Christmas 2009 [Howe]

Sunday after church, we headed out and drove up to my hometown of Howe to spend a few days with my family. My sister, Dustin, and Jerah were all able to be up there as well, and it was really nice to be able to relax and have fun as a family.

This is the kids playing in some of the snow leftover from Christmas Eve. Little did we know that it would snow even more later on!






Abby has learned the art of the "cheese" over the past couple months. A minute ago as I was getting ready to post this, she said, "Awww... I'm so CUTE!"


Tuesday, we all bundled up and headed out to Durant, Oklahoma to do some ice skating (which I haven't done since 8th grade). I love this picture of my dad and Jerah.






I hate posting pictures of myself, especially when I'm embarassing myself, but oh well... I just had to laugh at me falling on my rear!




Abby wasn't so sure about ice skating at first, but she started getting the hang of it after a few minutes!


As we were driving back to my mom and dad's from Durant, HUGE snowflakes started to fall! It was so beautiful!!


Carson out riding his new scooter while it was snowing. He insisted it wasn't cold. :)


We've had an absolutely wonderful Christmas season this year. It's just made me feel so lucky... so blessed to have such great parent, in-laws, siblings, grandparents, and on and on.

Happy New Year!

2009 in Status Updates

I thought it was fun looking back on some of my Facebook status updates from 2009. :) It was a great year!

Christmas Day 2009

Christmas Day was wonderful this year. I love Christmas Day because the whole world pauses, and everything seems quiet, if only for a day. We woke up Christmas morning (BEFORE our kids), made coffee and got the camera ready, etc. Then the kids got up and discovered that Santa had brought them each a brand new bike. They immediately hopped on and drove the bikes around the living room and Carson was singing, "I love it! I love it! I really, really do!" It was adorable. A few minutes later, Ammie and Poppy (Aaron's mom and dad) arrived and the present opening commenced. It was really fun this year with the kids being old enough to really get into it all. Abby was thrilled about her Hannah Montana wig. Other highlights were Operation, a Lite Brite, and beads to make necklaces with. Carson actually squealed when he opened up Mater (from Cars), and he also loved his game, Legos, and his "rock star" (i.e. guitar).





After opening presents, we enjoyed breakfast and a leisurely morning before heading over to Ammie and Poppy's for the afternoon. In keeping with tradition, Aaron made his delicious prime rib (covered in proscuitto, I might add). Amazing. Jason, Natalie, Jackson, and Reagan were (of course) there as well and we had an awesome time. Lots of good food, laughter, and great memories, as always. I have to say that I am just so thankful for wonderful in-laws. From day one, they have loved me as one of their own, and I couldn't feel more blessed to be part of such a wonderful, amazing family.



This picture of Abby cracks me up. She looks a little rough. :)







I love this picture of Poppy opening their record player --> mp3 converter. :)


Carson loved his monogrammed Cars pillow that Aunt Natalie and Uncle Jason gave him!




And this just goes to prove that no matter how much money you spend, it's always the boxes that they love the most!

Christmas Eve

Today was a fun day. It's been slightly different from Christmas Eves past, but fun nonetheless. Aaron had to work all day, so the kids and I woke up and went to Shipley's for doughnuts and chocolate milk. Then it was off to the grocery store. I should've done this last week, but over the past number of months, I have developed an aversion to the grocery store. Ugh. Well, today was the worst possible day to go and the kids were wired (probably due to the aforementioned sugar high). However... we survived and got home with everything we needed. Just as we were walking in the door, our neighbor Shannon called and invited the kids over to play and bake cookies, so we walked up the street to hang out for a bit. As I was getting ready to leave for lunch with Aaron, she offered to let the kids stay and play while he and I enjoyed a quiet lunch together. How could I resist such an offer? So Aaron and I had a quiet and delicious lunch at Pizza Italia. Yum! I got home, put the kids down for a nap and had every intention of cleaning, but all I really managed to do was sit on the couch and watch a movie. After some down time, the kids and I got up and got ready for the Christmas Eve service at church. It was a beautiful and uplifting service, as always! Now we're just relaxing and cleaning a bit and in a while we'll go over to Aaron's parents' house for popcorn and to hang out for a little while.

Abby and Carson are very excited about Christmas and all the festivities. I'm sure there are more stories and pictures to come! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Fall in December

Well, this week it officially turned winter... and of course in Texas, that means the leaves are finally starting to change (I use the term "change" loosely, and by it I mean green to brown) and fall. We spent the morning with the Portzline family shooting Rachel's senior portraits and a few family portraits. They were kind enough to let Abby and Carson come along to play, and much fun was had. :) The weather was cool, but not cold, and much time was spent playing in piles of leaves (this was Rachel's one request as far as location goes). Afterwards we went and enjoyed a burger over at Five Guys and it was wonderful.

I can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I'm kinda sad that I won't be spending it at Nanny & Pawpaw's this year, but we'll go next year. There are four Christmas Eve services at church this year: one tonight and three tomorrow afternoon/evening. Aaron has to be at all of them, and the kids and I will go to one of the services tomorrow. Tonight I have one meeting and then I'm off of "work" for the rest of the year! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the break.

Aaron is home for a short bit, so I'm gonna go hang out for a while before he has to leave again.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

From Across the Pond

Aaron's best friend since forever is here from England for a few days. We went for a juicy, cheesy burger at Chris Madrid's and enjoyed a nice, cool evening filled with laughter, memories, and good conversation. It was good seeing you, Chris!

Little Entrepreneur

Since last night, Abby has been BEGGING to set up her own "art stand" in the front yard where she can sell her art to the masses and make some extra money. She's been sitting out there for an hour or so and is loving it (although she can't understand why in the world anyone would pass her by)!

**UPDATE** Abby closed the night with $29 profit! I am blown away. Maybe I should set up shop in the front yard. :)