Christmas Eve 2012

 Our Christmas Tree

 Our Bedroom Tree

 Our Fireplace

 The Living Room Tree

This Christmas was one to go down in the record books for sure!  We'll start with Christmas Eve.  We had Luke's family over for lunch.  I fixed a ham, corn casserole, blushing apples, green beans, and roasted potatoes.  It was a feast.  We had fun visiting and opening presents. We had eaten so much, I think everyone was ready for a nap.  Luke and I went to Christmas Eve service at church- which was interesting to say the least.  No Christmas story was read....strange.  We ended the night with our annual Waffle House feast.  Reed was able to join us again this year.  We switched up our food orders though.  Instead of me having my usual All-Star, I got a Patty Melt- Reed's usual.  My oh my it was DELICIOUS!!!  I'm gonna try making those at home! 

1st Electric Christmas Party

We went to Luke's work Christmas party last night.  I always dread these events based on past experience.  There's always rude people, nerds, unfriendly spouses, and the dreaded alcohol....that everyone seems to be drinking.  All I can think of is- who's driving again?  Anyhow.  As it turns out, this Christmas party was a blast!  It was family oriented, no alcohol, and even had good food for a change.  We sat by some people that Luke knew from work and the conversations were actually tolerable.  They served steaks, baked potatoes, salad, and cheesecake.  The only drawback seemed to be paper plates and plastic utensils.  Have you ever tried to cut a steak with a plastic fork and plastic butter knife?  Let's just say your arms get a workout- and so did my brand new sweater.  The lady sitting next to me ordered her steak WELL done.  I mean that thing had to be dead twice, it was plain burnt.  Therefore, she decided to cover it in A1 steak sauce.  Well, every time she took a swing at sawing on her steak, the A1 splattered all over my new sweater.  So, at the end of the night, my sweater for sure had a date with Mr. Shout!!! 

They even played BINGO at this party which was a lot of fun. I kept looking at the prizes, and even told the Lord- I think I'd like the first one over there.  Well, after I found out it was a steam rice cooker- I quickly told him- well, no thanks.  However, I did win a 1st Electric Afghan. 

All in all, it was a great evening.  On the ride home I told Luke about the night I found out he was laid off from his last job.  I told the prayer shawl ladies that night that I was ready for a family oriented, friendly, and no alcohol at the Christmas party- kinda job!  As it turns out, that's exactly what the Lord had planned all along.  So, we'll take the pay cut and all for this kind of an atmosphere! 

Boo at the Zoo

So, I'm a little late in posting this- we're getting ready for Thanksgiving already!  Lily, Christylee, and I went to Boo at the Zoo.  It was my first time to go!  What a great time we had.  We snacked on smore's and chocolate milk as well as some fried potato chips- which really were nasty!  Lily had a blast riding the rides.  I think her favorite one was the huge slide!  We even rode the train at the zoo.  Lily also got her face painted- she picked blue glitter stars. She looked so cute as Snow White.  Christylee added spray glitter to her hair before we went in- I had memories of Aunt Debbi spraying my hair with hairspray when I was little.  Too cute!

Fall Color

Luke and I took a day trip to Northern Arkansas to check out the fall color.  We ended up meeting Mom and Dad for lunch in Jasper.  The trees were so beautiful in some areas.  Most of these pictures were taken at Steel Creek.  It's a horse camp, and of course, I couldn't resist taking pictures of some horses.  We left the house around 7:30 in the morning and ended up back home by 7 that night.  It was a packed but fun day.  I love the Ponca and Boxley Valley area- it is simply beautiful!

Ryan's 1st Birthday!

Sweet little Ryan had his first birthday this past Saturday.  I can't believe it's been a year already!!!  He is such a cutie.  His birthday party was farm themed.  The cake was adorable as well as the balloons.  He LOVES balloons!!!  Luke and I had a great time watching him open gifts.  Here are just s few of my favorite pictures from Saturday!