'Twas the Weekend Before Christmas.....

It's been a fun weekend around the Hines house. We had our friends Scottie and Joel over for the weekend. Friday night we had dinner with Scottie, Joel, and some other friends, the Goodmans. Then we had Cookout milkshakes (yum!) and watched It's a Wonderful Life. Believe it or not, I had never seen that movie. Rayna wasn't that excited about the movie, so I only got about halfway through it, but finished it last night. SO good! I think I could watch it every year. :-)
Last night Scottie and Joel were visiting with some other friends, so we went over to my mom's house. She was making her famous gingerbread men for all of her neighbors. Molly LOVES helping Nana make gingerbread men and I felt like it was a good opportunity for her to do something kind for others, so we went over to help. Molly and I went with Nana to deliver the gingerbread men, and she had a blast walking around the block. It's so fun to be two! :-)

And Rayna had a fun time hanging out and watching all of the action! She can't wait to be big enough to help! :-)

Today we visited my mom's church so that she could show off her sweet grandbabies. Then we went out for Japanese. At the restaurant, one of the waitresses asked me about Molly. I told her we had adopted her from Vietnam and she said she was also from Vietnam. It turns out she's from the same province as Molly's orphanage! She said that it was so good that we adopted Molly and that Molly was so lucky to have a home here in the United States. I told her that we were the lucky ones to have Molly has our daughter. God definitely had us planned for each other. :-)

Well, the weekend Christmas fun continues! Tonight we are going over to Mike and Nicole's for their annual Christmas party. Molly helped me bake cookies for the party yesterday and is super excited about taking them to Cooper's house. Guess I better go wake my sleeping beauties up (Daddy included!) and get them ready to go!

Gingerbread Tradition

I have very little doubt that one of my girls' favorite Christmas traditions will be making gingerbread men with their Nana. My mom planned a special day for both Molly and Lexy. She picked each of them up, took them to lunch, and took them over to her house to make gingerbread men. They were incredibly excited about it! This year, she made everyone aprons. They are PRECIOUS! Such a fun tradition!

How cute are these aprons?!

Molly had a blast making her gingerbread man!

And so did Lexy!

Molly with her gingerbread man last year...
And this year!
Don't worry, Rayna! You'll get to make a gingerbread man next year!

Happy Birthday in Heaven

Four years ago today, I held my precious son for the first time. I would be lying if I said that I was okay with the way things turned out. I wish we could be taking our four year old out for pizza to celebrate his birthday tonight. I wish he could have met his little sisters. But that wasn't the plan that God had for his life or for our lives. So we will spend another one of Zeke's birthdays without him, but comforted by the hope that comes from knowing that he is safe in the arms of Jesus.

We miss you, Sweet Boy. Today and everyday.

Life Group Christmas Party and Rayna Smiles

Life Group Christmas Party

We had our second annual Life Group Christmas party last night. It was a good time of fellowship and yummy desserts! Our friend Mike told the Christmas story and the children acted it out. Then they did a gift exchange. Fun times! :-)

Rayna is ready for the Christmas party!

Mr. Mike reading the Christmas story

What did I get?!

Molly with Miss Jen

Tuckered Out!

Rayna Smiles

Rayna started smiling this week! It is so precious! These pictures don't do her sweet little smile justice, but it's pretty hard to get her to smile and snap a picture at the same time. I'm sure we'll have more happy Rayna pictures soon!

Fun with Friends!

Molly and Rayna had some visits from friends last week. My friend Denise from work brought her children over to play. Her son JC is just a month older than Molly and her new baby girl Ana is just a week younger than Rayna. We all had lots of fun!

My friend Nicole also sent me these adorable pictures from their visit last week. They came over to bring us dinner and meet Rayna. Rayna loves Cooper just as much as Molly does! :-)

Can I Brag a Little?

Maybe it's just because I'm their Mommy, but I think these girls are pretty precious! :-)

Deck the Halls!

While Molly was napping today, Mom and I put up the Christmas tree. When she woke up, she was SO excited to see the tree. She had a blast helping decorate for Christmas and hanging ornaments. She's going to be so much fun this year!

Molly's ornaments

2008

2009

Rayna's First Christmas OrnamentOur littlest sweetie turned one month old today! I can't believe how fast this month has gone! Happy 1 month, Rayna! :-)