun. Enough people volunteered to bring things that I was able to relax and not get worn out making all the food. At the end of the night lots of the ladies helped clean up and the only thing I had to do the next day was put everything away. I didn’t get any pictures of the night, but I did get pictures of one of William’s helpful tasks leading up to the event. He was more than happy to help clean the beaters of all the crab dip.

The Tree

I’ve always loved Christmas trees. I like everything about them…um…almost everything. I like picking them out, this year we went to 6 different places before finding the perfect tree, setting them up, hanging the ornaments, smelling the pine scent and of course sitting back and enjoying the finished product. William loves them too. Every day I would wait till he was up and then tell him, “let’s turn on the tree”. He would get a big smile, stand back, and watch me while I flipped the switch. Then he would point and say, “tree on”.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you from the Ayscues. I didn’t get our annual Christmas letter written, but I did get our Christmas picture cards mailed, although most of you probably got them after Christmas. We have had a wonderful Christmas season. William has been an absolute joy! He is old enough to enjoy all the trees, lights, and other pretty things around the house. He’s also old enough to enjoy cookies, and candy and ice cream and I’ve had lots of fun letting him eat extras “because it’s Christmas time”. We’ve had a month of rejoicing in God’s blessings and standing in awe and wonderment at His great goodness to us. It is so wonderful to be able to rejoice in the Lord and to know the only reason we can rejoice is because Christ gave his life that we might live.

Glow Worm