Monday, December 28, 2009

Perfection.

Oh my goodness.

I think I may burst with happiness.

Christmas Eve with homemade Sangria and Paella!

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A-MAZING. I am still speechless.

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I’m pretty sure little T loved every second of his first Christmas! DSC04791

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  On the train to NYC!DSC04832

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Mama and Papa hen holding hands and leading their crew.  Love it.

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Mary Poppins on Broadway!  BEYOND MAGICAL.  It was priceless watching the JOY on the kiddos’ faces the whole time.  GO SEE IT!

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SO excited to pop into Pop Burger.DSC04863

F.A.O. Schwarz!DSC04902

Soaking in NYC with my Honey-licious!

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Oh my goodness, you guys.  AMAZING.  This Christmas has to go down in my book as one of the best Christmases ever.  Beside the fact that my husband completely spoiled me rotten this Christmas (that really deserves a whole other post on it’s own – I seriously started crying I was so excited) and my mom and dad went ABOVE.AND.BEYOND. to make sure this Christmas was perfect – I have to say that absolutely every single thing about our time was such a gift and a complete JOY.  The time we spent together as a family rejoicing in the birth of our Savior and loving on each other was priceless.  We made memories to last a lifetime.  And the celebrations aren’t over!  I am SO excited for what this week holds for my sweet little family.  Can’t wait to come back and share more!  I hope you are all having a WONDERFUL and blessed time with your lovies!

Happy New Year’s Eve Week!!  Enjoy these last days of 2009!!!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

It’s here! It’s here!

Christmas week is upon us!  YAYYYYYY!  I had every intention of posting pictures of our Christmas decorations and it completely slipped my mind to capture the photos BEFORE today, since I won’t be posting again until next week!  Whoops!  Will you still want to see pics AFTER Christmas?  Haha.

Ummmm, can we please talk about SNOW for a second?  HOLY COW!  We had SO.MUCH.SNOW over the weekend.  It was the most magical thing to watch as it came down.  And it didn’t stop!  We had about two feet when all was said and done.  We also had three different Christmas parties over the weekend and somehow still managed to make it to every single one!  I’m in love with our trusty Pilot, she is a rock in the snow!  A few pics to share…

My love bugs all together again!

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A certain furry baby of ours LOVESSSS it.

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I woke up and came downstairs to Hubsy shoveling.  He looked so hardcore and sooo cute.  HAD to take a picture.a3

At our friends’ Snow Party.  Dig my bunny fleece?DSC04651 

We found a 10th reindeer for Santa.

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We made peppermint bark!  The amazingly wonderful and talented Jenny over at Lucky in Love posted a FABULOUS recipe for it that I couldn’t wait to try.  It’s SO easy and SOoOoooo DELISH!  If you want the recipe, check it out here.

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What a full and fun weekend!  What do we have going on the rest of the week?  Glad you asked!  :o)

A slumber party with my BILs, an engagement party for my sister, CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS DAY!  NYC to see Mary Poppins on Broadway!  CAN’T WAIT to snap tons of pics of beautiful NYC at Christmas.  AND, for the first time ever, we will be spending Christmas day with my WHOLE entire family AND my husband’s family!  My mom wanted to include them in the festivities as well.  The total count for Christmas dinner?  15!  My presh FIL is still in the hospital recovering from his surgery, but things are looking SO good and we are so hopeful that his body will be healed SOON!

Honestly, my heart can’t stop smiling.  I am so blessed and have SO much to be joyful about right now.  I am so excited to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ this week, and I feel so blessed to have the gifts of my sweet husband and family to celebrate it with.  As we finish off the year with these last few days in December, I hope each and every one of you has a blessed and joyful time celebrating and enjoying it.  Thank you for taking time out to catch li’l glimpses into the life God has given me.  It’s humbling to think anyone would be interested in us.  I am thankful for you!

Have an amazing and BLESSED Christmas!

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government will be on His shoulders.  And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6 

LOTS of Blessings/XOXO

Friday, December 18, 2009

I’m obsessed.

I had to find time to quick jump on here and share something that I am completely obsessed with at the moment.

Last night while I was cooking dinner Hubby was asking me a series of conversational questions out of his Men’s Health magazine about winter. 

“What is your favorite thing about winter?” (CHRISTMAS, fires in the fireplace, time w/family & loved ones, hot apple cider, cinnamon candles, baking…I could go on and on…)

“What is your least favorite thing about winter?” (Getting ice off of the car!)

“If you could participate in one of the following winter sports, which one would you choose: Curling, Bob Sledding…….”

I immediately said, “OOOHH DOG SLEDDING!  DEFINITELY DOG SLEDDING!”

He laughed and said “Nooooo, it says BOB sledding”.

Well, that was it.

DOG sledding. It’s all I can think about now.  When faced with the question of which winter sport I would choose if given the option, although it wasn’t even an option, I still choose DOG SLEDDING.  This is DEFINITELY going on my bucket list.  I did some research and found exactly where I could go (hubby in tow) AND on le cheaper side than, say, in Antarctica.  Some place exotic would be ideal, but for now, Minnesota will do!  

Sweet Hubs, please read the following and take note of this subtle hint. 

Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge.  A 4 night dog sledding trip in Ely, Minnesota.  Staying two nights at one breathtaking lodge and then dog sledding to the next breathtaking lodge, and doing day trips in between.  Complete with our own guide, gourmet dinners, skiing, snowshoeing, hot tubbing (i know it isn’t a word but it should be), romantic evenings by the fireplace…

Obsessed. 

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No seriously, next year?

XOXO.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

ONE WEEK!

A week from today is Christmas Eve!

Can you believe it?!  I kind of think Christmas should be two months long; it always seems to FLY by!  Things are SO fun right now with everything going on, it’s such an incredibly joyous time of year – it makes my heart sing.  And as if it couldn’t get any better, someone SO special in my life who means the WORLD to me got ENGAGED over the weekend…

MY SISTER!

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(photo taken over the summer)

I am SO excited for her and J – God brought them together and I have been so incredibly blessed to watch their relationship blossom into what it is today - BEAUTIFUL! We love you and are SO excited for you guys!  Can’t wait for all of the fun planning, celebrations and shindigs over the next few months!!  Oh, and um, her ring is GORGEOUS!!  AMAZING job, J!

I’m so ready for this weekend to begin!  Tomorrow Honey-hubby and I are finishing up ALL of our Christmas shopping and then after we are celebrating by heading to a new, very much talked about, casino for dinner and entertainment with some friends, FUN!  Saturday I get to FINALLY see my sister from Houston and her precious kiddos who are getting into town, but our reunion will be put on hold for a li’l bit because Saturday night we have TWO Christmas parties to attend, Sunday night we have my hubby’s company/holiday shindig, and then don’t even get me started on Christmas week! Christmas with Hubby’s family one night (since this year we’ll be with mine for Christmas Eve & Day – we rotate each year), engagement party one night, NYC one night, AND, of course, celebrating the birth of our Savior!  LOVE. IT.  I’ll jump on and do a quick post next week with Christmas decorations and all of the fun things we’ve been cooking in the kitchen.  But, before I go, I want to share something with you that has HIT my heart SO HARD.  Have you heard of the 30 Day Journey blog by the Hollis family?  If not, check it out here.  I found out about it through the Wheeler’s blog, another AMAZING family.

This is a post taken from the Hollis’ 30 Day blog on Wednesday, November 25th.  The $ is STILL pouring in.  This seriously brings SO MUCH joy to my heart.  By the way, Lydia is ELEVEN years old.  This section below is taken from a post written by Lydia’s mother:

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Most of you know by now, our family decided three years ago to forgo giving presents to one another during the holidays. Instead, we reach out and raise money for orphan ministries.

We just finished going through the book, "Crazy Love" by Frances Chan with our kids and decided this year, we wanted to be CRAZY for Jesus! He is so crazy about us, we wanted to share His love with everyone throughout the year, but especially during November and December.

Lydia took "CRAZY" to a whole new level, however, when she approached me (while her dad was on a mission trip in Africa) and asked if she raised $20,000.00 before Thanksgiving, could we adopt a little orphan girl, Darya, who has Down Syndrome in Eastern Europe. (A friend of ours adopted a little boy from the same orphanage and reported that Darya gets no attention at all....no one speaks to her or holds her.)

THAT WAS 8 DAYS AGO! Being a sensible 41 year old, I told Lydia she would never be able to raise $20,000.00 in 8 days.....she is only eleven. She didn't hear me. Instead, she asked again, "But if I do raise the money, will you adopt her?" I responded yes, if she raised that much money in 8 days, we would know God is in it and would travel to adopt Darya!

Tonight, I would like to report that Miss Lydia has raised $26,550.00 and the donations are still coming in. It just so happens, we have good friends who have been planning to adopt a little one with Down Syndrome through Reece's Rainbow, but lack of funds has delayed them. Not anymore, everything above $20,000.00 goes to them.
So, friends, you have been a part of a double Thanksgiving Miracle. Not only will Darya have a home ....but through your gifts, another little angel will be given hope for a family tomorrow too! God is so great, isn't He?

"Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say REJOICE!" Phil. 4:4

Does that not give you chills?!  God is GOOD.

Happy Thursday, loves!

Blessings/XOXO

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Simple Li’l Post

Hi, sweet friends.

A short & sweet li’l post:

Our weekend was fabulous.  Friday night my Hubster whisked me away to a fabulous Mexican restaurant so I could get in my kick for the month (we are SERIOUSLY lacking in the Mexican food department in our area).  He knows how to melt my heart – wine and guacamole.  MMMMM.  Saturday we put up our Christmas lights outside (I know, FINALLY!) and I finished last minute details on our inside decorations – SO COZY, loving it.  After we were finished we took a drive to grab some hot chocolate and then came home and took Tucker for a walk.  Hot chocolate, Christmas lights, heavy coats, mittens and my little family – I was in heaven.  Tucker was too.  I think he was on sensory overload with all of the lights.  After that we went to a birthday shindig for the neighbors.  Sunday was church, lunch and BLIND SIDE!!!  AMAZINGGGGG!  Oh, and there has been some MAJOR baking action in our household; can’t wait to share details.  All in all, such a sweet and fun weekend.

(And something MAJORLY exciting happened over the weekend to someone SOooOOoooo special in my life!!!  But I’m waiting until I’m given the “ok” to make it public on here.  EEEEK!  It’s exciting!!)

Right now, as I type this, my precious Father-In-Love/Law is having a pretty major operation on his pancreas and gallbladder.  I’m kind of a nervous wreck and therefore am making this post short.  My mind is preoccupied with prayer and practicing patience (trying at least).  It’s a five hour operation.  Prayers would be awesome!  Eeeeek.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”  My heart is repeating this.

My mind is also in a constant mental planning/accepting/delegating mode as we’re in the midst of this whirlwind that is now our calendar.  So many holiday parties/dinners, so little time!  Isn’t it the best?  I’m loving it, but I would be lying if I didn’t say I’m also feeling it.  Whew!  I will post again this week and then take a hiatus.  I’m so excited to spend time with my sweet family and friends and enjoy all of the celebrations, dinners, parties and trips we have in store over the next two weeks.  Oh, and NYC to see Mary Poppins on Broadway!  How fun is that?!  Okay, more to come later.

Happy Tuesday, sweet friends.

Blessings/XOXO

Friday, December 11, 2009

Little T – follow up

You all left such sweet comments about Tucker’s Advent calendar and many of you asked me where my mom got it, so I did a little research.  My mom and dad bought it at a small boutique in Carmel, California while they were on vacation there last month.  She couldn’t remember the exact name of the place, so we went online and did some searching and found the EXACT same puppy Advent calendar here.  So bookmark the website and have it ready for your sweet little pups next year!  SO FUN!!

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I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL weekend!  Do you have any big plans?  We have a weekend HOME ahead of us and I couldn’t be more excited to relax, wrap, bake and just ENJOY!  Honey-Hubby and I have a few little dates planned (We still haven’t seen the Blind Side! I am SO ready to see this movie!).  SO EXCITED.  This is the last weekend we’ll be home until January.  Isn’t this time of year just so crazy?!  I LOVE IT!

Happy Friday!

Blessings/XOXO

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Little T

My mom and dad give my nieces and nephew a special Advent calendar every year. 

Guess who else received one.

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Tucker has his own Advent calendar!   HYSTERICAL.  I love it!!  I couldn’t believe my mom found this!

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Inside are little doggie cookies that smell like delicious ginger snaps.  Seriously, I am tempted to try one – they smell SO GOOD!

And apparently little T thinks so too.  This is the face we see every morning as he waits anxiously for his countdown cookie.

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Hahaha ooooooohhhh this makes me smile.

Tucker is counting down to Christmas too.

Happy Wednesday!

Blessings/XOXO

Monday, December 7, 2009

A weekend to remember.

What an amazing weekend!

Friday night we headed to my parent’s house so we would be there bright and early on Saturday to kick off my mom’s special birthday festivities.

My parents were at a special dinner with some friends so Hubby and I enjoyed a night out on the town together with delicious wine and appetizers, including this AMAZING escargot.  So good that I had to get a picture of it.  Mmmmm.  Oh food, how I love you.

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Saturday: My mom’s Surprise Six-“Tea” Party!

She was SO surprised.  Eleven of us gathered at an adorable English tea house where we welcomed my mom with huge smiles, big hugs, TONS of sweet goodies and an afternoon showering her with all of the birthday goodness she SO deserves.  What fun!  The menu included: several delicious tea flavors, gourmet tea sandwiches, fresh scones, petit fours, pastries and chocolate cake with raspberry ganache – we left SO FULL.  Full of tasty treats, stories, memories, laughter and LOVE. A room of people celebrating my mom and their love for her – it was truly such a SWEET experience.  My heart is full of precious memories!

 

DSC04476 Turning the corner and seeing ALL of us there waiting for her.

She was so surprised!  Here are a few pictures to share…

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Sharing memories.

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Four generations.  My grandma is 91 years old!

(My sister Delaney and my other niece are missing from this picture, but they were there in spirit.  We missed you guys!) 

And as if the weekend weren’t magical enough…

We had the season’s first snowfall!  Every year, like magic, it snows on my mom’s birthday.  It was BEAUTIFUL!

Tucker’s first snow! It was SO cute to watch him.

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Sunday we did some Christmas shopping and then headed home to a frosted neighborhood.

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Christmas is on its way!

What a WONDERFUL weekend.  I hope yours was full of sweet memories too!

Blessings/XOXO