Weekend Activities

What to do on Weekends that have No Plans?!?

There aren't many weekends when we don't have something on the calendar to do but there are occasionally those weekends and it leaves us asking the question what do you want to do today?  Most of the time we can't think of anything besides playing games, watching TV, going to the mall, or something simple like that.  

This past weekend was on of those weekends, we had NO PLANS on Saturday which sounded great at first but then left us with a full day of free time (we had a snow day Friday so we had done plenty of lounging).  Talking to my college roommate and great friend Laura it seems that this is a question they had as well.  If only they lived closer to us we would've had a game night or something fun but I was left with trying to keep Matt awake past 7:00, now that he has given up caffeine. Today that leaves me with the question of what fun activities do you and your husband like to do on weekends with no plans?

Christmas 2012

Christmas was a wonderful family time for us and we started celebrating early and didn't stop celebrating until Jan. 1st!  There is nothing better than two weeks when we can all slow down and spend quality time with one another.

Before Christmas some of the highlights were: Christmas light displays, Dickens of a Christmas, Christmas plays, cooking Christmas goodies, and Christmas movies.

When it got close to Christmas we started off by going to my grandparents on Sunday to celebrate with them and Em, S, and Caroline (since they wouldn't be joining us there on Christmas Day).  We enjoyed spending time together at church and eating yummy seafood.  One of the highlights of the day was watching Caroline open her Christmas presents and getting to play with all of her toys.

On Christmas Eve Matt and I did some last minute shopping in the pouring down rain and had a great time running in and out of the rain to pick out those extra special gifts.  After that we loaded up the car and headed up to meet Mom and Dad at Em and S's house for our Christmas Celebration.  We enjoyed the afternoon playing with Caroline and letting her open more Christmas presents, eating delicious food that Emily made, going to the Christmas Eve service at their Church.  Christmas Eve Services at church are a favorite part of my Christmas celebrations because it helps me to focus on why we celebrate Christmas.  If it wasn't for God sending his Son to save us from our sins than we wouldn't even have Christmas to celebrate.  After Church we came back and ate some more food and opened all of our Christmas presents.  Our family is so good to us and once again spoiled us with all of the gifts they gave us!  We tried to watch Home Alone but all were asleep not too far into it so we headed to bed.

When we woke up on Christmas morning we ate a yummy breakfast and went downstairs to see what Santa had brought us.  Santa was good to me again this year and gave an extra special gift, a journal to keep record of the journey that God is taking Matt and I on as he is in seminary.  I know that this journal will be cherished and will be a record of God's faithfulness and goodness to us during this time.  After getting ready Matt, Mom, Dad, and I headed back to the grandparents to spend the remainder of the day.  We spent the afternoon with Dad's family and the evening with Mom's family.  It is always a wonderful time to spend with grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins.  I cherish these times soooo much.

On Wednesday morning Matt and I loaded up the car in POURING DOWN RAIN and headed off to the beach to be with Matt's family for a couple of days.  After traveling in rain all day we arrived at the OBX and spent four days crafting, playing games, eating, touring beach houses, walks, museum going, and shopping.   Matt and I both really enjoy going to museums and learning about different times in history.  We really enjoyed going to the Whalehead Club and Wrights Brother Museum during this trip.  If you run into us in the next couple weeks watch out because we will probably have some new facts for you!  There was a hot tub at the house we rented and all of us enjoyed our time of relaxing daily in the tub.  Again we were spoiled with Christmas presents here and truly enjoyed our family time at the OBX.  The men had a jumping competition on Jockey's Ridge and this provided good laughs for all of us.  We recorded all of the jumps and Matt and I have enjoyed going back and laughing at them all over again.

We enjoyed many many laughs and heart filled family time over the past couple weeks and will cherish these times for many years to come!  We are so blessed with an amazing family!

Christmas 2012 Card

Merry (late) Christmas to you and your family from ours 

Hi Friends and Family!

We hope that this Christmas greeting finds you and yours doing well.  There has been so many wonderful things going on in our lives this year so we thought that we would share some of the exciting news with you!

In January after being married for only two months the Lord called us into full time ministry so we searched for the perfect seminary fit for Matt to begin classes at.  The Lord has led us to that perfect place. We instantly fell in love with the community there and felt that this is where the Lord would have Matt prepare for ministry.  He is currently finishing up his first semester and has learned so much and has become quite studious!  Matt would like to work in youth ministry and eventually become an expository preacher.   We would appreciate your prayers as our house is currently on the market in hopes that we can soon move so that Matt can become a full time student.

In February we became Aunt Allison and Uncle Studly (Matt) to beautiful Caroline Brooke.  She is the sweetest and so much fun to be around.  Allison was fortunate enough to keep her two days a week this summer!  They had a blast each day playing, singing, reading, walking, and snuggling.  We continue to sneak over to see her (and of course Emily, Brett, and Jack too!) as much as we can.  She has a very special place in our hearts and we love spoiling her!

Allison started her 4^th year of teaching this fall and is currently teaching 10 boys and 4 girls in the fourth grade.  We can all agree that she has her hands full but wouldn’t trade it for a minute.  She loves her job and her students.  She considers it such a joy to help shape her students to be the children God desires for them to be.  When Allison is not spending time being an aunt or a teacher she still enjoys to craft, scrapbook, and cook!  

We enjoyed several family vacations this year with both the Hodges and Stone families.  We are so fortunate for the love and fellowship that we have with our families.  The Stone family welcomed their second “daughter” over the summer when Mark, Matt’s brother, married his bride, Christina.  We look forward to weekends when we know we are going to see our loved ones!

Marriage is a wonderful thing and we have enjoyed our first year of life together as husband and wife!  We enjoy playing games, going for rides, hosting people for dinner at our house, going on walks, exploring our town, and cooking delicious meals together in our kitchen.   We have grown closer to each other during this year but also closer to the Lord as we keep Him at the center of our relationship.  With going into the ministry we have been learning many new things about the goodness of God.

We pray that you and your family will have a wonderful Christmas and that 2013 will be a blessing to you.  Don’t forget to take time to reflect this Christmas season on the many blessings that the Lord has given you this year.  We ask that you join us in prayer for how God would lead us during this time of preparation for full time ministry.  You can keep up with our day to day adventures of life on our blog at uncchic87.blogspot.com .

                                               

                                                                                                                                                In Christ,

                                                                                                                                                Matt and Allison Stone