Christmas Eve

Not only was it Christmas eve, but also Dad/Grandpa Bartholomew's birthday!

We had dinner and dessert a little later than usual since we had to pick Lois, Jeff, Stephanie, and Andy up from the airport. Ruth made a really yummy cake (even after its debut as a bonfire) and Mom did a great ham.

We acted out Luke 2 as usual with Ruth as the Angel (of course), Sheldon as King Herod (think what you will), Sam doubling as a donkey and a manger, Steph and Andy as the two wise men, and Lois, Jeff, and Reed as Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, respectively. OH, and Dad as the narrator.

Here are a few pictures from the evening:


Yeah, there's 60 candals on there

It took a little while for the smoke to clear on this one


A few of the actors - as states above


The three cutest babies in the house

Christmas Morning

Clark and Cal seeing their presents from Santa!





It took a lot of coxing to get these two to stop playing and look at the camara


Shanna and Haley enjoying the excitement


Shanna loves wrapping paper


Clark and his little truck

This afternoon was filled with various activities:

Watching movies,

Napping,


And playing games

Merry Christmas Grandma & Grandpa Robertson!!!

Sheldon decorated the Christmas tree last night. He did a great job!


Sam, Lee and Ruth--we had 4 computers going in this picture. It's nice because we can have our computer hooked up to the internet here! Horray for laptops.


The following are some more pictures compliments of Clark...






Shanna & Haley today after church. Merry Christmas!

The Final Week in Whiteville

Happy Birthday Dad on Christmas Eve!

This last week in Whiteville was busy. Work was full of Christmas cheer as we approached our final day before closing for the holidays. We took the middle seat out of the van so that Ruth and the kids could take a van-load up to Mom and Dad’s garage. Every time we go up to visit we try and take a few things we could do without. The trip was uneventful and Sheldon helped Ruth unpack the van when he got home from school.

That same day at work Dr. Lewis asked if there was anything we wanted for Christmas! I wasn’t sure what to tell him. When I came home for lunch I called Ruth and asked her. We decided to just give him a list of a few things. Turns out we probably should have asked for nicer stuff. J

Thursday Ruth took the boys to story time at the library. She had a good time talking to her friend Jeanne while the boys enjoyed the library and a cookie and candy pot-luck.

Friday at work everybody was giving and receiving gifts! I didn’t know all the staff would do that so we felt a little bad that we hadn’t gotten them anything. Anyway, we got a few cards, a tie, goodies, a power drill and tool kit, a big basket of Godiva chocolate, a movie for the boys, and a yummy candle. Wow!! I was really shocked to get all that stuff from everybody! All we got Dr. Lewis was a card with our Christmas letter, picture, and Mr. Krueger’s Christmas. Ruth finished our Christmas pajama pants that day too.

That night we stayed up late cleaning the house. I went to bed around 1:30 and Ruth at 2:30. The next morning we started packing up and getting things in the van. There were several piles around the house – each of which looked to big to fit in the van. With 6 bodies in the car there’s not a lot of room for stuff; nevertheless, it did all fit and I think you would have all been surprised. If there was a nook or cranny we had something occupying it. Poor Ruth had to sit in her seat Native American style. When we got to Raleigh Sheldon helped us unload our stuff and put it upstairs in the garage.

So far we’ve had a great time for our Christmas break. Sam got in early this morning and Lois, Jeff, Stephanie, and Andy will be flying in tomorrow night. Dad has 2 full weeks off from ConAgra and we are very happy for him. What a great birthday and Christmas present!

Happy Birthday to Joseph Smith today.

Merry Christmas every one. Hope you all have safe travels and a festive Christmas Eve.

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Hi Everyone!

We had a good last week. It was pretty busy for Lee. Read about our crazy flight change and check out his happenings while he was Back in Memphis! Thanks to the Winters for their wonderful hospitality.

We brought a good-sized load of stuff to my parents on Tuesday. Wednesday I spent the morning bringing it up to the attic above their garage. I also found our Christmas stuff that was stored up there and decorated my parent’s front porch and the upstairs of their house.

Thursday my mom and I got the gingerbread all done for making houses. Later that afternoon the kids and I went to Daniel & Amy’s so I could babysit. That went pretty well. We left around 10 pm and drove around for a couple minutes to see the lights. Clark and Cal were still up and they wanted to see the lights. They got to see a big inflatable train on someone’s roof.

Friday was the big day! We picked Lee up from the airport. YEAH! He feels that boards went fine. We’ll find out for sure how they went in a few weeks. It was great having Lee back. That night we had baked potatoes for dinner and then made gingerbread houses. Daniel & Amy’s family came for the festivities. It’s been so great for Clark to be with Anthon. Cal and Rachel are having a lot of fun together too. And of course, Lee and I enjoy talking with Daniel and Amy. They are really fun to talk to! Friday night we continued to stay up and played a game with Sheldon. I was going to make chocolate chip cookies to eat while we did gingerbread houses, but that didn’t happen. So after the kids were in bed I made some. Then close to midnight I put some breaded mozzarella cheese sticks in the oven. YUM! And of course we ate them too.

Saturday morning Mom, Dad, Sheldon and all of us went to a tree farm. I forget what it was called. But we picked out a Christmas tree. All last week the weather was FABULOUS. Note the pictures of Shanna & Haley on Thursday in short sleeves and shorts! But Saturday it turned chilly. Okay, so it was only about 50, but when it was 75 just the other day, 50 seems cold! It was sprinkling too. Anyway, the weather was very fitting for getting a tree. It would have felt weird finding a Christmas tree in shorts. I really like the one that we decided on.

After the Christmas tree picking event we took off to Whiteville. Once we got the girls situated with the Stricklands, and the boys with Leanne, we headed on down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Dr. Lewis and his wife had a Christmas party for all their employees and some of their family. We ate at Benjamin’s—a seafood buffet. Very yummy. Lee especially enjoyed it. I tried some shark. Then we went to the Carolina Opry. They had their Christmas variety show going. It was great! At one point they were doing something about Christ’s birth, and they were showing clips from the short Nativity movie that our church produced! Isn’t that cool!? The 3rd to last song was O Holy Night. The emcee sang it. WONDERFUL. There was also a group of guy tap dancers-4 of them. They are called “All That”. They were great too. It was a super fun evening and quite a treat from the Lewis’.

Sunday we sang in the choir at church. We did Silent Night as the closing song. Lee and I sang one of the verses in Spanish. After there was a potluck dinner. There was a lot of food there. One fellow made a rice casserole and put squirrel in it, so I tried some of that. It was kind of sad that it was our last Sunday there. Everyone has been so nice to us. This Thursday is our last storytime at the library, and that will be sad too! I am so grateful for technology that makes it easy to stay connected with friends and family.

Have a great week. We are SO excited about Christmas! ONE WEEK LEFT!

We made gingerbread houses on Friday; here are some shots of each house along with the name of the rightful owner.

Anthon


Cal


Clark


Dad/Grandpa Bartholomew


Daniel


Ila


Lizzy


Mom/Grandma B


Sheldon


Amy


Dec 15 time to get a tree!




We found a winner!


Sawing down the tree


Ruth & Lee at Benjamins


Carolina Opry


Cal on Dec 14


Cal, Clark and Dad decorating on the 14th


Cal enjoying the candy


Lee using his optometry skills


Clark now enjoying the candy



Dec 13 Haley & Shanna


Haley & Shanna


Haley & Shanna


Pacifier Time!


What cute gifts from heaven!



Cal Dec 13


Cal smiling.


Dec 13, Clark


Dec 13, Clark and bat and ball