Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper, I love wrapping and I think it cheats you out of the present opening experience to just open a bag and pull out your present.(even though they do have some really cute bags)
2. Real tree or Artificial? I would like to have a fake one to save money but my hubby grew up with real trees his whole life and MUST have a real one. Plus I like the smell of the real ones!
3. When do you put up the tree? There haven't been many years that we haven't put the Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. (And have to take it down Christmas day because we are afraid of the fire hazard!LOL)
4. When do you take the tree down? Oops I answered the this one in the above question.
5. Do you like eggnog? Less and less every year so I usually limit my intake to 1 or 2 glasses a year. I like diluting it down with milk. I have never been brave enough to try the sprite or 7-up diluting. 
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably our Trampoline
7. Hardest person to buy for? Russell
8. Easiest person to buy for? Kennadee. It's a little TOO easy. If I had money that girl would be so SPOILED!!
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yep, I even painted it myself.
10. Best Christmas gift you ever received? This year we are getting a house does that count?
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of one.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie (s)? Home Alone 1&2, The Santa Claus 1&3,Elf, & Christmas Shoes

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Depends on the year this year I started in September. Two years ago I started in July.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yep
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Breakfast Casserole & All of our homemade candies.
16. Lights on the tree? Yes we do tons and tons of lights
17. Favorite Christmas song? Baby it's cold outside (the Zoey Deschanel version from Elf)
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? This year we are staying here. We will go back and forth between our house & Diana's.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, & Rudolph
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open one on Christmas Eve (usually pajamas) and the rest Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Absolutely nothing! I love everything about this time of year!!
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? We don't really have a traditional Christmas Day dinner. We do Clam chowder on Christmas Eve
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Stuff for the new house

Photo Shoot

My awesome brother-in-law Aaron did a fabulous photo shoot for our family pictures today. He and my sister are budding photographers and have this awesome "ghetto studio" as they call it. But when you look at the pictures he did for us today there is nothing ghetto about them!! Thank you so much Aaron for our awesome pictures!! And thanks for doing them for us on your birthday!! Happy Birthday Man!!

Christmas Sweater

This sweater was mine when I was around Kennadee's age (20+ years ago). I pulled it out of storage this morning to see if it would fit her and it totally does!! When I was little I LOVED that sweater which is why 20 some years later I still have it!! I felt so special when I wore it. It was so warm (now it's a little threadbare) and it had the M on it for Maria! I loved it!! Kennadee likes it a lot too. I told her the M was for Mommy and she said " yeah and the hearts are for Kennadee" It was so cute!! I hope she likes it and feels as special in it as I did when I was her age.

O Christmas Tree

A week or so before Thanksgiving the fancy-schmancy mall in Austin (it's called The Domain) had a Christmas Tree lighting of their Macy's Christmas Tree. They had some carolers perform and then later in the evening there were to be Fireworks and a performance by American Idol winner 2007 Jordan Sparks.  

When we got to the plaza this^ was a close as we were to the stage. But we were a couple of hours early so we didn't think that Kennadee would be able to handle sitting there in her stroller for two hours so we walked around and looked at the stores. We didn't want to feel bad about our poverty stricken selves to we didn't go into many of the stores namely Neiman Marcus,  Barney's New York, Tiffany's, J Crew, & Louis Vuitton. So we mainly hung out in the Borders book store and Macy's.

When it was time to start the show they had a lot of different people perform before it was time to see Jordan they had a little interview with her but it seemed like it would be forever until she performed Kennadee had to go to the bathroom therefore making it impossible for us to stay so we had to go before Jordan performed and before the lighting of the tree. Oh well at least we beat the traffic getting out of there. And we made it to a restaurant before they got really crowded.

Here is Russell trying to warm up Kennadee's hands because she was freezing cold.

And here is our little Christmas tree. We got it the day after Thanksgiving. We weren't going to get a real tree this year. But when Russell saw them at Wal-Mart and that this one was only $25

He HAD to get one!! I just hope it lasts all the way until Christmas. I guess if it doesn't it was cheap enough that we can go get a second one!!

I am so excited for this Christmas season!! Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went to my sister Diana's house this year which was the first year of our marriage that we haven't hosted Thanksgiving at our house. It was a little strange not hosting it but it was fun to have a change in tradition.

It was really fun. We had Aaron's sister Alicia and her husband and two boys and we also had our friends the Aleman family join us. 

While we were preparing Dinner Aaron's sister Alicia had some fun crafts for the kids. Kennadee made this pilgrim hat and a picture of a tree where she wrote (with help) what she was thankful for on little leaf stickers and stuck them to the tree. She had lots of fun doing it. 

Here is the gorgeous table full of food. I love all of Diana's fun serving dishes!! They definitely make the food look even better!! We had Turkey (made by Aaron the moistest turkey I have ever had!!) Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Rolls, Jell-o salad, green beans, sweet potato souffle & pies pies pies for dessert. 

Each plate has three candy corns on it to represent the 3 kernels of corn ration the pilgrims were going to have to eat. We each went around and said three things we were thankful for. It was really cool.

Here is the kiddy table. Kennadee had fun sitting with her cousins & friends at the table. They talked and laughed and had lots of fun. 

(Notice her super short hair? She and her cousin Hannah decided it would be fun to play barber shop and cut their hair. So I had to chop it all of to make it even. GRRRRRR!!)

Bold Tag

I've been seeing this tag on several blogs and I thought I would try it: You can do it too!! Just bold everything on this list you have done. As you will see by my list I haven't done much!!LOL

1. Started your own blog 

2. Slept under the stars 

3. Played in a band  

4. Visited Hawaii  

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity 

7. Been to Disneyland  

8. Climbed a mountain 

9. Held a praying mantis 

10. Sang a solo  

11. Bungee jumped  

12. Visited Paris 

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea  

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch  

15. Adopted a child 

16. Had food poisoning 

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty  

18. Grown your own vegetables 

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France  

20. Slept on an overnight train 

21. Had a pillow fight 

22. Hitch hiked (I've picked up a hitch hiker)  

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill  

24. Built a snow fort 

25. Held a lamb  

26. Gone skinny dipping 

27. Run a Marathon  

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 

29. Seen a total eclipse 

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset  

31. Hit a home run  

32. Been on a cruise  

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person  

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 

35. Seen an Amish community 

36. Taught yourself a new language  

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person  

39. Gone rock climbing 

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 

41. Sung karaoke 

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 

44. Visited Africa  

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight  

46. Been transported in an ambulance 

47. Had your portrait painted  

48. Gone deep sea fishing  

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris  

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling  

52. Kissed in the rain 

53. Played in the mud 

54. Gone to a drive-in theater  

55. Been in a movie 

56. Visited the Great Wall of China 

57. Started a business 

58. Taken a martial arts class 

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen 

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (no but I've sure purchased my fair share)   

62. Gone whale watching 

63. Got flowers for no reason 

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (tried but the sight of the needle made me almost pass out)

 65. Gone sky diving  

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 

67. Bounced a check 

 68. Flown in a helicopter  

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 

71. Eaten Caviar 

72. Pieced a quilt  

73. Stood in Times Square  

74. Toured the Everglades 

 75. Been fired from a job 

 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London  

77. Broken a bone 

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 

 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person  

80. Published a book  

81. Visited the Vatican  

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem 

84. Had your picture in the newspaper  

85. Read the entire Bible 

86. Visited the White House  

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating  

88. Had chickenpox 

89. Saved someone’s life  

90. Sat on a jury  

91. Met someone famous  

92. Joined a book club  

93. Lost a loved one  

94. Had a baby  

95. Seen the Alamo in person  

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake  

97. Been involved in a law suit  

98. Owned a cell phone 

99. Been stung by a bee

Can I Get A Tissue Please?

I'm sure you have all heard the song Christmas Shoes by Bob Carlisle. The first time I heard that song I was driving in Utah and it made me cry so hard that I had to pull over because I couldn't see through my tears!!

Anyway Russell and I were looking for movies in the Redbox and saw they had a movie called Christmas Shoes with Rob Lowe and Kimberly Williams Paisley so being in the Christmas mood we have been in we decided to rent it.

Now I am not the type who cries in general let alone at movies. I may occasionally tear up but I never cry. Well my friends this movie put me over the top. I was not only crying I was sobbing, bawling, sniffling, tears streaming down my cheeks crying at this movie!! My loving caring sensitive husband was laughing at me with every sob!! It is such a great movie!! Parts of it were a little cheesy I must admit but all in all it is a great tear jerking movie!! So run down to your nearest Redbox (or any movie rental place) and pick it up and make sure you have plenty of tissues!!!

Here's a sample of the Christmas Shoes song for those who haven't heard it.