Family Christmas 2009

We have so much to be thankful for this year!

We were all able to get together at Johnny and Maria's new house on December 26, 2009!

We, of course, had tons of food and lots of laughter...good news was abounding...Jason announced all the colleges he had been accepted...and I'm sad..., I mean proud of him for leaning towards University of Tennessee! Christopher is 7 months into his recovery...I'm very proud of him! Marc is running for City Council in Chattanooga and Johnny and Maria will be coming back to the states for good during 2010! Jacob & Jessica will be turning 16! Brylie Jane will start 1st grade in 2010, Collin reads like a 3rd grader (he is only in 1st grade), Kensley made the dance line, Daniel is the band director at Goshen High School, Cleo will graduate college in May 2010, Lucy is working on her degree, Lindsay and Micah are really hitting their stride in Nashville, Jenn and Andy have started their life in Florida, Susan and Troy are rockin' along - steady as ever, Karen and Jason have found a great church home to raise their family and I am working on my Master's Degree. Mama didn't raise lazy kids, that's for sure!

I'm so thankful for my family and the love we have for each other...we can fight with the best of them but at the end of the day we love each other dearly!

Looking forward to what 2010 will bring!

Happy New Year and much love to all!

MJ

Coker Christmas Begins with Steaks on the grill...or not!

So, my annual Christmas Eve dinner with Lucy and her kids is always steak and baked potatoes...only this year the wind was so fierce I couldn't get the grill to light! Oh I tried....believe me! For 45 minutes I tried everything I knew to get that fire lit but it was a no go...luckily I have one of those counter top George Forman style grills...problem is it is small....so one steak at a time I cooked our dinner! We ate on time and it was good but not as good as on the grill!

For dinner it was me, Lucy, Jacob and Jessica....Christopher went to Bradford to speak and would meet us later for our annual Christmas lights drive by...

We all went to the 8:00 Contemporary Candlelight service which was beautiful! Kelsey Jones sang an amazing song called Labor of Love...it really brought home what Christmas is all about...check it out on youtube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK2PX7hH6io

When Christopher joined us we opened our first present of the season...flannel jammies...Jessica decided she wanted to start a new tradition of new jammies on Christmas Eve so she and I picked out cute ones at Old Navy for everyone....this is something she wants to continue even when she has kids....everyone loved it!

We then hopped in the car and started our search for the best Griswald display....sadly we struck out...the storms and the economy has caused a lack of lights for viewing...but no worries we had a blast anyway! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

Then it was on to Lucy's to spend the night and wait for Santa! Our movie of choice this year was The Hangover....funny stuff! We went to bed at 2:30am and were woken up at 7:30am for the presents!!! Grits casserole in the oven and the present opening began! Everyone had a great Christmas and got things they wanted and needed!

I got an Alabama Snuggie, an ambient sound machine to help me get some restful sleep and my sweet niece and nephews got me a portable turntable so I can listen to all the albums I have refused to throw away!

The day after Christmas we will travel to Decatur for the whole family get together and to see Johnny and Maria's new home....can't wait till they move back from Guatemala!

Merry Christmas and much love to all!!!

MJ