Frankfort Souvenir

We just got back from a few days in Frankfort visiting friends and checking on our house. We decided to list it with an agent after having tried to sell it on our own for the past four months. (Here are the photos and info if you're house hunting!)

The kids stayed with Martha and Wesley and Paul and I got a room at the Best Western which was really nice. We basically were tourists in our old home town and enjoyed driving around and seeing just a few friends.

I brought back a bag of my favorite flour, White Lily, since they don't sell it anywhere around here. It's the best for baking and I will have to smuggle it in to Southeast MO every time we take a trip somewhere!

Preschool Christmas Fun

Mrs. Leslie really went all out to make Christmas fun for our class. Here are some of the fun things we did with our kiddos.

Little mice ornaments...

Santas made from the kids' hands...

Reindeer made from the shoe print and hands of the kids...

I love this one. The kids just colored gingerbread men then they glued them to some aluminum foil to look like they are baking.

The kids loved making these gingerbread houses using graham crackers and lots of candy!

Merry Christmas from the Mattes

We celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas. We are so thankful God sent his son to be with us. Emmanuel-God with us. Hallelujah!

More Tree Shots

These were taken when the family was here for Thanksgiving. They are coming back for Christmas so we will no doubt take more of these this Sunday morning!

Here the kids are holding their Baby's First Christmas ornaments.

Three generations!

Mallory sneaks in on the Mother and Children shot.

Now we got it!

Sunday Morning Christmas Tree Photo Shoot

See that York Peppermint Patty? You'll see more of it as the pictures progress:) Oooh, yuck.

June

My daddy's terrific wife, June Claunch, passed away on the 14th. My dad was with her holding one hand and her daughter was holding the other. Her parents and sister and other family members were there as well. This New Year's Eve would have only been their third anniversary. June always told me she would take good care of Daddy. She was hoping for even a few good years with him. We all never dreamed she would precede him in death. She had lung cancer that had spread through out her body. The kids loved her and called her Grandma June which was really a bit ironic for she was not at all grandma-ish! She was actually younger than Paul and had his mom's birthday. He teased when we found that out and said "my two moms have the same birthday" :) We are all terribly sad to have lost her at only 51 years of age. She was a little like a big sister to me and bought me whatever stylish pieces of clothing I own. She always looked like a million bucks. She was kind and thoughtful and we loved eating all the goodies around the house at Christmas time when they were here. She always laughed and said "muffin tops" referring to how she was going to look after all that eating! I am so thankful to have had her in my life. We received a package in the mail yesterday that she had addressed. It was a Christmas gift, a beauitful canvas framed picture of our family at their wedding in 08. She had even written on the Christmas tree tag, "Merry Christmas Tammy and Paul from Dad and June". I will always treasure that gift and the gift June was to our family. June loved the Lord so we know we will see her again. Even though we will miss her dearly we know she's going to have a wonderful Christmas in Heaven with Jesus and her son, Earnest, who died ten years ago of cancer when he was only 11. We love you June!!!

Below are some pictures of some wonderful memories with June.