Be Merry 2011 (part III)

Christmas morning came early this year at our house. Jeff and I hadn't had much sleep, partly from playing elf and partly from being excited about H-bomb's reaction the next morning. She woke up at her usual time around 7, asked for her bow and a cup of milk, also the norm for her, and began to stroll into the living room. But today it was filled with Christmas cheer!

Checking it all out.

And this is what she saw! Didn't her Daddy do a great job on the kitchen?

The 1st thing she wanted to do was wash her hands!

Then climb inside the fridge!

Opening a few presents.

We rounded out the day with a nap then traveling over to Vicksburg for Christmas Day Appetizer Dinner at my Mom's house. H-bomb wanted to bring a few toys but I think Lane and I ended up playing with them instead of her. It was a great 2nd Christmas for us and H. Having family here was very special for us and we hope this tradition continues.

THE END (of Christmas)

Be Merry (part II)

Christmas week was a BUSY week! We got back to Jackson in time to meet my Aunt Elane and cousins Bo and Reid who had just arrived from Atlanta. As I've previously said, my family is quite competitive and we LOVE to play games, so game night ensued directly after dinner. I don't remember what they played or who won, but I know there was LOTS of laughter and yelling and screaming!

The next day we went to "Christmas in Canton" to see all the lights. IT WAS FREEZING! We took a quick stroll around the square and finally found a shop selling coffee & beignets to warm us up. The line was out the door so by the time we got to the front they'd run out of beignets and all the coffee was cold! What a bust. I'm pretty sure we spent more time sitting in traffic than we did actually looking at the lights.  

We look rough and H-bomb wouldn't look at the camera for anything but it's one of the few pictures of all 3 of us so I had to include it.

A slightly better picture of the girls!

On Thursday we went on our annual (ANNUAL?? this is just our second year, but it sounds good) trip to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa. One of the Santa's there is the husband of one of my Co-workers so we had to go when he was working. H-bomb got all fixed up in her Christmas outfit, her hair was just right, we practiced smiling and that girl wouldn't even hardly look at the camera once she got in Santa's lap! STINKER!

I guess she was cute enough sans smiling because Santa was still good to her Christmas morning!

On Christmas Eve we went to church with my Mom. H-bomb stayed in the service about 30 whole seconds before we took her to the "nursery" which consisted of 2 babies and about 1 toy. They pulled out a riding toy for her and I was told they had to pull her around on it the entire time I was gone or she would start crying again. (She knows how to work people) The service was nice, very traditional, which reminded me of Christmas Eve services at FBC Picayune where I grew up. I'm glad we went! No pictures of this event, sorry we were at church!

Christmas Eve didn't end there for Jeff and me. We were up until the wee hours of the morning helping "Santa" with some last minute projects. Jeff was getting high from paint fumes in the garage and I was sewing like a mad woman. It was awesome!

Working like little elves!

See what I mean about a busy week? Between guests, outings, work and Christmas prep it was exhausting and FUN! I wouldn't have it any other way!

Be Merry 2011 (part I)

Merry Christmas!!! This year we had such a fantastic holiday season filled with family, friends and tons of fun! We kicked off the Christmas season by attending a MS Swing! (the swing band Jeff used to play with and now fills in for when needed) concert at the Flowood library. Last year H slept through the entire concert but this time around she danced and played and sang and waved and called for her Daddy then tried to run up to him while he was playing. I quickly swooped her up and headed for the lobby. Out there we could still hear the music and dance AND sing and not disrupt all the other concert-goers. H did make it long enough in the concert to hear a few of her Daddy's solos. We are so proud of our great saxophonist!

A few days later was our church's annual Christmas program, Crossgates Live at Christmas. It was an amazing time of worship with our church family and the community. Lots of traditional carols and audience participation! The best part about the night was running into a former youth pastor from my high school days. We saw Tim and Sheila Tolleson as we were waiting for the music to start. They ended up sitting with us giving us lots of time to visit and catch up both before and after the program. They are a such a sweet couple and I'm so happy we ran into them.

Our next holiday event wasn't really a Christmas event but a fun time with family. My little brother married the cutest girl the Saturday before Christmas. All of the decorations were hot pink and black which I loved. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was full of music, dancing and yummy food. H had a great time meeting her cousins Braelyn and Ella Spell. She just wished they could have stayed longer to dance with her at the reception. After the wedding we went to a late dinner with my dad, my older sister and her husband and my younger sister and her boyfriend at the Jourdan River Steamer. Let me just tell you the only thing better than that food was the company. It was amazing!

The next day we traveled to Picayune for a 1st birthday party for one of the J's (Jennifer) littlest cutie. The theme was "Cooper's ONEderland". Isn't that cute? I got to catch up with my J's (except Jodi, who we missed) and H got to play with the little J's - RJ, Ethan and Cooper. I love love love those girls and their families!

All our fun Christmas week coming soon!

Be Thankful 2011



This year we had a super duper fun Thanksgiving hosted by Yours Truly! It was my first time to host the event at my house for family and I must say I thought it went quite smoothly. But it was probably due to the fact that we had a "rehearsal" Thanksgiving dinner last Thursday night for our fab Life Group. My main squeeze got lots of practice frying turkeys after making a grand total of 4 this year alone. (He made 2 last week for our Life Group, then one for our BFFs and one for our celebration on Thanksgiving day.) I made my favorite veggie casserole, Jeff's favorite pecan pie, a "turkey" veggie tray (in the picture above) and a few other simple appetizers. My mom made a tasty sweet potato casserole, 7 layer salad and a cranberry/apple dish. It was all quite delish!  

Some of our Thanksgiving decor

H-bomb's contribution to the decor. Oh and her version of "Gobble, Gobble" is too cute!

More decor - that little Pilgrim has been in our family for years! It was on my grandmother's table every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember! He has two friends that are in the kitchen.

waiting..

waiting...

to dig in!

My lil TURKEY!



Be it resolved...

This is my favorite time of year, hands down. But it seems that every year Satan sneaks in and manipulates me into giving up my joy. He twists the things that make this season unique to make me stressed, sad, overwhelmed and even mad. However, this year I am making my resolutions early. I am resolving to live with a JOYFUL CHRISTMAS SPIRIT this season.

This holiday season, BE IT RESOLVED...

I will not complain about crowds but be thankful I live in a city that is safe enough to go outside, day or night, without fear of being attacked by missiles, car bombs, military raids, etc...

I will not complain about traffic but instead take that time to crank up the Christmas tunes, sit back, relax and worship the King on His birthday.

I will not complain about cooking but be fondly reminded of the blood, sweat, tears and good times that went in to remodeling our kitchen a few years ago with a special family member that we now miss so much.

I will not complain about cleaning the house but be excited that friends and family are coming over to celebrate and prayerful for the perfect buyer to view our house.

I will not complain about being busy at work but be thankful that I have a job that I absolutely love and try hard to treat my patients with extra special kindness during this time of year.

I will not complain about being busy with parties and dinners and musicals, etc but be over-joyed that we have so many friends and family that want us to be part of their holiday festivities.

Beach Portraits

a few of my favorite shots from the beach...

Beach Vacation 2011

We usually go to the beach each year in September for Jeff and my birthday. It's cooler, less people there, CHEAPER, you get the picture. We skipped last year because H-bomb was so little but since she is now walking running, jumping, climbing, etc we thought it was the perfect time to take her on her first trip to the beach. We stayed on the bay in Orange Beach this year, which was new for us. Our condo had lots of fun things for a little girl including a splash pad, water slide, lazy river and multiple pools but we had to drive to a public beach to play in the sand and ride the waves. She was not too impressed with the beach but absolutely loved all the water features at the condo! Her favorite thing to do besides riding in the lazy river with Mommy and Daddy was to run from the splash pad to the big pool and jump in! (The child has NO FEAR!) She must have made 1000 miles between the 2 in the 5 days we were there. We had so much fun at the condo we only went to the beach one day and that was mostly for picture taking purposes. She didn't care too much for the sand, she must get that from her Mama!

Ready for some fun in the sun!

Riding the Lazy River

She wanted a cup like the big girls

At the Splash Pad (SHE wanted the flower in her hair, I swear!)

Breakfast on the balcony

The Ely Trio at Lulu's

And this pretty much sums up how she felt about the sand