Christmas Dinner at the neighbors, everyone checking out the prime rib!
Ellie in her new tinkerbell costume!
I just thought this picture was really cool, Elle had a fairy net from her costume over her head, but it kind of looks like a veil!
Tiny tinketbell feet
My favorite niece reading the phone book!
Tiny toes...
Tinker bell melting into the floor....
I’m so sad it’s already over!!! Christmas was great this year, Dave and I had our Christmas together on Sunday morning the 21, since we would both be going home to our parents that week. Dave surprised me with the most amazing gift…. a Nikkor (Nikon) 70-300mm lens for my D60!!!! I had NO idea… I thought it would be a few YEARS before I could graduate/afford to a professional lens like that, but I LOVE IT and got a lot of use out of it over Christmas! (More pics to come soon).
I went home to Kingwood on Christmas Eve. It was a quiet Christmas day for our family again this year, as it was just my mom, Skip, and I on Christmas morning! That afternoon we shared a special Christmas lunch with our awesome neighbors Melissa and Erik (and Melissa's parents from Ohio). Melissa made an AMAZING spread, including tons of appetizers, personal shrimp cocktails in crystal glasses (I was so impressed!!!) and fabulous prime rib!!! Melissa planned the entire lunch out, even decorating the table with place cards, ornaments, presents… it was beautiful!
My brother, sister in law, and Ellie came to Kingwood on Friday to stay with us for the weekend, we had so much fun! Ellie is at such a fun age, she talks ALL the time, and can recite her Disney movies for you… its hilarious! Plus she allowed me to photograph her all weekend! Having my new lens, and learning a lot about my camera from my sister in law made me so excited about having my own photography business one day! I still have a lot to learn, but I am SO excited! I plan to start building my portfolio over the next year, and maybe acquiring a copy of Photoshop so I can become savvy with that as well!
Having a few days away from the office was so nice, it was very hard to get back into the swing of things today. (Hence, why I am blogging while I should be working : ) ) Especially since I have another mini vacay coming up. Dave and I fly out to Phoenix on Saturday morning for the Fiesta bowl! We will be gone until Tuesday, but I am so excited to get away for a few days! We may drive up to the Grand Canyon one day, or Sedona, we’re not sure yet. I’m a little apprehensive about the plane ride… so if you get around to it, say a little prayer for me on Saturday morning : )
Hope to get all my pics off the camera today! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!!!
I am guilty of sometimes forgetting what Christmas is all about. This is a pretty powerful reminder!
Happy Birthday Jesus!
Seriously, where has the time gone… Some updates from the past few weeks:
Texas beat A&M, the game was fun! I got heckled quite a bit by our friends who knew I went to A&M. I haven’t seen the Aggies play in person since I was in school! So it was kind of weird to see the band again, and hear the fight song, I proudly sang along! (While Dave grimaced) And then somehow OU jumped us in the BCS pole, so that led to Texas NOT going to the big 12 championship… Which everyone had to talk about for 1 week straight, and everyone had to give their opinion a dozen times… I was kind of over it, although I myself was a little upset at the outcome. And now Texas will be going to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale AZ, and Dave and I will be in attendance to cheer on the Horns! I’m excited to finally get a vacation!! Even if it involves football… We’re also planning to drive to the Grand Canyon one day while we are there which I am excited about!
Update on my Thanksgiving feast: My turkey turned out really well! I was kind of surprised how good it was!!! Dave took some before pictures, of me cleaning out the bird, but my face is just awful to say the least so I won’t be sharing those. And unfortunately I forgot to take any after pictures of my pretty bird! It ended up cooking for much longer then I expected, but many people told me the lower the temperature, the moister the turkey, and they were right! The only accident that was to be had during our feast was when our friend Gerald was getting out the chocolate pie, (which I made just for HIM) he dropped it on the floor!!! Before anyone had any, so that was pretty sad, thankfully we still had a whole pumpkin pie!
Dave and I went and got our Christmas tree the Saturday after thanksgiving, and thankfully this year so far (knock on wood) it hasn’t fallen over yet! Last year out 8 foot tree fell over twice!!! We bought a new stand, but I was shocked that they were still selling the crappy one we bought the previous year that didn’t hold out tree up! It is all decorated, the outside is also decked out with lights, a fake tree, little light up Christmas packages, and twinkling snowflakes! I actually have all of my Christmas shopping done, all present wrapped and under the tree. I am so excited about the present for my parents this year, I can’t wait for them to open it!! Christmas cards (including my home made spice packs) are in the mail as of today. I feel very on top of things this holiday season! Dave and I will make out way up to Dallas this coming weekend to have an early Christmas with my grandparents. I miss my g-parents very much, and don’t get up to Dallas to see them as often as I would like!
Thanks all for now folks!
