Merry Christmas to You and Yours!!

We hope that each of you had a very Merry Christmas. Our Christmas was very exciting with a lot of little ones around. It always is and we try to stress the importance of how blessed we truly are with all we have, especially our Saviour Jesus Christ. We know that our Saviour lives and loves each one of us. We are so thankful for His birth and life here on this earth. We love Him. We are grateful to live in this free country so that we can teach our children about Jesus and His plan for each of us. We have enjoyed the spirit of Christmas in our home and hope that you have all had your hearts filled with that same spirit as well this Christmas season.

An Ouzts Family tradition is acting out the nativity with all the cousins. With 13 children in the cast, this has become quite the production. Girl cousins are all vying for the part of Mary or an angel (we had a few angels this year). The older 12 year old cousin is praying he doesn't have to be Joseph for the 10th time. :) (He got to be the narrator.) It is a crazy time getting together with everyone at the Ouzts house, but we make the best memories!!!!

Sharing the sweet moments of Christmas morning with the kids is priceless. (If you are wondering about the sheets....I got the idea from Josh's sister, Jennifer. We cover everyone's Santa gifts with a sheet. That way we can ceremoniously unveil each child's gifts and do it one at a time to savor the moment. It also helps with children who might wake up before everyone else (which has not been a problem yet.)

Carrie, Carla, Heather and Amy

Spending time with friends and loved ones is one of the best parts of Christmas. We had a cookie decorating party and caroling in the neighborhood before Christmas with some friends.

Here are the kids showing off their beautiful cookies. We hope our neighbors enjoyed eating all these treats!!!! Spreading Christmas joy is the best!!!!

Merry Christmas to you!!!!!!

Riding at Island Creek, NC

Here are some pictures of Josh and his friend, Michael trail riding at Island Creek, NC.

Happy Birthday Jamie!!!

Happy 10th Birthday Jamie!!!!We had fun celebrating Jamie's 10th birthday. The Saturday after her birthday, we had a little party with some friends at our house. Josh took the other kids out for a while so Jamie could have the house to herself with her friends. She had a really good time. We did some small family celebrations on her actual birthday. I can't believe I have a child that is a decade old!!!! How did that happen???

Jamie's favorite gift is her Fuzion scooter. It is a four wheel scooter that is much like a skateboard with handles. She LOVES it!! Josh says "no" on the electric scooter thing because he doesn't want the kids to be lazy. So, this is the next best thing. Big hit.

10 Reasons Why We Love You JAMIE...

10. You have a sweet spirit and kind heart.

9. You are willing to help out so much.

8. You are a good big sister.

7. You are very smart.

6. You want to do what is right.

5. You have ALWAYS been a good sleeper (you have no idea how great that was when you were a baby and toddler!!!) and not too picky of an eater. :)

4. You have amazing musical talents.

3. You are not afraid to be yourself.

2. You like spending time with your family.

1. You are our baby and always will be, no matter how old you get!!!!

We love you Jamie!!!

Jamie turned 10 on Dec. 10th at 10:02am. That was pretty cool.

We had a fun birthday celebration!