Christmas Time

The Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky is somewhere we had been wanting to go for a while.  Well, one of our friends happened to mention that they have FREE admission for everyone on Christmas Eve.  We had been praying about whether we should go or not for a long time and felt God would have us to do it.  :)  So we left Monday morning and came back last night.  Here's some pictures from our trip and from Christmas morning here at the house.  :)  We hope everyone had a very blessed Christmas and we hope and pray that everyone has a very healthy and God blessed New Year! 

We spent Monday in Cincinnati.  This is Fountain Square in the downtown area.  It was COLD!  It was a pretty city, though.  :)

Still cold!

Walking in the city.

At lunch in downtown Cincinnati.  Just Crepes. 

Underneath Macys was Tiffany's!  I was too cold to cross the street and go in though. 

The fountain in the square.

They also had ice skating on the square. 

Overlooking the Ohio River (I think) and Cincinnati (I think).  :)  And maybe some Kentucky, too. 

After a brief time in the downtown area, we went to Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati.  I like this picture.  It looks like God was shining His glory down on the building. 

They had one section dedicated to trains and all things Christmas.  It was beautiful!  And the little buildings were replicas of buildings around Cincy. 

They also had a nativity - not with live people, but with some live animals (like the donkey in the background)  :)

And of course we had to try Cincinnati Chili.  This place came recommended from Guy of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives of Food Network :)

See :)

And then God blessed us with a light dusting of snow when we woke up on Christmas Eve morning!

We have arrived at the Creation Museum!  It was an amazing place to take the family and we really enjoyed it.  Poor Ryan threw up in their museum (not anywhere near a toilet) twice.  Once in the movie theater.  Oops.  And in this main thoroughfare above.  He has been feeling much better today, Praise God!  We felt really bad for all the workers who cleaned up after him.  Twice.  Oops.  Sooooo sorry!

Reading the birth of Christ before opening some presents.  We read Luke 2:8-20. 

I don't think this is helping his obsession with all things Star Wars! 

It has been a very blessed past few days!  We really enjoyed our little trip, even with a sick child, and had a wonderful all day in pajamas time Christmas Day.  Our boys really enjoyed the time, too.  We just need to keep teaching them the true meaning of Christmas.  We asked them at dinner what the most important thing about Christmas is.  Ryan said "giving".  VERY GOOD!  And then he said presents.  And then Hunter chimed in with "PRESENTS!".  We still have some work to do!  Ryan did say that he wanted to make Jesus a Happy Birthday card.  BUT then he also said he wanted to give Jesus a chore list.  hhhhmmmmmm. 

Grandma Brewner

Please pray for Sean and his family.  We found out early this morning that his Grandma passed away last night.  We are so grateful that we got to visit her in North Carolina back in June and that the boys got to meet her for the first time.  We had such a nice visit with her and it has been a blessing to know her.  Here are a couple of pictures from that visit. 

Zach and Whit's Wedding

We were very blessed to be a part of another wedding celebration!  That makes two in a little over a month, both Bates children!  This time, Zach and Whitney :0 )  The wedding was gorgeous.....and quite funny!  BUT I will explain that a little later.  The reception was also super sweet and very pretty.  Our family had such a great time fellowshipping with others and being a part of helping the happy couple start their new life together.  She was a beautiful bride!!!!!!  We pray that God blesses them immensely! 

This is the church where the wedding was

Waiting for his bride to walk down the aisle

Groomsmen

Bridesmaids

OK, so the best man did something really funny, unbeknownst to the bride and groom.  When he was asked for the ring, he pretended like he couldn't find it and then pulled out a ring pop and handed that over.  Then, he prayed with another groomsmen, asking for God's help in finding the ring.  At that point a small disco ball descended from the ceiling and inside of it......the ring.  And then a thank you Lord for answering his prayers.  Zach and Whit took it all in good fun. :)

Lawson and Andy Leftwich singing

Just when Whitney's Dad was about to say "You may kiss the bride", he decided instead to say, AFTER I get a kiss from her!  :) 

And then the sweet moment! 

AWWWWW!

The reception

The getaway car!  The original car that they were supposed to leave in was all wrapped up with Saran Wrap and who knows whatever else was done to it.  BUT Zach and Whitney outsmarted the pranksters.  At first Zach pretended to start taking off the Saran Wrap, but then another car pulled up, they got in, waved good-bye, and the brand new Mr. and Mrs. Zach Bates were off!