Yesterday we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. We went to our favorite restaurant and saw a silly chick flick. It’s amazing to think that it has been that long. 13 years ago I had just finished up my undergrad at Covenant College atop Lookout Mountain in Georgia and a week later, I got married. George had already finished at Covenant and then went to the state fire academy in Florida. We were married in Maryland, went to Cozumel for our honeymoon and settled in Florida where we’ve been ever since. I look back on the past 13 years and thank God for my wonderful husband. He is my best friend and the best father I could ever ask for for our children. We’ve had lots of adventures over the past 13 years, and we’ve survived them all:) Here’s to another 13 years!

The boys with Aunt Shanna

Poor Ian!
Well it’s certainly one we won’t forget, that’s for sure. I took Ian to the dr. the day before Christmas Eve because of ongoing sinus and ear problems and was given some medication for him. Before I could even start him on it, he came down with a stomach virus. George came home from work that day, also feeling sick. I was up with Ian all that night. We weren’t sure what to do about going to my inlaws the next day but after Ian had been sick for 24 hours, he had stopped throwing up and was starting to act his normal self again. George said he was feeling better so we decided to head over to Sebring. Ethan and I went to Christmas Eve service with my inlaws while Ian and George stayed back to rest. George ended up being up most of the night with Ethan who had started feeling sick. Christmas morning we had a nice reprieve for the kids to open their presents. It was a nice family time, lots of laughter and smiles. Ian loved his stocking toys the most of all and walked up to everyone showing them his flashlight and telescope (Ethan always has a flashlight at bedtime and Ian has always wanted one). When we took pictures of him he would say, “cheese, flashlight.” We then had breakfast and during breakfast, Ethan got really sick. And then later on, Ian got sick again. And then my mother-in-law got sick. She ended up missing Christmas dinner:( That evening I started feeling like I was getting a bladder infection and with everyone feeling so bad we decided to just head home instead of stay another night. By 11pm Christmas night, my symptoms were so bad I was crying in agony. I had taken Tylenol with Codeine but it was no help and I knew I could not make it until morning to see a doctor so I drove myself to the ER. I have never in my life been to the ER and had imagined if I ever did it would be for something serious, at least a broken leg or something. I felt badly that I was taking up their time for a bladder infection but I was in some serious pain. (I’ve only had a couple of those infections, each time following a medical procedure but this was the worst of them all). I finally left the ER at 2am. What a Christmas! Some might say that Christmas was ruined or that it was the worst Christmas ever and I suppose there is some truth to that. However, since Christmas is a celebration of Christ coming to earth in order to redeem his people from sin, this Christmas I felt like the celebration took on a whole new level of meaning as I was really experiencing the effect that sin has had in the world and our need for a savior. This Christmas has me thinking about Christ’s second advent and the new heaven’s and new earth. I am looking forward to a new redeemed earth without sickness or pain! So while the Enemy may be trying to attack our family and trying to distract us from focusing on God, I feel the strength of the Spirit at work and no matter how hard the Enemy tries, God always wins. So this Christmas was definitely not one I will look back on as being the best one I’ve experienced, with God’s grace I can look back and say “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!”

Baking with Miss Hellen

Building baby Niya’s crib

Train on the turn table

Momma, I hear a train!

Ethan loved learning about the train

Steam engine

Tennessee Aquarium

Look, a shark!

Jellyfish

Petting a hedgehog at the aquarium

Mom, I’ve got my “glubs” on!

Digging for Dinosaurs

The water section is a favorite

Creative Discovery Museum
We made it to Chattanooga even with a sick and grumpy child. One of our reasons for going was because our friends were expecting their first child, Niya. Unfortunately she wasn’t born while we were there (she was probably too scared to come after hearing the chaos of the boys) but was born a couple of days later. We enjoyed our usual visits to the Children’s Discovery Museum and the Tennessee Aquarium. Ethan got to participate in a science class at the museum and learned about Nitrogen. We also took the boys to their first Imax movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. They weren’t trilled with the experience. Ethan says he never wants to see a movie again! We also went to the Tennessee Valley Railroad and had a train ride on a restored steam engine. We got to watch them turn the train on the turn table which was neat. The boys baked cookies with Miss Hellen and banged on her piano and African drums. The boys and George also helped put baby Niya’s crib together. We didn’t go up the mountain this time because it was so cold. None of us have winter coats so we knew it would not be a good experience, maybe next time. The morning we were leaving to head home, George found that our van had been broken into during the night. Thankfully nothing was taken and no damage was done. We were especially thankful that our van was still there! We headed home and drove 12 hours straight, stopping every hour or so for one of us to use the bathroom:) We had a great time and are already planning our next trip to “Nooga.”

Visiting my grandfather and his wife in Inverness

Ethan and great-grandpa

Light show at Hollywood Studios

Epcot

Room with a view…of the Tower of Terror!

Dolphin Hotel
We recently returned from a long trip starting at Disney and ending in Chattanooga. The main reason I thought it would be fun to go to Disney was because of how pretty it is there this time of year. We started out at Epcot which is the perfect place for my science kid Ethan. There’s not much for Ian and I to do especially since he hates most rides. He does love aquariums so we spent a lot of time at the aquarium that’s located by the Nemo ride. I had forgotten my cell phone at the hotel so I wandered around Epcot looking for a pay phone to try and reach George and Ethan. Turns out it cost almost $15 to charge a phone call that lasted less than 30 seconds! We relaxed at the pools at the Dolphin hotel for a while before heading out to see the light show at Hollywood Studios. It was a really neat light show which we all enjoyed. Then we thought we’d be adventurous and try to go to Magic Kingdom for fireworks but shortly after we got there Ethan decided he was done for the day. The following day we headed to Inverness to visit my grandparents. The boys always love playing with my grandfather’s pool table and Ethan got to learn about wood working. We headed up to Georgia for the night and stayed at a hotel in Valdosta. Ian has had sinus problems almost continually since September (a combination of colds and allergies) and he was up all night screaming at the hotel so George took him to a walk in first thing the next morning. Turns out he had an ear infection. I always say, it’s never a complete vacation without a trip to a walk-in!

We decided to add more craziness to our holidays by going away for 10 days. We are headed first to Disney for a couple of days then stopping to visit my grandparents in Inverness. After that it’s on up to Chattanooga. Our friend’s baby is due this week, hoping she’s on time. It has snowed there recently but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be cold enough this week for snow:( We go to a lot of the same places while we are there (Rock City, Children’s Museum, Aquarium) I’m trying to think of something new to do with the kids. Ethan’s interested in stalagtites, maybe we should try spalunking? Just kidding, though maybe we could do a tour of a cave. There is a lot of train stuff up there too, historic train rides and such, maybe we can do one of those. First we have to see if we even make it up there. Ian who just got over an ear infection seems to be having sinus issues. And Ethan decided to not sleep last night, and we’re supposed to be at Disney today! Our traditional Fox family trips are off to our usual start:)

We’ve been really busy this Advent Season and having a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the kids baking cookies with friends and going to a live nativity where they got to learn about weaving, pottery, basket making and grinding wheat.

During Advent we try to do some fun activities with the boys. We missed our area’s annual Christmas parade because it rained so tonight we decided to take them to a light show. It was at a baseball stadium and the lights moved with the music. I wasn’t sure how Ian would handle it since lately he has been sensitive to loud sounds. (He complains about loud sounds and covers his ears. I had wondered if his ear infections could have caused the sensitivity. He even made the teacher at the YMCA turn down their music this week. I was going to take him to the doctor about it but then one day this week he and Ethan were banging on a piano and it didn’t seem to bother him. Who knows…). Sure enough, as soon as it started he made a dash for whoevers lap was available and was freaking out holding his hands over his ears. He kept his hands over his ears for the entire 20 minutes but he said that he like the light show. It was pretty neat and I’m glad we took them.

We had our annual Christmas party this weekend. Our eighth so far. At this point we have to have one, it’s tradition:) We invited a large number of people but thankfully for my sanity, most of them didn’t come. We had the perfect size party for my socialability and I had a great time. The boys went to the babysitters house for the evening and we enjoyed having fun with grown ups. A chef friend brought his fryer and made us fried pickles-yum! We had our gift exchange game which is always fun and enjoyed stealing gifts from each other. Here’s a few pictures.

I’ve been trying all year to get the kids back to Sears for their yearly pictures. I had a couple of appointments in the spring I had to cancel because one or both of them were sick. Another time I had an appointment but I think Ian had some sort of injury on his face so I cancelled it. A couple of weeks ago I had an appointment but the boys had played with ink pads the day before and they were covered in ink. So yesterday, everyone was healthy, there were no injuries, and we got it done. I wasn’t sure how they would handle the whole experience considering Ian hadn’t had a nap in a couple of days and that we had two doctor’s appointments prior to the picture appointment. I prayed about it the night before and decided that I would not worry about it and hope for the best. They were AWESOME! Everyone smiled and they argued over who’s turn it was to get their picture taken next. They didn’t even whine about the fact that it was almost dinner time. I can never get them to both look at the camera at the same time so I was excited that she got some good pictures of them looking at the camera and smiling. Just goes to show the power of God-when everything looked like they would certainly have a meltdown, God intervened and was gracious to give us a perfect picture taking day:)