Birthweek Celebrations!!

Wow, I cannot believe that a whole other year has flown by. Turning thirty was very hard for me, and now I am already 34?? That means I only have two more years to decide if we are done with our family... seems hard to believe. But some wonderful things have happened in my 30's. I had my sweet Joshua. I have made some wonderful friends. And I would not trade those moments for anything!!

As most of my friends know, I take birthday celebrations very seriously...we celebrate for an entire week! I kicked off my birthweek going out with friends. Mandy, Michelle, Linda, Sina, and Teresa took me to dinner at La Parilla for good food and drinks, and great company! We had so much fun and I so enjoy going out with these girls! On Thursday, my sweet friends celebrated with me again over Japenese takeout...our favorite! I love working with such wonderful people!

On my birthday, I had a fabulous day! I spent the afternoon with my four very favorite people in the world. My sweet babies and husband. We had a picnic and hiked up Kennesaw Mountain. It was so nice to get out after we have had so much snow and cold weather over the past month. Anna Caitlin was a trooper!! Drew and Macie both got very tired during our climb, but we had a great time.

Later that night, we celebrated with great friends at Maggianos. We always love going to eat family style and spending time with some of our oldest and dearest friends. We had such a great time. Nothing can compare to spending an entire evening laughing with these girls over both our childhood and adult memories!


On Sunday, we celebrated mine and Mom's birthdays at Sapporo's Japanese Steakhouse...our annual tradition. The kids love watching the fire when they cook in front of us. But we sure did miss having dad with us this year. Mom gave me some very special beads for my Pandora bracelet as a reminder of how blessed I am to have had such a great dad.

Winter Wonderland

Finally, the weather predictions were right! We have six inches of snow on the ground! It was so beautiful to watch the snow fall late Sunday night. I have never seen it snow so hard with such big flakes...we had the ground completely covered in just 45 minutes...that does not happen in Georgia!


Monday morning, we got to sleep in and then we got ready to play in the snow. There is a ton of snow, with a layer of ice on the top, which means perfect sledding conditions. We met up with the Riveras, Macenzie, and Abbie, for a fun afternoon of sledding. We had a great time!



Afterwards, we came in for some chili, hot dogs, and snow cream, and to play with Macenzie and Abbie. It was an absolutely perfect day. I was snowed in with my very favorite people, with no where to be, and nothing that had to be done. What an unexpected day of fun!



It is now Tuesday, and the snow and ice are not melting, with no sign of it getting better in the near future. It is not supposed to go above freezing until Friday. What a fabulous way to spend the week with my family! We have already been out playing and sledding this morning. Joshua has even started sledding by himself! I could not ask for a more perfect way to spend my week!

Drew sledding with Brandon

Mommy sledding with the kids

Merry White Christmas to All!!

Christmas is finally here! There is nothing like watching your children walk down the stairs on Christmas morning and seeing their smiles...it is priceless! This year, Drew came in our room to get us up, but we had to wake up Anna Caitlin and Joshua...they were exhausted! As we came down the stairs, a special surprise was waiting in the living room by the Christmas tree...Santa brought a puppy!! Anna Caitlin was super excited and focused all of her attention on sweet Macie. Drew was a little bit more mellow...he did not feel very good. He was very excited about his flying Batman and his Iron Man shooter (once he felt better, he became a big fan of Macie!!). Joshua was not a huge fan of our Macie. Macie thinks that Joshua is his size, so he must be a toy for her to play with. Joshua's new favorite phrase is "no, no dog." But Joshua was very excited about all of his Elmo toys and his car ramp.


After we went through our Santa gifts, each child gets to open three presents, just like baby Jesus. Anna Caitlin loved her doorbell and Drew loved his Spiderman DS game...Joshua really liked just ripping up the paper! Grammie spent the night with us, so we were so glad that she was there to celebrate too!



After we finished with gifts, we went over to Uncle Brent and Aunt Shanna's house for some yummy breakfast and to see what Santa brought Macenzie and Abbie. And this year, we got a VERY special treat. It started snowing!! It snowed all day long and we got our first white Christmas in over a century.



After breakfast, we headed over the Mama Judi and Papa Johnny's house for lunch and gifts. We enjoyed spending time with them and the Brown and Jones families. We gave them a very special gift as well. A DVD with pictures of all of our families over the years...they loved it! And as usual, the kids loved their gifts over there as well. Anna Caitlin got a laptop, Drew got a remote control Iron Man, and Joshua got a cool guitar! Mama Judi also gave us another very cool gift...a Disney Cruise with the family next Thanksgiving! We are so excited, we cannot wait!



Merry, merry Christmas to all! May you always remember the reason we celebrate and may God bless your family throughout the coming year!!

Our first White Christmas...


Christmas at Mama Judi and Papa Johnny's house...


Playing in the snow the day after Christmas. Drew was inside with a 101 fever :(



Anna Caitlin told us Macie likes the snow so much because she has been living in the North Pole for the past three months...



"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord."

Twas the Night Before Christmas

After the long wait, Christmas Eve is finally here!! Christmas Eve is alway spent at Grammie and Granddaddy's house. This year, all five of the grandkids spent the night with Grammie on the 23rd, so they could wake up there on Christmas Eve morning. They had a great time watching Christmas movies and eating popcorn and Coke floats. And it gave Mommy and Daddy a chance to get everything ready for Christmas at home!



The kids were so excited all day to open presents!! After a yummy Christmas dinner, it was time to get started. When Drew got his second present he said "Mommy, you mean we get to open more than one??" He was SO excited! Grammie, like always, outdid herself with the gifts. Some of our favorites were Anna Caitlin's Wii drawing game, Drew's Mario games, and Joshua's spinning car ramp. I love to watch the excitement on their faces as they open things. And I was so proud of how grateful they were for everything as they always thanked Grammie for every gift that they opened.



We did not head home until around 11 to get ready for Santa the next morning. All three kids stayed awake the whole way home in the car! When we got home, we put out reindeer food and got ready for Santa to come visit. There is nothing like watching Christmas through the eyes of children!

It's me, Mario!!



Grammie, I love all of my presents!

Joshua tries out Drew's Buzz wings.

Me and Mom...