...it would already be Christmas morning!

I can't even try to deny how excited I am for Christmas this year! Miles will actually enjoy all of his toys. He'll get tons of them (from what I've heard anyway and I haven't even heard about ALL of them!). We've got Christmas worked out so that both sides of the family seem happy and did so without any guilt from either side. It's great and quite a welcomed change for Brad and I.

Christmas Eve will be the Conley Christmas, complete with Papaw, a standing rib roast, lots of toys and I'm guessing lots of laughter. Then Christmas morning Brad and I will get up and see what Santa brought for Miles. Play with some toys and eat some breakfast. Then we'll head over to the Clark's for the afternoon and dinner.

Miles has been fighting a bit of a cough that I'm watching. I'm hoping and praying so hard it's not worse than just a cough. RSV is running rampant and while it's not as dangerous for him as it would be a teeny baby, it's still no fun to be sick. So keep your fingers crossed that he fights it off. I swear to God he can't stay healthy. He was happy and healthy for like 3 days. Now he's got a damn cold. We can't win! But he has been pretty happy despite the cough. So that's good. :-)

Alright, I'm signing off (probably) until after Christmas. Don't worry, I'm charging my video camera batteries and preparing the point-n-shoot camera for action!

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you're warm, happy and surrounded by friends/family.

...we would all be happy regardless of what holiday we're celebrating.

I am so sick to death of hearing people complain about when people tell them “Happy Holidays”. (No this is not directed at anyone in particular, just Americans in general.) Is it really that hard to graciously say “Merry Christmas” back to someone who tells you “Happy Holidays”? At least they’re not telling you to go to hell. They’re trying to be kind to you and trying not to offend anyone in the process. Is “Jesus the reason for the season”? Perhaps for you, but not for everyone.

It’s amazing to me how many people that claim to be Christian people are so concerned with putting the “christ” back in Christmas when really if they’d just quit their complaining they could focus on the spirit of Christmas. Christmas is supposed to be a time of giving, caring, hope, joy and peace. Remember that piece about the angels and the birth of Christ…I believe they said “Peace on Earth, goodwill toward man”. Uhm, let’s bring that back. I think those angels had something there. I don’t believe they were talking about only people who celebrate Christmas when they said that.

How about we all just be happy to be alive and be comfortable enough with our own faith that we recognize how dumb a “Holiday Tree” is without having to make a spectacle of ourselves? Or we understand that having a Santa in your Nativity scene is just plain silly? Let’s take a look on the bright side of things: We live in a country where we can worship whoever, whatever, however, and basically whenever we want. We have freedom, thanks to my brother and brave souls like him and of course our forefathers who were thinking way ahead of their time with those clever “Freedom of Religion”, “Freedom of Speech”, and all those other lovely freedoms we enjoy everyday.

So people, I beg of you, please…in the spirit of Christmas please feel free to celebrate whatever you want, however you want. Just please do so with a smile on your face and a little tolerance for others.

With that said, here are a few fun pictures from our Christmas festivities. We went to the Louisville Stoneware Company and painted pottery with our former neighbors and good friends, the Macy family. We also made/decorated cookies Sunday for the first time with Miles. He enjoyed it a great deal as you can tell from the pictures.