Christmas, Tree Stands, and an Anniversary.......

Well, it's been an eventful week, to say the least. We spent Christmas in St. Louis with Gary's family and had so much fun. We left on Tuesday around noon and got to St. Louis at 5:00. We made really good time, even though we had to drive through some ice and snow. I got caught up on a lot of reading on the way there, which was surprising because I've never been able to read in the car. I finished Eclipse and now am about a third way through Breaking Dawn. If I haven't mentioned this yet in my blog, I'm obsessed with the Twilight series. Edward Cullen is sooooo dreamy! Anywho, we went to Gary's parents' church on Christmas Eve and it was so neat. I always seem to get a lot out of the services there. Their pastor seems very down to earth. To top it all off, they had cookies, hot chocolate, and apple cider!
Okay, so now to the bad news. On the way home on Sunday I called my parents to make sure they were home so we could pick up Tina. She then informed me that my dad had just called her from the woods where he was hunting and his tree stand had broken. He had fallen about 15 feet. He's now in the hospital and his heel is crushed and he has a compressed fracture in his back. Please pray for a speedy recovery. We feel really lucky because it definitely could have been much worse, but he is in a lot of pain.
Today was our one year anniversary. I spent most of the day running errands and going back and forth to the hospital to check on my dad. Tonight, Gary took me to dinner at Noodles and it was nice to finally relax. I can't believe we've been married for a year. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful husband and a great family. God is good!

100 Days to Jamaica!!!

Can you believe it? It's actually less than 100 days now. I think it's like 95 or 96. Either way, it's getting closer and closer. I can't wait to be soaking up the sun and laying on the beach, especially considering that it's 18 degrees outside! YIKES! We decided to celebrate the over halfway mark to our trip with a little trip to the square and dinner. Here's a few pics from the night!
Here's Max and Aaron with Mr. Fulbright.....

We found some mistletoe!

The whole Jamaica clan!

These would have been great pictures, except for the stupid white car!


Okay, I'm going to get off here and try to stay warm.

The First Annual Merry Shindig!

We kicked off the Christmas season with our first ever Merry Shindig! It was so much fun! It got off to a rocky start though, because something was burning in the bottom of the oven and filled the entire house with smoke right as everyone was arriving!!!! Yeah, I almost had a heart attack..... Luckily, the smoke quickly cleared out and we had a great time. There was so much good food. I'm so thankful for my bestest friends, Kari Beth and Leslie, who helped me decorate and cook for the party. I really couldn't have done it without them! Here are some pics from this fun-filled evening!

All the girlies!


Here's Gary and Max in their fashionable Salvation Army attire......

Our party favors!!! I painted the polka dots, Kari wrote on them, and Leslie tied the super cute bows! Great teamwork!

Supposedly, it's going to sleet/snow tonight and I'm praying that school gets canceled tomorrow, but it's not looking too promising. I keep looking out the window, and NOTHING is falling! It's so frustrating!!! Local weather stations stink! :( I guess I'll just continue to sit here by the fire with Tina and keep up the wishful thinking.

Fire Side!

I just had to post this picture of Tina laying in front of the fire. It's so cute. She loves anything warm. Her favorite thing is to lay on top of our clothes right out of the dryer. She's such a cutie pa tootie!