On the 10th day/moment of Christmas!

10. Christmas morning!! At our house, Christmas morning is madness meets mayhem. All three girls jumped on our bed at 5:30. A.M. In the morning. But that's okay, because honestly, I get as excited as they do, and had been awake since 5. (sheepish grin)

Stockings!

Presents!

Mike looks like he's got a star coming out of his mouth!
 

11. As soon as we finished opening presents and eating my Aunt Melody's Christmas Morning Casserole, we loaded up and started driving to my Mom's house to celebrate with her and my brother Mark and his family. It was raining and windy and cold, and as we went further north we noticed the rain was starting to freeze to the antenna and mirrors! We got to my Mom's and hugged everybody and opened more presents, then ate a nice big meal. We got lots of games this year, so we played one, and the next thing we knew it was sleeting outside. My brother had some house guests and the little kids were so excited, saying, "It's really snowing!!" But it was really just ice--making roads dangerous. So my brother and his family, nephew and his wife, and Mike all left. (Mike was leaving the next day for NYC to do disaster relief with his students.)

I had been skeptical of the weather forecast for a white Christmas, because it had been stinkin' 70 degrees all week. But lo and behold, within an hour or two it really was "really snowing!" And it snowed and snowed and snowed. Jason and Kelli ended up coming back because the electricity was out at their house, and they have no fireplace. We had power, and extra beds, so it was all fun.

I love this picture.

"I can't put my arms down!"

The girls went out in it, because they knew from experience that in the South, it could be gone by morning.

I worried about Mike all evening--he called me every now and then and was pretty worried himself--but he made it home safely. 12. That night, after everyone else had gone to bed, I looked out the kitchen window to see how much snow had fallen, and I saw this.

At that moment, I remembered something. At the beginning of December, I was praying and I said, "Lord, I know it's a silly little thing, and I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, but if You could just send my girls some snow this Christmas season, they would be so happy. It doesn't even have to be on Christmas day, but I know You could send the moisture and the cold at just the right moment. So please give my girls some snow!" I almost cried looking out at the answer to my prayers--a visible sign of God's love for me and my girls. I wanted to share it with someone, but everyone was asleep! I poked my head in my Mom's room and whispered, "Are you awake?" But she didn't answer, so I guess she wasn't. I went to the door of the girls' room to do the same thing, but just then Jessica opened the door, so I took her to the window and we enjoyed it together.

Tune in later for the rest of the story!