Celebrating All Week

Happy Birthday to our Savior! I am so thankful for this season to celebrate the one who came to Earth to walk where we walk and pay the ultimate sacrifice for us. I am blessed to be His daughter. This past week we have enjoyed celebrating with family. Here is a rundown of the last few days... lots of pictures... and lots of fun! Last Tuesday Matt and I loaded the car (it's ridiculous to look at the amount of stuff that 2 people can take) and headed out.

We made a stop in Oxford on the way to visit with Matt's family and do Christmas with them. It was fun to catch up with them and eat some goodies before hitting the road heading towards Gatlinburg.

We stopped on the way to get a Christmas tree. Matt tied this thing to the top of the car in the rain. If you are ever in the market to wait until the last day to get your tree... you can get a good deal --this sucker was on sale for $11.99, can't beat that.

A few days later we celebrated Dad's birthday!! We stayed up the night before blowing up balloons and doing a little decorating. Sister made a fabulous (gluten free just for dad) cake. We opened presents, ate some cake, and celebrated 59 years for the pops!

A few photos and then it was off to Dollywood. Have you ever been? I would describe it as a country amusement park. We love some Dollywood!

We didn't get to do much at Dollywood because the temperatures were absolutely freezing and the roller coasters were closing down. We did do this bungee ropes course contraption thing. It was interesting. We had other family here with us, but I didn't seem to take many pictures because my hands were numb.

The next day was Christmas Eve and we did some last minute shopping and a few more family photos and it was off to have dinner with the whole fam.

We got to meet our newest family member, my cousin and his wife had a little boy in Oct, Caleb. Such a cutie! My aunt Susan had a little surprise for the fam and don't let all that blue blind you, we now have official family t-shirts. I know, you are jealous. I used to make fun of these things when I would see them in the thrift store, but now I am a proud owner of one myself. It's centered around "Christmas Vacation" because this fits our family perfect and we watch the movie together every year. On the back is a top ten list of our favorite Christmas memories (don't think sappy here, people, our family is crazy).

It's Christmas Day and guess what... SNOW!! And lots of it. The night before we knew it was probably going to snow all weekend and get worse as it went on, so we left the 2 non-4 wheel drive cars at the top of the hill and decided we better leave Christmas afternoon to ensure we would get down the mountain. Well, we didn't leave early enough... because the snow came fast and got deep quickly. So, we decided we better stay put and just enjoy it... more to come on that in a minute. So, here we are enjoying it!!

We came in for some delicious breakfast made by sister and mom and decided to open our stockings. Our family really gets into stockings.. not just candy.. good stuff, like stickers with your name on them (thanks sister) and flashlights, eye masks, and who can pass up some good chip clips that double as earrings?!

After stockings we opened presents! Fun times!! As you can see dad really enjoyed his new coat. At this point we are still planning on staying until the next day or possibly the next, until the snow melts some... soon the craziness will start.

After presents we went back into the snow and this time with the sled. I have not been on a sled in a long long time. This puppy was so much fun. We have some great video, but these pictures will have to do for now. We even got mom on that thing. Mom and Dad's house has a great driveway for sledding, so we took advantage of it.

Now, here's where the pictures end... let me give you a quick rundown of what happened next. The rest of the day was planned to meet up with the rest of the fam, have our nice Christmas lunch, do presents with them, lounge around, sip on cocoa, you know, all the fun stuff... didn't happen like that. My aunt called mom as we were walking up the driveway from sledding and said... uh, I think we better get out of here today, it's going to get worse. We literally flew around the house like mad people, packing, cleaning and shuttling our stuff up to our cars to get out as quick as we could. It was nuts! I almost peed in my pants going down that mountain, it was scary scary, but we made it home safe and sound (all the way driving in the snow) and enjoyed every minute of this time with family! We made memories we will never forget. Thank you Lord!

Christmas With Grandma

This weekend we celebrated Christmas with my grandma. Let the Christmas fun begin! Matt was a little under the weather with the stomach virus some last week... poor guy, but his appetite is back and ready for some good cooking.

Grandma doesn't like her picture taken, but sister and I always make her pose for lots of photos. She's a trooper!

And now one with the boys.

This was one of many shots to get a family photo. It's the best we could do with the camera set up on 10 books and the coffee table. Happy times!

In other Christmas fun, Friday night we went to the Alabama Theater to see Christmas Vacation. Scottie, mom and dad came and it was a night of laughs. Cousin Scottie informed us when we got there that he had never seen the movie. He was rolling on the floor laughing... even at some quiet parts when you weren't supposed to laugh. My face was hurting at the end of the night. You can never see this movie too many times.

Festive Attire

That's us... in case you weren't sure. I know, don't be jealous of this festiveness. We had our small group Christmas party this weekend and the challenge was up again for some tacky Christmas attire. Matt and I will not disappoint, and we are always up for a good challenge. Just in case you can't see.. those pretty little panty hose have candy canes on them. My dear friend at school let me borrow her beautiful skirt, tights, and a gorgeous poinsettia purse (not pictured) that just made the outfit complete with the hip sweater I got from my... um, mom's house. (I love you mom!)

Kellie, me, Whitney, Hope, and Johnna... quick pick before our ornament swap. Which by the way, I got a great one. I actually had 3 great ones and some people stole them from me. That is why I don't like those games.. I get attached and then they get taken.

David and Jennifer are always good sports... they just added a little bling to their outfits from last year.

The ladies... although we had some boogers not participate, who are probably going to get coal in their stocking now, it was a lot of fun.

Matt has sure gotten his money out of these green pants. They have now made their rounds to a St. Patty's day party and 2 Christmas parties. He was proud of that vest too!

Serving Others

It was year number 2 for our family to gather and serve dinner at The Foundry. What a blessing it was!! Here is Sister and I in front of our food table. I know it doesn't look like much, but we served ham, hashbrown casserole, green beans, deviled eggs, rolls, and some delish chocolate pound cake. The men ate and ate and ate, until it was gone.

Dad and Matt look like they are innocent, but they were walking around scoping out what others brought to serve. They were sizing up the competition.

Here's our table all set and ready. Mom did a great job decorating it.

The fam!!

Matt and Steven were dying for a photo in front of the Christmas tree on stage. They will treasure this pic forever.

The girls. We had such a great time serving others, together as a family.

Matt took a picture from the stage. Look at all the men that were able to be fed that night. God is so awesome!

Matteo was feeling a little adventurous when we got home and decided to shave his beard... you know he does it in stages and left the crustache for us to enjoy for a bit!!

It's Over

Friday night was Matt's last game and the state championship. They had a great season, but unfortunately lost by 1 point in the end.

Here's my stud of a husband at the Buc Walk. It was kind of like Christmas... you wait there in line all this time for the team to come down and then it's over in a flash. But I did manage to get this one quick pic of my man.

We got to sit in the sky box, which was a nice plus. Here is Paige and me enjoying the warmth because it was a little chilly that night.

Of course moms and pops came for the fun. They never miss a game. The game was at Auburn and I have to admit it was difficult setting foot into this town. I sort of felt like I was betraying my Tide.

Cousin Scottie came along for the ride too. He was a trooper with my speedy driving to get us there on time. I told him to cover his eyes and sit back and relax.

And the end... didn't turn out the way we had hoped. But we are blessed to have made it this far and enjoyed every minute of it!

And here we are today... Poor guy is absolutely worn out. This is the first Sunday in 4 months that he has had off... this is where he went after we got home from church today. He deserves it.

And what's that black furry thing at his feet....Harley never wants anyone to have to rest alone.