12-17-11

We've had lots going on the past couple of weeks so I wanted to get a blog post done so that I wouldn't forget. Shelby was in a Christmas concert with the Arlington's Children's Choir. We had a silent auction and bake sale to raise money for the Choir. Mike and I volunteered so we were outside handing out programs and directing people before the show started.
The concert was so good. We had great seats because Abby and Mrs. Donna, a friend from our church, saved them for us.


We headed down south last Friday to be in a parade with Mike's parents. My parents came down to be with my brother's family on Sunday because my niece and nephew were baptized. I wish I had been able to stay and be there for their baptism but we had to be back at our church for Sunday service. I can't express what a blessing they are.



We wanted to get our Christmas picture out of the way before leaving. These are some of the outtakes and they crack me up. The girls are making the funniest faces. Can you tell they were so over the picture taking. They were just ready to be done.


This one was funny because Mike was trying to get into the picture and he just couldn't get down in the floor fast enough.

I am so in love with our tree this year. It is so full and pretty. It was funny that we got such a great tree considering that when we went to Home Depot to get it there was a ton of people there. The trees were still tied up with string because all the ones that were open were already picked over. I pulled my trusty fold-up scissors from Smoky Mtn Knife Works out of my purse and snipped those strings. We took one look at it and said, "Looks good." With that and standing it line to get it trimmed, a trip through the netting thingy, paying for it and strapping it to the top of the van, it came home with us.

Tomorrow at 5pm will be my first Open House as a Pastor's wife. I thought I would be nervous but I'm not. I don't know if I'm naive or what but I'm so excited. I've done all my shopping, prep work, and pretty much all the cleaning. I hope to take pictures so I'll post about it this week. I just wish my Pastor's Wives Book Study friends could be here to enjoy it with me. They just don't know how much I miss them and our time together.

Hope y'all have a great day of worship tomorrow.

11-30-11

Thanksgiving Day

Our day started out with Mike having to go to Walgreens because somehow...ahem...I left my bag of toiletries at home. In fact, I had a major meltdown the night before when I realized I didn't have my trusty, fake blue leather Winnie the Pooh bag that I have carried out of town with us for many years.

While he was out finding me a round brush, deodorant, and hair care products, my sister came to see us at the hotel. Then, we went to Jessie's house so I could make the Blueberry Delight that Trevor requested. We were able to spend some time with them and then we headed to Jessie's brother's house for Thanksgiving dinner.

It was great. They had a wonderful spread of food. Everything was delicious. We were thrilled to spend another Thanksgiving with the Williamson family. After dinner, we headed out to a field for a game of touch football.

John (Jessie's Dad), Matt (Jessie's brother), Daniel (Jessie's cousin), Trevor, and Jessie with Zadie

This picture makes me laugh because Jessie is holding Zadie like she's the football:)

Shelby, Abby, Justin (Jessie's oldest brother), Stephanie (Justin's wife), and Luke (Jessie's brother)

After the big game we came inside to hear some good music. Jessie's family is very talented so they played some good stuff.

11-28-11

I didn't post for three days because there was just so much going on and I was trying to soak every last bit of it up.

Wednesday~ we left around 5 am and stopped at Hardees for a fine southern biscuit for breakfast. We had only a slight deviation from the itinerary for a quick stop at Walmart near the Tennessee line for a coat because one of us left theirs at home. We had to stop for lunch at Pal's for a Pal Burger and some Frenchie fries. After we fortified ourselves we made the trek through the beautiful Smokey Mountains to Gaitlinburg and up Ski Mountain Road to Ober. Ski Mountain Road is the kind of road that has a sign at the beginning saying, "In the winter months only cars with chains are allowed." Mike and I thought this would be a good way to break up the long trip and it was.

We rode the ski lift up to the Alpine Slide. It was quite chilly on the side of that mountain so one of us was really glad we stopped and bought that coat. We picked up our sleds and got in line for our trip down the mountain. They let you go two by two so I rode on one slide with Shelby and Mike rode on the other with Abby. Abby was a little apprehensive because she had never done it before and you can go pretty fast. Well, somehow we weren't even in line so Abby went ahead of us. That wouldn't have been so bad but a guy lost his cell phone on the track and they wouldn't let anyone go until it was located and all the pieces cleaned off because it could've caused someone to wreck. Mike and I were getting a little panicked because Abby is going down this huge slide on the side of a mountain and we were stuck at the top waiting to go. We thought for sure she would be at the end and freaking out because she was all by herself. We shouldn't have worried. When they gave us the green light all three of us took off down that mountain to "rescue" Abby. She wasn't even to the end yet. We laughed and laughed because she was going so super slow that Mike caught up with her before she even realized she was alone.

After that ride, we rode the ski lift again but this time we rode it all the way to the top of the mountain. I'll tell you one thing, that view NEVER gets old. I have mountain blood running through my veins and the sight of them just makes me feel at home. It was really, really cold on that mountain top.

After that little detour, we got back on track just in time to get stuck in some holiday traffic. When that busted loose it was smooth sailing all the way to Jessie's house where we followed her and Trevor to our ridiculously cheap hotel room. Not cheap as in a bad room, cheap as in "we feel like we're stealing this is costing us so little". The room was perfect.

Stay tuned for more detail rich posts about our trip because I want to document it for our family.

HOLIDAY OUTINGS

The first thing we did to kick off the holiday season was Shadrack's Christmas Wonderland at Jellystone Park. We received a coupon to get in free (Thanks, Misti) and we thought it was so cool. Thankfully, we had the coupon because we thought it was a little pricey if you had to pay the full amount to get in.



Next, we went to Ice! at Opryland. Mike was able to snag a coupon for Buy two tickets, get two free so we were able to go at a reduced rate.





It was cool. I mean, COLD!! They give you parkas to wear and thank goodness for that!!! It was a nice temperature outside so I just wore a pair of slip on shoes~~with no socks. Yeah, by the time we left there my little piggies were freezing. There was a slide made of ice and Mike and the girls braved that. Mike flew down that thing and made me glad I decided to just watch.





Friday night we went to the Nashville Parade. It was cold, not as cold as Ice!, but cold enough to make you want to dance around to get warm. This has been a tradition since we moved here except one year, I think.

They start the night off with the Tree Lighting at the Capitol, then The Rudolph 5k Run/Walk, followed by fireworks and the parade. It really is a fun evening.


We are looking forward to more fun things on the agenda this week.

I'M GONNA BE ORIGINAL HERE.....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a full, fun New Year's Eve.

The girls and I started off downtown for a rally to support Israel. It was a good history lesson for the girls and we had some good discussions on the way there and back.

Mason, Abby, and Shelby

Then we went and saw The Tale of Despereaux. We had all read the book for school and were somewhat disappointed in the movie. I think if we had not read the book the movie would have been better. I recommend you read the book even if you have seen the movie. The book is SO good and quite a bit different than the movie.

Mason enjoying his Thin Mints.
Then we headed to Marvin and Sonia's for a party. We laughed so hard we were wheezing. I introduced them to The Office. We watched the first two episodes. I think they are hooked now.
Sonia and I
(Trevor said that I look weird in this picture. I told him,"Baby, it is 2:30 in the morning and we have been going non stop since 7am yesterday morning. I am entitled to look a little weird!! ")
Trevor ready to watch more Poker. (Teenagers and their mopey pictures:~)

Marvin pumped up on the hard stuff, Dr. Pepper and Oreos.

We got home around 9 am this morning and took down our tree and packed all the decorations away. Well, except for the snowmen. I think they will be hanging around til the end of January. Mike had to work so he missed out on all the fun. This year he will be choosing the holidays he has to work a little better. Umm, he's thinking Presidents Day is looking good.

YES! MORE DADGUM PICTURES!!! IT'S MY BLOG!!!!

Lexy trying to trim herself instead of the tree.
*Trev took all of these on his iphone*

Lexy and Pawpaw at House of Beef.

Samuel and Steven~they are brudders.

Abby and the squishy bundle of baby goodness.

Trevor taking pics of sweet Kaiya

Look at that smile~I think she just filled her diaper:~)

THANKSGIVING '08 BABY!!!!

**warning~~lots of pics in no particular order

Shelby helping decorate Granny and Papaw's tree.

Abby loving all the ornaments.

Shelby getting her ears pierced!

Abby doing the same.

Abby, Kenzie, and Shelby at the movies to see Bolt.

Sweet Samuel

Tater bug.

Oh sweet mercy~look at that cuddly bundle of sweetness.

Shelby enjoying that sweetness.

Shelby, Lexy, Kenzie, and Abby hanging out at Granny's.

HAPPY LOVE DAY!!!

Here is how we are spending this day of love:




I decorated with things we already had, and so, my expenses for Valentine's Day were low.

I only spent $8.00 and that was for candy for the girls' parties at Tutorial.

I found the tablecloth with Winnie the Pooh and Friends in a bag I got from a store that was going out of business. (It's a piece of fabric, it works!!)

The pan for the cupcakes I got here.

I like to use books that we already had to decorate the mantel. I sometimes use books from the library. I think I got the idea from here.

I got some sweet stuff from my Honey.

It has been a "lovely" day.

CHRISTMAS ADVENTURES

We have been doing a lot of Christmas-y things the past few days and I wanted to share them with all of you!!

December 7
Here we ate at Arby's before the Parade

Shelby and Abby watching the parade!

December 8

Seeing Santa at Krispy Kreme on Saturday morning

Abby eating her doughnut that she got to frost and put sprinkles on.

Shelby doing the same!!

December 9

We went to " A Walk thru Bethlehem". It is a cool thing one of the churches here put on every year. They make their gym like a real Bethlehem marketplace with costumes and the whole thing! The girls got to make a ragdoll, weave a bracelet, feel sheep's wool and pet sheep, watch grapes being mashed, watch an olive press, see fish dried with salt, and more!! This is a real treat for us every year. There are no pictures of this because Mike was video taping and as soon as he gets a cable I will upload some of it.

After the walk thru Bethlehem we went to the mall and participated in building a menorah made of legos. It was real cool and they loved it. They got dreidels and chocolate coins.

Trevor worked this weekend and went to a Christmas party for work so we got no pictures. Although he did go with us to Krispy Kreme and to build the menorah.

Our Church's Christmas Cantata was Sunday night and Shelby sang in that. She had a solo and she did great!! Again, Mike video taped it so I will upload it soon.

One of the best things about all these events were they were FREE!! Well, we did buy doughnuts but we probably would have anyway. They are so good!!