Happy Birthday Jesus!

So this Christmas was by far the best Christmas I've ever had! It was just our immediate family and was so much fun! I arrived in Austin on Monday night to join the Kristen, Dave and Katelyn, who came in on Saturday. We ended up celebrating Christmas on Tuesday night (my Dad pulled some strings to get Santa to come early) because he had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas. We made breakfast and celebrated Jesus' birth with a birthday song, cinnamon rolls, egg casserole and laughter... lots of laughter! The cinnamon role cake had a "1" candle on top, because Jesus is #1!

I can't tell you how thankful I am for the love of Jesus and for all the ways He is constantly providing for and growing my family - both together and as individuals. Praise be to God for all that He's done and all that He continues to do! We have been so blessed by His presence in our lives and my prayer is that we'd be able to display His strength through our weakness and His perfection through our imperfection.

This year, Dad asked that we not buy him Christmas presents, but instead, cut out pictures of items we'd like to buy him and attach $5. The McCurdy family found lots of fun gifts in the Office Depot advertisement and attached some $5 bills. I think Walgreens was also pulling out all the stops this Christmas...

Santa always forgot to fill mom and dad's stockings when we were younger (we understand, he has a lot of traveling to do in one night) so we took it upon ourselves to fill their stockings this year. I thought it would be funny to put a pine cone in the bottom of dad's stocking. Kristen pleaded with me not to, but I just couldn't resist. I enjoyed a good laugh and dad ended up with a few cuts and scrapes.

Katelyn made a friend over the holiday! She ventured into the pantry and found a new potato - it was love at first sight. Who needs to spend hundreds of dollars on toys when you can spend $0.50 on a potato and have a child who's still filled with joy? It's a great cost cutting tip during the economic crisis... try it!

So I have been looking for a sleeper for a quite some time. Brittany's mom (not myself, my friend) got her one when she was sick and I'll admit, I was a little envious. I raided every Target in sight and was empty-handed after each visit. I went back to Target with my mom and dad and low expectations. I just needed to return some clothes I had gotten for Katelyn. During my return transaction, I noticed a woman standing next to me who was returning 5 (yes - 5!) sleepers! I asked her which department she got them in and she said the women's department. My parents and I searched and searched, but again, came back to the return counter empty-handed. I asked the girl working if I could see the sleepers the lady had just returned. She told me to go to the fitting room counter. I walked quickly to the fitting room and there they were, 5 sleepers just waiting for me! The Lord totally provided for me that day! As you can see, I got it, with no hesitation. My persistence paid off, and my dad even offered to get it for me for Christmas. YES!

When it came to presents this year, I didn't do what my dad asked - so ironic, I always listen to my dad! Last week, I went over to my friend Alison's house for dinner with some of my other co-workers. Alison's husband, Jim, created a recipe for "Barack Obama Beans." They were the best beans I've ever had. So amazing, that I faced the consequences with a smile later on that the evening as I reminisced about how great they were. Anyway, Jim was kind enough to give me the recipe and I gave it to my dad, along with all of the ingredients, for Christmas. We made them one night for dinner and although they didn't taste exactly like Jim's, they were pretty close! Thanks to Jim for making my dad's Christmas present a reality!

To add to the Christmas festivities, I decided to start a new Christmas tradition this year. I've heard that it's not a tradition unless it's happened for 3 years. So, I'll rephrase. This year was the 1st annual Bradberry Christmas Dance. What does this even mean, you might ask? This means that each person in attendance, in any way related to the Bradberry family, must dance to a song of their choice before they can open their presents. It was AWESOME! I've included some videos below...