Christmas 2010

Christmas was all about family and friends this year. Wow, what a great time. Ava had the time of her life. She was amazed at all the new gifts she was given. She would smile the sweetest smile that would melt your heart. I love that girl.

Christmas Eve was spent with my side of the family. The highlight was the gift my sweet sister got. Who knew that new undies would be such a hit. (Mom, thanks for the many laughs!) As I was looking at the pictures I have to laugh. Really? I just love my family! What a blessing they are. Now it was time for us to get to bed so Santa could come. Of course there was milk and Santa's favorite peanut butter blossoms left for him. For those of you that know my sweet hubs you know he has what I would call an obsession with the movie The Christmas Story. If you come to our house it will be playing all day and he will practically quote you the whole movie. (So annoying!) This year I found the perfect lamp for him. He really does deserve a "major award" in my eyes.
Then we all were all up at 6:30 ready to see what Santa had brought. (Thanks hubs!)
What a perfect morning it was with my sweet family. It is times like this I will never forget. Then it was Christmas with my sis and my dad. There gift to Ava was a big hit. We had a nice lunch. I think we have started a new tradition.....Tamales. They were soooo good! And this is how we spent our night. Playing our new games. We had such a great time together. I hated to see the day end.
This weekend it is Christmas with the in-laws. So excited to see and spend time with them.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.....

Holly Jolly Christmas

I have to say that my favorite thing about Christmas is getting to spend the time with my family and friends. We have been busy the last couple of days enjoying each other.

Up first was spending time with Ava's friends at her Christmas party at school. I got teared up watching her sing Jingle Bells on the stage. My sweetie is growing up.
Next was opening gifts with Ava's best friend and then her future husband. It sure helps that these girly's are my besties too!
Then it was spending time with my family. What is better than jumping in the car and taking a 2 hour ride to see Christmas lights? Maybe the dinner on the way home with the girl snoozing in the back and having a real conversation. Or maybe it was the nice dinner out and then going to see the live nativity the next night. I do have to say that the camel was really sweet.
Then it was off to see Santa. Jarred had a 10 dollar bet she would scream. I had 20 that she wouldn't. I won. She was a little shy but she liked Ho-Ho. And the good news is he is coming tonight.
We wish you all a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Christmas Cookies

Life is so much sweeter with you.

Anniversary Recap

Jarred + me + crab cakes + stone crab + yummy dessert = great date

Jarred took me out to a wonderful dinner last Friday night. For those of you who know me know that I have a true love affair with crab. We went to a restaurant called Trulucks. Oh man was it good. I feel so blessed to have a husband who I still get excited to go on dates with. I feel so lucky after 5 years of marriage we still do not run out of things to talk about. I feel complete when I think of the many more anniversaries to come. I am one lucky girl who is so in love!

Welcome

Welcome to our home. Christmas time is my favorite season. I love the lights, trees, ornaments, the smells that go with it. I did simply a little this year. You may notice we are one tree short. I hope you will stay awhile and feel welcome.

First stop: Dinning room. Snowman themed. Holly Lenox China. Candles.
Second stop: Breakfast Area. Gingerbread themed. Fun plates. Fun pictures. Fun table setting.
Third Stop: Living Room. Fire in Mantle. Leopard Ribbon/Gold/Burgundy/Moss Green. Oh how I love animal print.

Fourth Stop: A room for a princess. Pink, Pink, and more pink. Butterflies. Pictures. Precious Moments.
Fifth Stop: Master room. My favorite tree. Photo tree. So many precious memories. (I think everyone needs this tree. It is so neat to look at the pictures from each year. Not only do I just stick picture frames in the tree but I so love finding the photo ornaments each year. This year I found a popcorn one and I added pictures from our much loved popcorn eating at target.)
I hope you have enjoyed. Come back and visit soon. We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

5 years and counting.....

5 years ago today I said I DO. I am so glad I did. I am one lucky girl.

Birthday Party for Jesus

Happy birthday Jesus
I'm so glad its Christmas
All the tinsel and lights
And the presents are nice
But the real gift is You.

A perfect party= Story of Jesus + Songs + Crafts + Cupcakes.
What a wonderful way to celebrate the true meaning of the season!
Happy Birthday Jesus!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

It is that time of year again. Oh yes, time for those much loved Christmas card pictures.

To say that the "Monster" (and me) wanted to kill him would be an
understatement!
On a different note, how cute is this:
Best Friends!

So much to be thankful for.....

Where do I begin? I would say the biggest blessings are our family and friends. We are all so excited that this circle will be increasing next year. We will welcome two new additions and we could not be more happy. Baby Noah in April and Baby V in June. Our family and friends mean the world to us. I am so thankful that the Lord blessed us with the best. I know everyone probably thinks this but I am so very thankful this year for both. My world would not be complete without each and everyone of them!

We had a great Thanksgiving. We spent the morning with my family and then went to Jarred's parents. We celebrated Brooke and Nathan's birthdays. Brooke turned the big 3-0 and Nathan turned the big 3. The gifts were everything Thomas. Nathan is probably never wanting to see him again! We are so thankful for each of you. I hope you guys always know how special you are to us.
And of course there was a little baking going on. I do have to say that our Christmas Cut-out cookies turned out amazing. Nathan and Ava enjoyed eating theirs, they were easy to please. Just give them the plain cookie...who needs icing?
I am so thankful this holiday season. God has so blessed our family!

Break

Well, I took a short break. Not because I did not have anything going on. Brooke and Susie came to town so we could all go to the nutcracker market. Oh. My. Word. is really all I can say. I can sum it up in just a few words. Crowed. Great Shopping. Carmel Apple. A lot of walking. Tired Feet.
Susie took Miss Priss to her house to spend a few days. Jarred and I had a few days off. We went out to eat, did a little shopping, and even got to see two movies! Our first movie date we had the entire movie theater to ourselves. We pretended we were in highschool. Back row. Hands meeting in popcorn. Kiss. (Laughing....)

I was late taking Ava to school last Monday so I had to pick the only item left for Thanksgiving Feast on Monday. Cut out cookies. Poop! I am not nearly as good as my SIL but I am glad she gave me a few tips. (She is amazing!) I thought I did pretty stinkin' good. I almost just thought I would buy them but I felt that would not be very mommyish.
Since I had a little extra time I thought I would start to put up a little Christmas. I put up the photo tree in our room and I let Ava help me put up her tree when she got home today. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... My most favorite time of the year. Christmas shopping is over halfway done. I am going to try to do a little more this weekend.
I am so glad my sweet pea is home. I missed her terribly! It was quite around our house and it stayed clean! It is amazing how one little person can make such a huge mess. I will take the mess any day. I have loved on her all night. She probably thinks I am crazy.

Another reason for the blog break is my computer has been with the Geeks at Geek Squad. It had a virus and had to stay for a few days. I am glad to have it back.

Wow, this post is random.