Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Christmas 2009

Here is just a look back at this past Christmas Weekend.
Christmas Eve:
Andrew had to work all day on Christmas Eve, so I tried to keep myself busy.
Clara, Lindy and I went on our annual out to eat lunch for Christmas Eve.
(Here we are before we went to go eat. Charlie wanted to go too.)
This year, they picked McDonald's.

(Playing at McDonald's)

In the afternoon, I drove to Greenville to spend the evening with Andrew's family. We went to the Christmas Eve Service at church, then went to eat dinner at Long Horn. After dinner we went to look at Christmas lights. Andrew called at 8:30 pm to let me know he was on his way home from work, so I left Greenville, so we would get home at about the same time. Andrew wanted to eat at Waffle House, so off we went to get some hash browns and waffles. Since I had already eaten dinner, I just got dessert. Andrew on the other hand, had a full Waffle House meal, scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, diced, peppered, capped, topped and countried. And believe it or not, he slept just fine that night.

Christmas Day:

The morning started out with Breakfast Casserole and opening presents. This year, we decided to save some money for a new computer, so we decided to only spent $20 on each other. Well, Andrew broke the rules and got me the Creative Memories Digital Storybook Creator. I am super excited to use it. I followed the rules, and just got him a bunch of fun things. Molly and Toby got new toys and a big bone.

That afternoon we went to my parents house to celebrate with my family. In total, there were 17 of us there, with 7 of those being under the age of 6. It's always a fun time when the whole family is together. We had lots of food, and lots of laughs. Clara helped read the Christmas Story this year. My Dad was so proud of her. All of the kids had a fun time opening their gifts, and it was pretty crazy there for a little bit. We also do a white elephant gift exchange with all of the adults, and that is always fun to see what everyone found around the house to bring. Some are good gifts, and others are not so good. But it's always a fun game to play.

Here are Andrew and I holding Baby Elise. Hopefully next Christmas we will be holding a baby of our own. Christmas with the Wolff's:
We didn't get to celebrate Christmas with Andrew's family until Sunday. We had a nice lasagna lunch with his Granny, Uncle, Aunt, and cousin. Then that evening we had some appetizers and opened presents. While we were eating dinner, Santa came for a visit! Maggie was scared to death. She wanted nothing to do with the jolly fellow. Here is the hat I made for Maggie for Christmas! Everyone loved it! As you can see, Maggie was very tired, but I think she liked it too.

What a wonderful Christmas we had! We have such wonderful Family, and it is a blessing to be able to spend time with all of them during the Holiday. I hope you all had a great Christmas too!Looking forward to a wonderful 2010!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

My wonderful husband turns 29 today! I am so blessed to have such a caring Husband. He works hard, and Loves Jesus. He makes me laugh on a daily basis and he has such a big heart. I am so blessed to have him in my life and couldn't imagine life without him.
Happy Birthday Andrew!
I hope you have a wonderful Birthday Celebration!
I Love You!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Happy Birthday Kelly!

"A Sister is God's way of proving He doesn't want us to walk alone "
Today, my sister Kelly turns 30!! Happy Birthday Kelly! I hope you have a wonderful Day!This was taken on Christmas, she is holding her youngest, Elise.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours!

Monday, December 21, 2009

My Largest Crochet Project

A little back story: When my sisters and I were all born, my Mom made us each our own crocheted blanket. About 3 years ago, she taught me how to crochet with just a basic stitch. Well, last summer, I asked her if she would teach me how to make a blanket like the ones she made for each of us. She had said it was the first pattern she ever learned how to crochet, and probably one of the more difficult ones. So, she taught me the pattern and I made a small baby blanket for one of my nieces. While making that blanket, my Mom mentioned that she would love a blanket like that, but using brown and turquoise. I took that as my cue to make her a blanket. I started the blanket last fall to give to my Mom as a Christmas present.
Well, for Christmas she got half of a completed blanket, with a promise that I would complete it. Well, fast forward 1 year, and it is finally done. This is, by far, is the largest project I have ever undertaken. While working on it, I timed myself to see how long one row took to complete. I am a pretty fast crocheter, but each row took 30 minutes! And there are 56 rows of brown and 56 rows of turquoise! That is 112 rows, times 30 minutes = 56 hours! That is a lot of time and love put into this blanket, but it was all worth it, because my Mom loves her blanket. The finished size is 6' X 4'! I gave it to her on Friday for her birthday. Yes, the same blanket for two gifts, almost a year apart. What can I say, it was big enough to count as two gifts. After I was finished, I wished I could have kept it for myself, it was so warm and comfy. If I start now, by next Christmas I could have one for me.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to the Best Mom in the World! I Love you and I hope you have a wonderful day!
One day, I hope to be as good of a Mom as you are.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Christmas Card


Here is our Christmas Card for this year.
I look forward to making our cards every year, and this year was no exception. I actually made them in October. I was way ahead of schedule.

The Front
The Inside
It reads "May the glory of Christ's birth bring you joy and hope at Christmas time and always."

I usually put a picture of Andrew and I from our vacation during the year, but this year, I wanted my sister to take some "Christmas" pictures of us. And of course, I wanted to make sure my Dogs made an appearance on our card too.

The pictures were taken by Sarah Hawkins Photography. Go Check her out!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Christmas Tour of Homes

Welcome to my Home. I don't have that many Christmas decorations, everything is really simple, and not too elaborate. Here is my front door. Just a simple wreath.
Here is my Christmas Tree that we have in our living room. It is a real Douglas Fir Tree. We have had a real tree every year since we've been married. I Actually made the tree skirt the first year we were married. I also made matching stockings, which you will see further down. My ornaments are just a good variety. I don't have a "theme" or a color scheme. I have several that have special meaning. Like this one from Hamburg. My Jennifer gave this to me last year for Christmas when she was living there. It's really special now that I have gone to Hamburg. This ornament I got at Buckingham Palace when I was in London earlier this year. I got each one of these ornaments for my fur babies for their first Christmas.

My Fireplace decor. Everyone has a stocking, even the dogs.


The stockings I made for our first Christmas. I try to get a new pin for our stockings each year, although I have missed one or two.
Here is mine.

And this is Andrew's.
Here is my nativity on my mantel. I got the Nativity Set from my parents when I got married.
This is the top of my TV cabinet.
This tree is made from kudzu, and my friend Jessica's Mom made it. I blogged about it last year when I got it. I have it sitting on a small table in my entry way.

Here is my dining room. When I was little, we had a tree just like this, so when I saw it at the pottery store to paint, I had to get it to continue the tradition. I have it sitting on top of my china cabinet.
Here is my dining room table. The cute Christmas china I got for a steal a few years ago after Christmas. I made the napkin rings last year, and they were super easy to make. Here is the outside decorations. We only do wreaths on the windows, no lights. (Molly wanted to be in the picture too)
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have enjoyed my little tour.
Merry Christmas!