Carole's Christmas Favorites

I guess when your name is Carole (even with an "e"), you just have to LOVE Christmas. Here are a few random things I love about this holiday season:

• Christmas Carols - all different kinds, but I especially love the timeless voices of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Brenda Lee, Gene Autry, and Ella Fitzgerald singing the traditional favorites. O' Holy Night is one of my favorites...and also Good News and The Sound of the Round sung at Northland in Orlando.



• Chocolate-topped oatmeal cookies - a cookie tradition from my side of the family - we only make them at Christmas!



• Christmas movies - Love Actually, The Holiday, Four Christmases, plus my more traditional favorites - The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation



• Taking rides just to look at Christmas lights...especially when sipping...



• Peppermint mochas



• The advent wreath and candle lighting - I just love that we have the whole month to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christ's birth. Every year, I learn something new about the events leading up to Jesus' birth that make it even more personal and even more miraculous that God would send this baby to be our Savior - it's just awesome!



• A certain 5-year-old learning the joy of giving. Paige has had a couple opportunites to shop for gifts this year. She comes home just beaming and begging for us to open the gifts she picked out for us. And then for days afterwards, she repeats things like "Didn't you just LOVE the candle I picked out for you?" and "Aren't you just SO GLAD that I got you that tape measure you always wanted?!" So sweet!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2011

Classically Yours Christmas Card

Click here to browse our Christmas card designs.

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas is coming....

First...an outtake from our Christmas card photo session...

Second, Tyler with his first candy cane...he's not sharing, in case you are wondering ;).

Finally, drum roll please...........the Griswold family lights! How about that snow?!

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

We got more than 12 inches of snow over the past week. Paige was excited to jump in...

Equally excited was Chris...who decided to do the "Nestea plunge" off the back deck...

OUCH!

Thanksgiving

The great news is that we got to spend time with lots of family during our Thanksgiving trip to Florida. The bad news is that I captured very few pictures of the festivities.

Here is my cousin Cam with my mom.

C.C., Bob and Uncle Cam brought all sorts of early Christmas presents for Paige, Tyler, and Kaia.

Tyler decided to try on my new winter hat.

Sunny Stuart

For Thanksgiving, we headed to Stuart.

Here are some pictures of the fun we had at Indian Riverside park.

We miss you already, Grammy!

I'll Fly Away...

Pop Pop passed away on November 14, 2011. He was 83 years old. We are sad not to have him with us on this earth, but are celebrating the fact that he is now with Jesus and no longer suffering. Pop and I used to have conversations about heaven (he called it "bible study") and I know he was anticipating the day he would see the face of God and also his beloved wife, our Nana.

I found some videos from a visit we had with Pop back in April. Pay special attention to what Paige says after she gives him a hug..."I'll love you FOREVER, Pop Pop!"...I know we all will.