Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Christmas 2013

Our first Christmas in Texas!!  It felt a little strange to celebrate without bitterly cold winds and snow, but there were a few chilly days so we took full advantage of our fireplace.  I loved having a mantel this year!  The extra lights made the room look so nice at night.

I was so happy when I found the glitter letters at Walmart.  The flip side of our stockings have some lovely glitter pen writing on them.  I like to tell people the kids made them when it was really me and my inability to use a glitter glue pen. Ha!

 Candy,candy,candy!!  We were successful with our gingerbread houses this year.  Last year they fell apart when we tried to decorate them, so I made sure they were sturdy before we started.  I think this was the first year we didn't have to stop them from eating the candy while decorating.  It was a Christmas miracle!! :)

Jude wasn't as focused as the girls.  He put a few pieces of candy on his house and then yelled "I done!!"
Then he started kissing his house.

Finally moving on to licking the icing.  I couldn't get a picture of him just holding the house and smiling.  Life with a boy!

Grace was extremely focused as usual.  Everything had to have a pattern to it.  I expected nothing less from my Type A firstborn.

What a cutie!!  She was really excited about decorating her house.  I was surprised by her attention to detail, and the fact that she was the last one done.  She has grown up so much this year!
The kids were able to open their present from Mamaw and Papaw Scott on Christmas Eve.  Avery was so happy with her wooden cupcake decorating set.

Grace looks crazy, but she was overjoyed with her new Nook.  The girl LOVES to read!

Jude received a Star Wars toy.  He kept talking about the little R2-D2 inside the box.  He's a big fan!

Decorating cookies for "Santa"  We don't really make a big deal out of Santa and Grace hates pretending for the younger ones.  I could tell she wanted to tell Avery about him while they were making cookies.  Luckily she didn't because Avery loves the magic of it all!

Why does cookie making having to be so messy?  I need to remember to do this project a day or two ahead of time.  I'm already stressed with a million things to do on Christmas Eve, yet I make it even harder every year by doing cookies before bed.  I need to work on my holiday time management skills. :)

Again with the licking...

I don't want my Judey Bear to grow up!!

Christmas morning!!
Jude wasn't feeling it.  He wanted to go back to bed.  It's  funny because there's a picture of me doing the exact same thing on Christmas morning when I was his age.

Presents!!

After two days of driving we made it to Indiana and were able to open presents with Nana and Papa Steve the first night.  Avery is obsessed with the new movie Frozen so the doll was an instant favorite!

The next day was our big family party on my mom's side.  The boys were learning about chess from Ken.  I doubt Jude learned anything, he just wanted to hang around other boys.  That's what happens when you have two sisters, you drop them immediately when there are other males around. 

Poor kid had a hard time understanding that he wasn't going to get a mountain of presents every time we had a party.  He had been on present overload from the past couple of days so he just couldn't believe that he wasn't going to rip into a multitude of gifts.  Big bummer.

He's in the middle of the room crying about presents.  After taking this picture I had to take him out of the room for a bit.  Lack of sleep, days of traveling, lots of candy...cranky toddler!!

Papa J checking out our family sketches. My mom came up with the idea of exchanging homemade sketches of each other.  Everyone in the family participated, even the toddlers.  We each received a name of a family member, and then we had to draw them and put it in a frame.  At the party we went around and had to guess the person in the drawing.  It was a lot of fun!!  Apparently it was dark in there since Papa  kept shining the flashlight on all the pictures. :)

I love this one of Uncle Matt.  My cousin Katie decided to draw a picture of Shroeder.  My uncle plays the piano and has always played the Peanuts theme song for us.  I thought it was a great picture! (Oh, and when I say draw I really mean she traced it. Ha! Ha!)
Game time!  We always play games when we get together, and there is always a lot of laughter.  What can I say?  We're funny people. ;)
This our family.  Never a dull moment.


Happy boy with more presents at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Piles of presents!  These kids are so spoiled. :)

I guess Grace likes her gift???

My first baby...Kingsley.  We got to visit him when we went to my in-laws house for a couple of days.  I think I need to crop this picture and frame it.  It's so cute!!

The girls are loving on their Bubba.  Grace gets so upset every time we have to leave.  Kingsley is very special to her and she hates that he doesn't live with us anymore.  She even took a piece of his hair and put it in her new locket.

Uncle Joe and Aunt Alice. Although Avery doesn't want to call her Aunt Alice now that they're married.  I'm not sure why, but she's "just Alice."  Ok.
I really like this one!

Silly faces!

The kids got to walk out on the frozen pond at Nana's.  It made me nervous, but they loved it!

Oh, those dimples!!

A rare, and brief, moment when the girls were getting along.  It lasted about 10 minutes before the name calling and fighting began.  I think we had all had enough of each other by this point. They were pretty happy to get back to school and our daily routine.  I know I was really happy about it!
Snow!!

They loved playing in the snow and couldn't wait to tell their friends in Texas about it.

This was the morning of our second day of driving.  Pure misery.  The trip from Texas to Indiana went really well.  I was impressed.  The trip back?  I'm currently trying to suppress the memories, otherwise I'll never drive back home!  It was a great, but exhausting week, visiting our family.  Hopefully we just have one more Christmas far away.  It's just not the same without your family around.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Nancy's Wedding


This beautiful friend of mine got married a month ago.  I'm just now posting pictures because life has been straight up crazy around here!  But looking through these pictures and reliving that awesome weekend really helps with the stress. Words can not describe how much I loved those two days, and I will always cherish the memories.  I'm sure you can see from this picture why Nancy and I get along so well.  We always have a good time together!



 Teresa was making fun of my prep time and laughing at how long it took me to get ready.  We decided to do a mini photo shoot in front of the fan to show off all my "hard work"  Yeah right, make up slides off my face within an hour or two.  I'm not even sure why I bother sometimes.


 Nancy and I rarely take life seriously when we're together.  We were roommates our last year in college and it was a lot of fun!!  There were many late night laugh fests. But there were also many heart to hearts and deep conversations.  I know I wouldn't be the same without her friendship.  She has definitely helped shape me into the person I am today.  Love, love,love her!!!

This is our "sexy face"  and we have several photos like this from college.  As soon as I find the box I'll try to add them. 

 Teresa helping Nancy with her shoes.  It was great to be there with Nancy and the bridesmaids.  I was so happy when Teresa came early and spent the day with me getting all the loose ends tied up while the girls got their hair done.  It was such a blessing to spend that extra time with her since this was one of my last chances to see everyone before we move.


 Here's another, college wouldn't have been the same without her, friend.  Carrie and I became close the last year and half of school and I am so thankful for her friendship.  She is my twin, my other half.  Seriously, we always say the same thing at the same time.  It doesn't matter how long we go without seeing each other, our brains are still linked.  Example:  Nancy walked into our hotel room the morning of the wedding and Carrie and I (without thinking) both burst out singing at the exact same time "There she is... Miss America."   I LOVE it!  I love her. 


 I know this isn't the best picture of Nancy walking down the aisle, but it's the only one I have and it has a story.  Nancy's dad sadly passed away in 2002.  Since he wouldn't be able to walk her down the aisle she put a picture of him in a see through locket and tied it to her bouquet so he could be with her as she walked down to her groom.  I think it was a beautiful way to keep him with her on such an important day. 


                       I love the look on Nancy's face.  Pure joy!


 This little man belongs to my friend Jared.  He was all decked out in a little velour tuxedo outfit.  It was so cute!!  I enjoyed holding him until the velour started making me sweat.  That's the beauty of loving on other people's babies.  You can give them back when they get heavy or make you sweaty. ;)

                 
    Carrie and the best man getting the party started!!\

  
Whoa! This looks like a flashback to my own wedding.  The bride and groom coming into a pitch black reception hall.  The only difference is they actually had power at their reception, I just stink at photography.  Everyone remember that hot July day when the power went out for my wedding?  Fun times!

  
Friends, friends, friends.  The reception was just one big reunion!  I am so blessed to have met all of these amazing people in college.  They make me laugh, and you all know how much I love to laugh!


 Okay, here's another tear jerker story. Get your tissues.  Seriously, I tried to tell this story to my aunt and cousin and we were all in tears before I could even finish.  As I said, Nancy's dad is no longer with us, so in place of the traditional father/daughter dance Nancy asked all the dads there to bring their daughters on the dance floor and dance in honor of Nancy's dad.  There were many tears flowing during this one.  I'm pretty sure everyone at my table was crying.  It was simply beautiful.

This is Jared dancing with his daughter.


  
I could write on and on about this couple.  I love Chad and Teresa.  Scottie and I always have so much fun hanging out with them.  We have yet to spend time with them without laughing. I'm not talking about the casual Ha! Ha! type of laughing.  I mean the kind where you can't breath and have tears streaming down your face. So.Much.Fun.  They are a couple that people can look up to, they are awesome together!


                                     More friends having fun!



 Carrie's husband and Rachel's fiance.  It's always fun to add spouses to our fantastic group of friends.  (I would also like to the thank the random guy in the back right hand corner for smiling in this picture. It just makes it look better. Although I do enjoy catching people off guard, such as the lady in the stripe shirt. ha! ha! :)


  
Jared and his son matching in their "fancy" attire.  Jared is another friend who makes me laugh.  Seriously, I don't think I can be friends with someone if they don't have a sense of humor.  We just wouldn't get along.


  
Leah and her daughter.  Another fun roommate!  She shares my love for musicals, and she understands my unashamed love for Donny Osmond.  Have YOU seen him in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?  Words can't describe the way I feel about my Donny, and I don't have to explain it to Leah.  She knows, and doesn't judge me for it. ;)


 Again, I love these people.  Teresa and I are pretty opposites on a lot of things.  She's super organized, I am not.  She knows how to be assertive, I do not.  Things don't fluster her and make her go crazy, I...well have your met me?   You know what they say, opposites attract!  But our similarities are what make our friendship so much fun.  She has a great sense of humor and knows how to be kooky and quirky.  We always have a good time.


   Wonderful friends, beautiful souls. Tasha's nuts and I wouldn't have it any other way!
                                            
Okay, now here's a friendship that will never be repeated.  I'll never find another person who understands me like Amy.  I'm weird, and flighty, and say all the wrong things sometimes...and she loves me for it.  We were notorious for doing strange things in college and people just kind of shrugged and knew it was our normal.  This picture is a replay from an actual incident at another wedding, many many years ago.  We were at our friends Andrea and Darren's wedding and I started feeling hot and sticky.  I was worried that my deodorant was wearing off so Amy checked it out for me to make sure I was ok.  Right as she was doing it we saw someone taking a picture of something else, but we're pretty sure they got a nice surprise in the background!!  It was hilarious.  So we spent the rest of college smelling each other to make sure we were smelling fresh.  Don't you love friendships like that?  They are very important in life.  Thanks for always having my back, er, armpit Amy!




 I have some gorgeous friends!  Tasha, you make me laugh with your honesty.  You tell it like it is, and aren't afraid to ask the questions everyone else is thinking but no one has the guts to ask.  You're the best!


 Aww...Rachel.  Hands down one of the sweetest friends I've ever known.  She also thinks I'm funny and always laughs at my jokes.  I'm so thankful to have met her at SCF and had a few classes together.  She makes me smile every time I see her.



 Here she is with her fiance Zach.  I am beyond excited that she found her other half.  She deserves all the happiness in the world.  I'm just sad I won't be in the midwest for her wedding.  Very sad.  So people better post pictures!!



Trying to end the evening without tears.  It was really hard to say goodbye to all these wonderful friends knowing I probably won't see any of them for at least two years.  Unless someone wants to come to Texas.  Free lodging!!!  Come on down!  Seriously.

Congratulations my beautiful friend! I was beyond blessed and honored that you wanted me to be there for everything.  Scott is one lucky man.  May you have many years of happiness, you deserve it.  You are my BFF and I LYLAS. ;)