This year, the week of Christmas, our family did something a little out of the ordinary, but I hope we started a tradition that we revisit for MANY years to come! We loaded up our fifth-wheel (complete with Christmas decorations!) and we went camping! This year we chose Garner State Park - a park we have camped at before and loved.

Here is the view of the Frio River from our campsite, just as the full moon was coming over the tops of the Cypress trees.

My boys, enjoying the campfire. The weather was perfect! Cool days - great for hikes and fishing, and cooler nights - perfect for flashlight hide and seek and campfires!

The Christmas decorations I warned told you about!

A favorite shot of the campsite in all its holiday-glowing beauty.


Another "artistic" sort of shot that I thought was kind of cool.

In his school production of the Christmas Story, Vaughn was chosen to play the part of Joseph. Here he is with Mary - (Sienna L. - from Mrs. Amy's Class). What I remember most about his portrayal is that he REALLY wanted to hold her hand. Thankfully, she was pretty tolerant the ENTIRE time! The only time he wasn't holding "Mary's" hand, he insisted on holding Baby Jesus. That worked out just fine until he walked over to the manger and proceeded to DROP the doll into his "cradle"! Pretty humorous, and luckily we have it ALL on video!

Let the documentation of Christmas begin! This past year we added a train that goes around the tree to our decor, but there were no pictures of us setting it up because it was kind of a last minute decision! You will see it in the "Christmas Morning" pictures, I'm sure!

The first "official" Christmas pictures were taken while we were decorating the tree. My mom came down for Vaughn's school music program and spent some time helping us make things festive around here! Below are my two favorite shots from the bazillion I took!

I call this one "Isn't this FUN, Grinny?"

And this one is "Now listen carefully....." There is NO telling what deep, dark secrets he is revealing here! Perhaps he is sharing what he asked Santa for!