A Great Christmas

Well, we had a delightful Christmas at home with Jay and the puppies! This is the first holiday that Jay has been healthy and whole in ten years! Praise God! He has blessed my family SO MUCH this year! We started the morning with fried duck, homeade biscuits with apple butter, and scrambled eggs! We decided not to exchange gifts, but did stockings instead. We had a great time this morning opening our stockings one piece at a time! We all three did a great job of combining gag gifts and real gifts. I got a Browning Buck decal (GAG gift), some cute book marks ( I am the worst about dog earring books), mase spray, some cool new paint brushes, an awesome oil frangrance burner, some super great lotion, and a few other neat little odds and ends. Pretty much the most important thing in my stocking was a glow in the dark compass! For those of you who heard the story of my after dark four wheeler adventure, this was a big plus! Roger and Jay got lots of fishing lures, batteries, deodorant....things that men like or need! I wish I had taken pictures, but I didn't! We are not one of those families that looks all coordinated and styling early on Christmas morning! We spent the day just being kinda lazy! I watched The Christmas Story which is a classic in my book! Roger has been out in the wood shop playing with his new toys! I found an awesome deal on a jointer and planer in the classifeds last week, called the guy and made a deal, and Rog picked the equipment up yesterday afternoon! Jay went over to Jonathan and Courtney's house this afternoon for a few hours! He really enjoyed it! They have been such a HUGE blessing to Jay and to me and Roger the past few months! God knows what to do, and placing Jonathan in our lives when he did leaves me without words! I appreciate Jonathan and Courtney and their kindness so much!

I have a turkey cooking, mashed potatoes, asparagus, pineapple and cheese casserole, rolls, and cranberry sauce getting ready for the three of us to enjoy christmas dinner together tonight! I absolutely love my life and the people in it! I will be American, and make a list of resolutions next week, but the two words that I am can best use to describe 2009 would have to be "Growth" and "Gratitude". I have grown so much as a person, in all of my relationships, and in my walk with God this year. I am grateful or the abundance of blessings that have been showered on us! God is good!

Next Thursday will make 2 years since my sweet Mama went to be with Jesus. It seems like yesterday in a lot of ways! I miss her and Gary so much, but am filled with gratitude and wonderful memories! I wish that they had lived long enough to share in the joys that me and Jay are experiencing in our lives, but my heart is full of happines and I will dwell on that!

Erin Elizabeth!

I am going to go ahead and warn you! This post is crammed full of pictures! My sweet and beautiful neice Erin has been visiting us, and I am just in aw of her talent and beauty! I have been really blessed this past year to get closer to my family! We have had a great time with Erin! I love painting canvases, and she decided she wanted to get in the action! She painted some super cute stuff! I am impressed with her artistic talent! Roger has gotten into woodworking, and she got in on that action too! She and Rog made a really pretty blanket chest for her to take home with her! She was a pro with the power tools! Last night, we hit up Old Venice for great italian food, and hit up a few neighborhoods for Christmas lights afterword! In the truck, she told Roger that she had never shot a pistol, so he got her some ear muffs, a pistol, a target, and a gun safety lessson, and she rocked it! Her first time, all of her shots were on the target, and two were in the black. Her second round, she hit a near perfect bulls eye! Maybe we can turn her into a country girl!! Today, I blow dried and curled her hair, and took her out to MSU where we took some super cute shots of her! She is SO photogenic!! The plan for tomorrow is a girls day with mani/pedi's, hair extensions, lunch, and pictures of her taken out at the Refuge! Tuesday, we are going to paint pottery, and will hit up the mall before she goes home!
Erin with a picture she painted for her teacher!

Jay and Erin. She looks SO grown up!

Pretty Girl!

Erin can work the power tools!

And Shoot a pistol!

America's Next Top Model@

Santa Clause is coming to town!!

"I stopped believing in Santa Clause when I was nine. Mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph.." Shirley Temple

I came across this quote this morning, and had to laugh out loud. Me and Tracy were talking about Santa Clause yesterday and how all kids are scared of him at the mall. Wyatt screams! I get it! He usually is some creepy old man who smells like Old Spice and stale cigerettes.

I don't remember believing in Santa Clause all that much. My sisters were 9 and 11 years older than me, so they were pretty much over it by the time I came along. I just always thought of it as a funnny game that my mom played with us. I mean I knew that my mom was way too classy to be kissing on some fat old man in a silly red suit!

I had my mini break down for the holidays last night, and hopefully got it out of my system. I don't think that a Christmas will ever come and go without a moment of nostalgia when I miss my parents. We had so many really great christmases, and for that I am grateful! Speaking of Santa Clause, my step dad was really goofy and dramatic. I remember one time when me and Jay were little, we thought it would be fun to leave cookies and carrots and milk for him. Obviously, we knew it was for Gary and Mama, but for whatever reason we did. Ants came in through the fire place and were on the cookies. It was dark, and Gary just grabbed a cookie to take a bite so it would look like Santa Clause did. Ants bit him on him mouth. He was deathly allergic and his whole face swole up. He was screaming and carrying on which woke us up. Christmas was on a Sunday that year, and we went to church with him swollen up looking like Mama had gone after him with a frying pan. After that, we put the Santa Clause game to rest!

My mom always made Christmas a magic time, but made sure to keep it in check. One year, when her and Gary were first married and had no money, we did not have enought ornaments for our tree. We went out in the yard and picked up pine cones, dipped them in white paint and glitter, tied a red ribbon on them, and hung them on the tree with dental floss. It was beautiful, and such a great memory! She always gave everybody calendars, and we all joked as if we didn't know what was in the thin rectangular package! We got socks and underwear in our stockings. We always got a new pair of sweats or pajamas. And, we always got one frivilous gift. I never felt like christmas was no good. I never thought that I got shorted. We made homeade cookies, and spiced tea. Me and Gary watched "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Clause" and "It's a Wonderful Life" every year. We usually watched "A Christmas Story" as a family. We had a small traditions, but it was comfortable and cozy!

I am starting my own traditions with my small non traditional family. This year in our stocking, I asked Roger to get an ornament that reminds him of something fun we did this year. We will start to build our personal tree! Last year, we ate fried duck with biscuits and apple butter for Christmas brunch, and we plan to do it again this year!

Merry Christmas everybody! Love on your families!

Our Latest Addition

How could I resist such a sweet baby?

She looks like she has a little pit bull in her!

So....a man was giving puppies away out of the back of his truck at Walmart. They were so little, and cute, and cold! Yes, I brought one home. No, Roger was not too thrilled. She is sweet, and the other dogs and the cats seem to like her just fine! Her name is AnnaBelle and she is just a baby! I hope she grows up to be a sweet girl! There is no telling how big she is going to get, but I will love her any ways! And, Roger will love me anyways too....even though I bring home strays!

A GREAT weekend in Memphis

We went to Memphis this past weekend, and had an absolute blast! The plan was to got to the Orpheum to see the Nutcracker for my birthday! Jay graciously "babysat" Zeus while we were gone. I really appreciated it. I have only been away from Zeus 3 nights since I got him. Once, he went to the duck camp with Roger, and the other two nights I was in the hospital with my shoulder surgery. He is spoiled rotten, and I really appreciated Jay being willing to stay home with him. They did great!

I was really disappointed with the Nutcracker. Roger is not much of a music and arts person, and I really am. I knew that going to the balled would be a different kind of experience for him. I knew he wouldn't love it, but I hoped that he could appreciate the abilities of the dancers, and the colors and costumes. Unfortunately, the performance that we saw was not very good. I was very disappointed that it was not a dynamic and catching performance at all. There was very little energy, and even I (the experienced one) wanted to leave at intermission. Roger was a good sport, and hopefully something good will come to the Orpheum in the new year, and we will go so I can introduce him to the thrill of a Broadway play (that is more fun to me than the ballet anyway).

Despite the disappointment of the ballet, we had an awesome time. As we were leaving the Orpheum, we came across a "cinderella carriage" with an 11 week old yellow lab riding with the driver! On the carriage ride, I got to snuggle with the puppy. She was so sweet! Roger said he was glad that I didn't have $500 cash on me because he is pretty sure that if I had we would have gone home with a new puppy!! We also hit up a little blues bar, and finished the night at Texas de Brazil which is the BEST food!!

We spent the night that the Peabody hotel, which was of course nice. Roger has never even seent the ducks walk! Unfortunately, we were not around when they walked, so he still hasn't seen them. That hotel has special meaning to me. It is where Gary proposed to my mom. It was also the place where we took our last trip with my mom. Her last Christmas, Me, Jay, and my grandmother took her to see a play at the Orpheum and to the Peabody. It is a wonderful memory, and I am glad that I was able to go again during Christmas time. It was one of her favorite places! The decorations for christmas were breathtaking. The Peabody is just one of those silly places where I feel at home. It is very comforting in a way.

It was great for me and Roger to have a weekend just us. It was also really fun for me to do something that I wanted to do that was completely frivilous. Don't get me wrong, I love fishing and hunting and all that we do outside, but it was fun to dress up and drink martinis! We did, of course finish the weekend with a trip to the wood store for Roger!

Would you not have bought this sweet girl? Her name was Maggie, and I felt like she would have made the perfect little sister for Zeus and Boss!!

Tell us what you really thought of the ballet, Roger! :)

The biggest tree EVER at the Peabody! All of the Christmas decorations were great!