Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! We did. It was Braylen's first Christmas and he was excited by the unwrapped gifts Santa left. There was a little confusion about the wrapped gifts, but by the end of the day he was enjoying ripping paper off packages.

We had dinner with my parents, brother and grandfather last night. Ryan loved singing Happy Birthday to Jesus while we ate cake for dessert. We got home late so both kids were asleep in the before we got home. Ryan was disappointed she didn't get to set out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Lucky for Santa (and the reindeer) I didn't forget.

True to our new-ish tradition we didn't leave the house on Christmas Day. After opening gifts we had a big breakfast, played with toys and took naps. My family visited this afternoon to exchange gifts. Our friends came by for beef stew for dinner and a little time for the kids to play. It was a great day.

Tomorrow we are off to my in-laws house to exchange gifts. It's been a busy week and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Maybe next weekend we'll get some rest.

Catch Up Post

So it's been a while since I have posted anything new. This post is to catch you up on our busy schedules since the weekend we were going to shop for a Halloween pumpkin.

We didn't go up to Burt's Farm for a pumpkin. The weatherman was calling for snow the day we were going to Burt's, so we skipped going to the mountains. Berry Patch Farm is a farm not too far from our house that sells blueberries in July, pumpkins in October and Christmas trees in November/December. Yes, it's a BIG place, but we went there to hunt up a pumpkin. It was still a cold day and we were frozen by then time we got back to the car - without a pumpkin! We took pictures with the pumpkins and couldn't find a pumpkin we liked, so we skipped buying one this year.

The next weekend we held Melissa's SURPRISE 30th Birthday party and went to Andrew's 6th birthday party. The 30th birthday party was great - we rocked out to Guitar Hero until the late hours of the night. Ryan trained to be a Jedi Knight at Andrew's birthday party.

Halloween was the next weekend and we were in for some punishing weather. It was rainy and the temperature fell to the 40's. We were so glad Braylen's costume was a full fleece monkey suit that covered his head and hands. Lucky boy got to sit in the wagon under a blanket and an umbrella while we took Ryan trick or treating. Our little butterfly didn't have a warm costume like her brother.

She ended up with her wings on over her winter coat. By the time we finished trick or treating her pants were SOAKED from jumping in rain puddles.

November 2009

We actually got a little break from crazy-busy weekends. The first few weekends we were resting up for hosting our first Thanksgiving dinner! It started as a small affair and somehow it grew to be 17 people in our little house. Despite all my pre-cooking jitters everything turned out really nice. My parents, Brett, Papa, Aunt Kathy and her friend Fred were there, along with Jason's mom Michele, sister Melissa, her friend Kevin and our two nieces Kaylee and Isabella. I am proud to reveal that I was able to pull all the nasty stuff out of the turkey, get it rinsed and seasoned by myself. Jason helped me get it into a pan and into the oven. We had an interesting debate over how to tie the legs and tuck the wings along the way. This is our beautiful, BIG bird in the oven.

Wish we had remembered to take a picture of the finished product! Maybe next year...

December

We have our tree up and decorated although we have really let the other decorations slack this year. Last weekend Jason and I went to my Christmas party and had a great time.

This weekend we have Jason's holiday party at Brunswick Bowling Lanes. It should be a fun night of Cosmic Bowling and karaoke. Then we are off to Bryson City, TN for the Polar Express! I still haven't found matching pajamas for the kids, but the trip should be amazing. Then we'll be patiently waiting for Santa's visit.