Weekend Rewind~White Christmas Style

Wow...what an amazing Christmas Break!!! Hubby & I spent so much time with both of our families & we realized throughout the course of 4 days just how incredibly blessed we are. God has poured out countless blessings & we are in such awe of how He showers us with love everyday. Thank you God for sending your precious baby boy to this earth. What a priceless, sacrificial gift!

So...now on to all the gatherings--Christmas Eve morning we have always gone to my mom's parents for presents in the morning & pizza for lunch. Things were no different this year and we headed down about 9:30 for our first of many Christmas's.

Romo--Nick & Millie's precious dog...he is too cute!!

My Grandpa--he's a huge Dallas Cowboys fan! Don't you love his new stocking hat!

Hubby & his St. Louis Cardinals garden knome...I think it will be staying in the house during the winter months.

Christmas Eve afternoon we headed back home to prepare for the evening's festivities. We hosted Hubby's parents, sister & brother-in-law, & nephews for our family Christmas. I made chili & chicken tortilla soup which resulted in super-easy cleanup! We had a great evening & the boys loved all their gifts!

Jackson...the box boy!

Uncle Nicky & Aunt L got Hunter "The Tickle Monster" book & Laugh Kit. It comes complete with a fun box & Tickle Monster gloves. I highly recommend it for any small child on your list!

I started out with the gloves...but then Hunter took over! Isn't he just adorable!!

and again...
and again!


In addition to the Tickle Monster we also had a Dr. in the house. Hunter loves to play dress-up so this was the perfect gift from Mamaw & Pappy!


Hubby also got a new golf bag--he was very happy!

The big gift of the night went to Hunter...his first power-wheels Artic Cat. He was so surprised & we had cleaned out our garage so he could ride around in it. The temperatures were below freezing so no riding it outside!

He loved giving his little brother a ride!

After all the family left, Hubby & I were left to play Santa for each other. We stuffed each other's stockings and I know that I went to bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. I have never been able to sleep in on Christmas morning & as a 26 (almost 27) year old woman it's no different. I woke up before 7, but forced myself to stay in bed until exactly 7:00 am. It was then that I realized Hubby was actually awake as well so we pulled on our robes & went to the living room to exchange our gifts. This is one of my favorite Christmas moments--Hubby & I opening our gifts to each other with no one else around.

Hubby and his wonderful self! Clothes & shoes were on his Christmas list so that's what he got! Don't you love the tongue sticking out?!?


Just so Hubby isn't the only one with a pre-shower photo on here, I give you my lovely greasy hair, greasy skin shot; however, it was more than worth it.

As I was finished opening my gifts Hubby mentioned that there might be one more present for me hidden in the tree. With my "Eagle Eyes (as he likes to call them)" I located the little black box tied with a red ribbon almost immediately. While I was certain it was jewelry I was not expecting what was inside! It was my other wedding band to go on the other side of my engagement ring. WOW!!! I was seriously speechless! We had gone to the jeweler to try it on back in the Summer but I was certainly not expecting it now! What a fantastic Christmas morning surprise from my wonderful Hubby!

Christmas morning also brought more excitement as about 3-4 inches of snow fell overnight. I honestly don't know if I've ever seen snow fall overnight on Christmas Eve to wake up to a white Christmas morning. It was incredibly cold so the windchill was in the single digits but it was certainly fun to have White Christmas!

Due to the snow, our lunch plans with my mother-in-law's family were cancelled so we packed up the car, Bogey jumped in the back, and we headed down to my parents' house several hours early. We helped get dinner ready, wrapped some last minute gifts, & played cards until my brother & his wife arrived late afternoon. We had such a great time & shared lots of laughs!

My parents' Christmas tree...yes it's real & yes it's about 14' tall!

One of the stacks of presents...we opened presents for what seemed like forever, but no complaints here!


Me in some of my new attire by my parents' fireplace!

My dad playing Santa with Romo on the left & Josie on the right. Bogey was outside enjoying playing in the snow with his doggy cousins!

One of the many laughs from the night came from this package....this was a gift to me from my parents. Hmmm...I wonder what's inside?!?

The other hysterical laughter came from poor Romo. My mom bought him some doggy booties & he was so tired he just let Millie put them on him while he went back to sleep.

He was not quite sure about the boots and it was hysterical to see him walk around in them. He looked like he was walking on his tiptoes! Poor Romo!

Saturday afternoon we had my dad's family Christmas that was back at my parents' house. We had a great time & everyone was able to make it except for my cousin Kevin who was celebrating with his wife's family in Tennessee. It's always a great time when we're all together & this time was no different.

My two very mature cousins...remember the Tickle Monster book? My mom also bought it for my 4-year old 2nd cousin Alyssa. I think my cousins had more fun with the gloves than she did.

At least Alyssa was able to enjoy the book.

Josie turned one on December 26th so we had to have a candle!

To complete our Christmas weekend celebrations we headed to Webb City with Hubby's parents to have Christmas with my father-in-law's family. We had a gift card exchange & we ended up with gift cards to Lowe's & Target...not too bad if you ask me! We spent most of the afternoon just hanging out, eating yummy food, & opening gifts.

Jackson is also starting to take a few steps...we all clapped & cheered for him!

Hunter also decided he needed to wrestle with me--I had to break out my Tickle Monster fingers even though I didn't have my gloves.

Whew...well there it is! Our Christmas recap. It was a wonderful 4-day weekend that flew by in a flash but the good thing is we have another long weekend with New Year's coming up on Friday! Woohoo! It's back to the real world of work for me today and trying to play catch up. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas & were able to spend some quality time with those you love the most!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve! When I was a little girl Christmas Eve Eve was always the start of our Christmas celebrations as my entire family (both mom & dad's sides) gathered at my great aunt's house for dinner, games, & a few presents. I can even remember Santa Claus coming to visit me and all my cousins and he would always have a special little gift for each of us. As the years passed we eventually started having an ornament exchange & recently the celebration has been moved to after Christmas so we can all still gather together. Althought the gathering isn't taking place tonight, Christmas Eve Eve will always hold a special place in my heart as the official start of Christmas.

While I may not be gathering with a big group of family & friends, I still was able to open my first official Christmas present today. My parents' always buy a gift for the ladies that work here in our office. I normally get to help shop for the gifts with my mom and I also normally end up picking out my gift as well (even if I don't realize it!). For the past couple of years we have picked out a great purse to match the personalities of each lady, but this year we opted for boots. As they each opened their gifts they were thrilled with our choices & I think that most of them even fit properly! I tried on several pairs of boots when we were making our decision so I really had no idea what boot would be in my box. I ended up with this adorable little suede pair by Jessica Simpson! Love them!!!


Today is the last day of work for me & then I'm off for my 4-Day weekend!!! I doubt I'll be posting anymore so Merry Christmas to all my fantastic bloggy friends! I hope you are able to rejoice in the miracle of Jesus' birth & spend some much needed time being refreshed by the family & friends who love you so! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Traditions Old & New

T-minus 3 more days until Christmas and I couldn't be more excited. Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week & I've actually managed to get most everything done well in advance so the stress & chaos of cooking or wrapping at the last minute will not be experienced by me this year! Woohoo!

Last night while Hubby was watching the Polar Express with our nephews I managed to make some homemade cinnamon rolls that are now in the freezer waiting to be popped in the oven for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day morning. (ok confession, they're not totally from scratch as I did cheat and use the frozen Rhodes bread dough...God's gift to a breadmaker if you ask me). They smelled wonderful baking in the oven last night & I certainly had to control myself to keep from pulling one straight out of the pan. I did this last year and I think this will be a new tradition so we can have something special for breakfast before we head out into the craziness of travelling from place to place during Christmas.

I've got all my presents purchased, only 2 presents left to wrap, and only 2 real quick things left to make as far as food goes. Wow...I don't know if I've ever been this on top of things!

This year we are starting a new tradition with Hubby's immediate family. For the past couple of years we have just kind of celebrated whenever we had a free moment, I kind of thought this was crappy and this Christmas should be just as important if not more important than several others we attend. So...this year we claimed Christmas Eve night as ours. None of us had other plans so after we have Christmas with my mom's parents that morning we will head home & have Christmas with them. Hubby & I are hosting and decided on chili & chicken tortilla soup as the meal because it's super easy and there is very little cleanup! I'm so happy that we will finally have a designated time & it won't be something that gets pushed behind all the other Christmas celebrations.

Hubby & I have so many things to be thankful for this Christmas...I hope as the years go on we are able to continue creating our own special traditions while still maintaining some of those old traditions that are so special. God has poured out his blessings in so many ways & I know that sometimes I am so ungrateful for what He has given to us. Thank you Heavenly Father for sending your precious only son so that we might have a Savior who would be our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, & Prince of Peace. I hope you all experience Jesus in a special way this year. What a blessed time of year!

'Tis the Season for Giving

For the past several years, all of us girls that work for my dad have exchanged names and purchased Christmas gifts for each other. It's always fun to pick out something for someone else, but this year we decided on something a little bit different & a lot more rewarding. We pooled all the money we normally spend on each other & decided to adopt a family from our local community. Each year the local churches get together to provide food baskets for families in need and the children in those families are then divided among other families, Sunday school classes, or other local people which then have the responsibility of buying gifts. So...that's what we did...we adopted a local family that has 3 children: a 15 year old girl, a 13 year old girl, & a 4 year old boy.

Yesterday we all took a long lunch and headed to Walmart to fill our cart full of necessities & fun things for everyone. In a surprise from my dad, he volunteered to match the funds we had so we were easily able to buy several things for each child. We bought a complete outfit for everyone (pants, shirt, jackets, etc.), new socks, toys for the little boy (Legos & Transformers), & shampoo/conditioner, lotion, shower gel, & body spray for the girls. As we were leaving Wal-Mart with our cart full of gifts we all discussed how this was so much better than spending time searching for the perfect gift for each other.

The next dilemma was wrapping--however, we quickly decided to wrap each item individually in tissue paper & then place each child's gifts in their own HUGE box that we would then wrap as well. So...as I sit at my desk right now--behind me are 3 huge boxes full of goodies and wrapped in fun Christmas paper. I'm so excited to deliver them to the drop-off location tomorrow & I can only imagine how excited these kids will be when they open their box to find not one, but SO many things just for them!

I love this time of year for so many reasons but one big reason is the opportunity to play Santa Claus for so many who wouldn't be visited by him otherwise.

Making a list...checking it twice!

Well, the countdown is on...Christmas Day is 2 weeks from today! Can you believe it? It never fails...December seems like the fastest month in the year!

So...yesterday I took a 1/2 mom day and went Christmas shopping with my mom. We actually tackled quite a few things on both of our lists plus I was able to find something for our office Christmas party on Saturday night. I had been seriously struggling with finding an outfit that was stylish/trendy but also still looked similar to something I would wear. Whew...Banana Republic came to my rescue & I'll be sure to post pictures in my rewind.

As for the Christmas list...so far I've managed to take care of Hubby's parents, his sister & husband, the boys Hunter & Jackson, my sister-in-law, 1/2 of my mom's gift, 1/2 of my brother's gift, & most all of Hubby's gifts. This means I don't have a whole lot to take care of but it's enough that I really need to start cracking down. The unfortunate thing is that I absolutely refuse to go to our nearest shopping mall on the weekends so I guess we'll be postponing any shopping until at least next Monday. However, overall I'm really pleased with my progress and hopefully I'll be able to knock out the rest of the gifts very soon!

We've got another typical December weekend filled with parties & lots to do! Maybe I'll manage to get a few presents wrapped since my guest bedroom is starting to fill up fast!

Christmas Greetings!

Yesterday was a big day for me...I actually dropped all of our Christmas cards in the mail. I think this might be a record for me as far as earliness goes. I'm always a last minute girl when it comes to finally getting them signed, sealed & delivered. I had big plans of trying to have a family photo shoot with Hubby, myself & Bogey--however, time slipped away and in the end I decided I would just use my most favorite sequence of photos! No, they're not Christmas, no they're not professional (unless you count my fab mom), and no they're not perfect...but they're so us.

A formal picture of Bogey sitting and looking at the camera would go against every thing that our precious furry son is all about...so what better way to show him off then in his most natural state of chaos!

It's been a very busy week at work and I can't believe it's already Wednesday. So...here comes a random list of tidbits:

~It is sooooo cold here today--highs in the teens with windchills near 0. I was even able to convince my dad/boss that it shoud be jeans day since it's so stinkin' cold!

~I'm getting my hair done tonight--I love hair day! I may go for something a little bit different in the color department.

~Hubby & I have also been able to take care of most of our Christmas shopping! Woohoo! I'm also taking a half-mom day tomorrow and hopefully I'll be able to mainly finish up!

I love this time of year!

And the festivities begin...

Note: I am apologizing in advance for any picture overload you might experience from this post!

Last night was my first official holiday gathering of the Christmas season. Hubby & I seriously have lots of plans in the next few weeks & I'm so happy to be able to share in the holiday season with so many wonderful friends & family. Before I get to all the goodies from the cookie exchange last night, I wanted to show some pics of our Christmas decor as it's finally finished.

Tree in the front yard...it was so beautiful with the yellow/orange leaves still on it and the lights shining!

The completed version of all our outside decorations! Way to go Hubby!

And now onto the inside of the house...I tell myself every year I'm just going to add a little bit of Christmas cheer & leave my normal decor out; however, that never happens as I just love Christmas and rather enjoy having my house completely decked!

Entryway table
One of my new purchases this year...I just love these silver sequined deer!

Our beautiful (even if artificial) tree...we don't have a theme to our tree, it's always just a collection of our ornaments from over the years. We have 3 different Hallmark collections, ornaments from our vacations, ornaments I've made & just various ones I've purchased over the years...I love it and it has so much personality!

The shelves in our living room

Our dining room shelf...I made the JOY letters with scrapbook paper, cardboard letters & spray paint! The potted artificial poinsettia is also new...I love the glitter around the top of the pot!

My cake dome/platter filled with ornaments and some snow! This worked perfectly as a centerpiece for the cookie table last night.

Some funky trees in our bedroom

A festive grouping next to our mantle...the only thing that hasn't happened is the hanging of our stockings...mainly because we don't have any stocking holders! I'm hoping that if I leave them here long enough then Hubby will get the point!

Our mantle...I mixed it up this year & am super happy with how it turned out.

Now on to the cookie exchange festivities...

Yup, that's me taking a picture of myself in the bathroom showing off my cute little apron--my mom bought it for me in honor of the party! I just love it!

My cookies...Mint Crinkles--you can find the recipe in yesterday's post.

The spread after Round 1. I had 7 of my most favorite ladies in the world come over & we had some fabulous goodies. I provided goody bags for them to take home extras!

The whole group....mainly it was girls from my small group/church but also some friends from college. It was the perfect group & we had such a blast!

And now for a funny picture...sorry my hand is in your face Mel! Can you tell that my mom & are related?!?

I was discussing my Swiffer Sweeper & they thought it was the perfect opportunity for a photo! Apparently I look like I could be in a commercial!

It was such a fun evening & a great time to have a girls night out. God has blessed me with such incredible women who support me & lift me up each & every day.

This weekend is busy as well, the holiday festivities have officially begun!

Bring on the Cookies!!!

So tonight is my 2nd Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange. The soup is all made, the tables are all set, & the cookies are ready to be eaten. I'm so super excited!!! There will only be about 7-8 ladies there, but I know we're going to have a fabulous time! As a sneak preview here is the cookie recipe I tried...Mint Crinkles. I've already had a taste & they are definitley yummy--Andes Mints & cookies, how can you go wrong! I'll be sure to have lots of pics tomorrow!

Mint Crinkles

Ingredients
3/4 cup finely chopped layered chocolate-mint candies (about 4 ounces or 24 candies)
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Layered chocolate-mint candies, chopped

Directions
1. In a heavy small saucepan, heat and stir the 3/4 cup chopped candies until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cool about 15 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat until well combined. Beat in cooled chocolate, eggs, and vanilla. Beat or stir in flour. Cover and chill 3 hours or until dough is easy to handle.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using about 1 tablespoon of dough per ball, shape dough into 1-1/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until edges are set (tops should crackle). Sprinkle a few candy pieces on top of each cookie; do not press candies into cookies. Bake 1 minute more. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 36 cookies.
To Store: Layer cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 24 hours or freeze for up to 3 months.

Breaking Tradition

I hesitate to even begin this post for fear of sounding like one of two things...a crazy person or a scrooge...however, I ultimately decided it was best to get my feelings out in the open. Last week Hubby began our Christmas decorating by putting the lights up on our house & I have grand plans to have all the decorating complete by the time we leave for Thanksgiving in Michigan next Tuesday morning. Most everything will be the same with just a few minor changes but one thing will stand in vast contrast to how it has been in the past.

We now have an artificial tree... :o/ ?!?

For most of you this is probably a normal occurrence. Each year on the designated day you and your family traipse up into the attic or into the back closet and pull out your pre-lit, multi-tier, artificial Christmas tree. You spend crazy amounts of time "fluffing" your tree and making sure each branch is in just the right spot and ensuring there are not any major dark spots or big holes. You realize half-way through that you have small cuts on your hands from man-handling the branches but you press-on knowing the tree will look fantastic when you're finished. You add more lights, ornaments, ribbon, feathers, or other adornments to make your tree beautiful and original. After this process, you're done...you plug in your tree each day or some of you probably even have timers on your trees so they turn on and off each day without even the slightest effort.

When I was in college I do have to admit that I had an artificial tree...it was about 3 feet tall, had about 2 strands of lights on it, and a random assortment of ornaments. However, I spent most of the Christmas season at home and so was still able to enjoy the tradition of a real Christmas tree. You see, for those of us who grew up with a real Christmas tree the experience each year was much different than for those who went artificial. You pile into the car all bundled up with your worst jeans & shoes in hopes of not ruining something good in the muddy fields and head to a Christmas tree farm. You hop on a trailer full of haybales & ride around with complete strangers until you are either dropped off or someone yells---THAT'S THE ONE!!! You wander around the rows of trees walking around each one, examining it closely to make sure it's perfect...or as perfect as a real tree can be.

Eventually your family comes to an agreement and you cut down your tree...the family tree...the tree that will represent Christmas and all its traditions. You bring it home tied up in some net-like thing, determine the best way to get it in the house, and then begin carefully clipping the netting off to avoid pine needles flying all over the house! You spend time carefully balancing it in the tree stand, tying it up (if it's a big one), putting plenty of water in the stand, and sweeping all the random pine needles that have dispersed themselves in every nook and cranny of your house! It's finally time to decorate, but it's more difficult because you have to find a limb that is strong enough to hold the heavy ornaments and you have to carefully try to put enough lights on the tree without knocking off all the pine needles. While the decorating is done, the maintenance isn't as you have to make sure the tree has enough water to survive the 3-4 weeks until Christmas Day. Whew...what a process! and this doesn't even include finding a place to get rid of the precious real tree.

It's because of this that this year I made a decision, to purchase an artificial tree. Even when I first was considering the idea I felt as if I was betraying a Christmas tradition that my family has had for so many years. I was talking with my parents and for some reason I felt I had to have their blessing to even go purchase an artificial tree. I even made Hubby promise that once we have little kiddos around that the tradition will reinvent itself and we will once again head out to a tree farm to pick out the very best real tree available.

The artificial tree is up, not decorated, but in its place & I do have to admit it looks quite nice...the best part was not having to collect all the pine needles & the sap droplets from our floor. Christmas & the meaning of the season will still be very REAL to us, even if our tree is completely artificial.

Confession Time

Last night at my parents' house, a group of 6 men & 3 women met to do something that I never thought I would do. Yes, this is hard for me to confess...but I must tell the truth & so here it is...we held a Fantasy Football Draft. Whew...there it is, my confession. Hubby decided that I might enjoy participating last year so I obliged because we needed an extra team. I have always been a huge sports fan & football is probably my favorite. I do have quite an extensive knowledge of sports in general from nightly updates on Sportscenter with my Hubby to following my older cousins and then my brother through many years of high school and college athletics.

However, I think that playing Fantasty Football might have crossed the line...I mean what am I doing participating in what has become a time-honored tradition for many men in our lives?!? You pick a team based on nothing but pre-season rankings & then cheer for those players individually each week on Thursday night, Sunday (ALL DAY), and then again on Monday night hoping that they perform good enough as individuals to help your own personal team. CONFUSED?!?...yes, so am I! But I participate because as much as I hate to admit it, it is kind of fun...and I will certainly take it seriously because since we're being honest...there's a cash prize involved!!

Christmas Vacation & Traditions

Well, in just 30 minutes, I'm offically off for som Christmas vacation and won't be back at work until Monday! Yeah!!! The next few days are going to be full of fantastic food, presents, family & hopefully some relaxation! Tonight I'm meeting up with one of my best friends from college. She now lives in Orlanda & works for Student Venture (Campus Crusade's high school ministry)--she has an amazing heart for high school girls and I can't wait to see her! Old man winter almost managed to ruin our plans but I think it's actually warmed up enough to melt the ice off the roads.

Tomorrow is Christmas with my mom's parents (the Town Grandparents that I've mentioned in previous posts). We always have a fantastic time & have a tradition of pizza for lunch so I'm super excited for that. Since we've added Hubby and my brother's wife Millie we have a little bit bigger group and even more fun! Hubby & I may head to our church's Christmas Eve service tomorrow night if all goes as planned...we'll see!

Christmas Day Hubby & I will exchange gifts in the morning and then head to his aunt's house for lunch. After a short bit there we will head to my favorite Christmas gathering of all--Christmas with my parents. It will just be the 6 of us and I'm not going to lie, my parents normally go over board on the gift-giving but they love it and it is by far probably my most favorite 4-5 hours of the year! We have always had lots of traditions there and though they've had to change a little since Bro & I have both gotten married, I will still cherish all of those wonderful memories.

When I was a little girl Christmas Day was always reserved for just our family, Mom, Dad, Bro, & me. My brother would wake up early (around 7) & come climb in bed with me and tell me to Wake Up! We would then go wake up my parents and tell them it was time to open presents. We would have to wait patiently in my parents room while they got ready and then they would head into the living room. I still remember my brother & I standing at the end of the hallway waiting on my mom & dad to get the cameras ready, turn on some lights, and wait for us to coming running down the hall to see what Santa had brought us! To this day, Santa still comes to my parent's house and I don't think he'll ever stop. Santa still enjoys his cookies and leaves toys for us in our stockings and he also somehow manages to find Hubby & Millie even though they're now at a different house. We don't get to spend Christmas morning at my parent's house anymore due to time constraints caused from marriage--however, those memories will never fade & someday I'll be able to start those same traditions with our children & watch their eyes glow as they open the presents from Santa.

Saturday I'm hosting Hubby's family at my house for most of the day and I'm actually really excited to show off my house again. We're doing Mexican for lunch and then we always do a gift card exchange which is certainly entertaining.

I love Christmas traditions, and while Hubby & I are in a little bit of a transition time for creating traditions--we'll always just cherish the moments we have and the times we get to spend with our families & friends. May you all have a very Merry Christmas, eat way too much food, & remember each day how much God sacrificed as he sent us the most precious gift...his son Jesus.

The Smart Family Christmas

Well yesterday offically began the Christmas celebrations as we all gathered at my Grandma & Grandpa Smart's house for Christmas with my dad's side of the family. We have started drawing names which makes it much easier to buy for each other and we had a great time! I only have 4 first cousin's (from both sides of the family since my mom was an only child) and so we are very close. All but 1 was able to come in for Christmas and it was so wonderful to get to see everyone. My cousin Jason is the only one to have children and his little girl Allyssa is possibly the most precious little girl I've ever seen. She is 2 1/2 and is really starting to get a lot of personality. I just know Jason and his wife Michelle must be so proud. We have the same menu every year: Gulf shrimp (or ham if you don't eat shrimp), mashed potatoes, ceasar salad, bread and then rum cake for dessert with homemade whipped cream. We all eat until we can't hardly move and we laugh so hard everytime we're all together. This year the table topic at the Kid's table (yes, that's still where I sit even though we're all now over 21 and most of us are married) somehow became the cousin's reminiscing about how much trouble we had caused when we were younger. I seriously thought that some of use were going to fall out of our chairs or spit iced tea across the table from laughing so hard. I left there last night so thankful for the family that God has given me. As all of us cousins have grown up, we've obviously become more mature (except at the dinner table) and even though we all might live some very different lives or have different views on some things, we all manage to come together and enjoy each other's company if only once or twice a year. Yesterday wasn't about the present we took home or what kind of food we ate, but just that we were able to spend time together as a family and as children of God. After my dad blessed the meal, I looked up to see my Grandma with tears in her eyes and that to me truly says it all about how important we are to each other.

Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week and I'm super excited. I also get to see one of my college roommates who's flying home from Orlando for Christmas. I'm so excited to see her!

Christmas Cards & Old Friends

Since a lot of other blogs I've been reading have been sharing their Christmas cards, I thought I would follow suit. I just love receiving Christmas cards and I've decided the best way to receive them is to send them out. This year we didn't order quite enough so we reordered once and then just decided we would do better next year. Last year we sent out a photo card with our wedding picture on it and I got so many compliments. I have decided that photo cards are wonderful because in so many ways they can show how people have changed during the year or what they've been up to without spending forever writing out a Christmas letter. We obviously had to include a picture of Bogey since he is the big addition to our family this year. That family photo was a struggle to get and I'm just glad it turned out as well as it did...(thanks Dad for being such a great photographer). I also included a picture of Hubby & I in NYC and one of us at one of our favorite things: a St. Louis Cardinals game.

In other happenings, Thursday night I had dinner with a bunch of my girl friends from high school. There were 7 of us girls that hung out and did practically everything together from 2nd grade until we graduated. There were certainly times when we were childish and immature but we have remained friends even as we all develop new friendships and move onto new chapters in our lives. It was so great to see all of them and see how wonderfully life is treating each of them. Only one of those girls has completely gone her separate way, but for the other 6...5 of us are married and 2 of those now have little boys. It's so exciting to see how God is blessing each individual family and each woman. One of the girls took a picture, but here's a picture of the 6 of us from my bridal shower in May 2007. Love you girls!

Today Hubby & I started what might become a tradition in the Layman house, I (we) attempted homemade iced sugar cookies for the first time. With homemade dough and everything. I made the dough, Hubby rolled it out and cut little snowmen, candy canes, stockings, Christmas trees, & gingerbread men/women out and I finished up with the baking. They're not covered in icing yet, but they finished product tastes pretty dang good so far! We're going to ice them later this week right before we head out to one of our Christmas celebrations. I didn't take any pictures because they're kind of boring with the icing but I'll try to remember once they're completely finished. We had a great time and it brought back so many memories of making Christmas cookies with my mom. Tonight we have my office party and we're eating at an amazing restaurant called Ocean Zen...I just love my office party because it's so intimate and close! With spouses and all, we only have 14 people in attendance which makes for a great time and also the option of eating at fabulous places! Tomorrow we start our first of several Christmas gatherings, I'll be sure and try to post as I can!