Merry Christmas!!!!

Hard to believe that another Christmas has come and gone....where does the time go? Jason and I were just talking about how it must be true what we have been told for so many years growing up....time does indeed go by quicker the older you get.....not that we are getting any older....HA!!! We did have a wonderful Christmas and my most favorite times are the few days leading up to Christmas as well! We try and do several fun and memorable activities with the girls each year right before Christmas. This year, that included......making gingerbread houses (this year we decided to do a Christmas "village" that consisted of 5 small houses so that we each had our own to decorate....a bit more work for mom and dad to put together, but much better during the decorating time!), we went to see a movie together (all of us at the actual movie theater AND get snacks....yes, that is a very BIG deal for us!), we drove around one night and looked at all of the Christmas light displays, which included going downtown Indy this year (done this year with Grammies and Papa in the van with us!), we enjoyed finding Elf on the Shelf (named Buddy in our house!) around the house each morning, we had fun getting "video emails" from Santa online (Mommy especially loves that and has a secret way of reaching Santa in his North Pole workshop email system!), we read "What God Wants for Christmas" and the girls put together the nativity with that story, we took our annual trip to the Childrens Museum on Christmas Eve morning to see Santa, ride the slide and enjoy spending some fun time together and lastly....and the girls don't know this yet, but for the 2nd year in a row, we are surprising them with a little overnight getaway to a hotel later this week to enjoy swimming indoors, hanging out and relaxing a bit! : ) Christmas break is absolutely one of my favorite times of the year....nothing better than spending time with family and remembering how blessed we are!

November and Thanksgiving has come and gone....now on to Christmas! :)

Hard to believe that Thanksgiving, which happens to be my all-time favorite holiday of the entire year...has come and gone. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, especially what it truly means to me as a believer in Jesus, but there is something about the day of Thanksgiving....all about being thankful, eating tons of awesome food, fellowshipping with lots of family and no stress of mall shopping yet! : ) We hosted again this year for my side of the family...then continued our tradition of my sister and I (joined by my oldest niece this year!) heading out to join the craziness of the Black Friday shopping deals! We also decorated our house to the brim with Christmas beauty, then headed to Louisville for the remainder of the weekend to spend time with the rest of our family down there. Another wonderful year of being thankful and celebrating all that we have been blessed with together! I'm including a few pics of Allie's most recent choir performance (and Lauren sang a song with her class as well!), which took place in early November. As well as a quick photo of Katie having fun around here..... : )

Now on to Allie's Christmas choir program, our small group party, our annual CCG Ladies Tables of Christmas event, our church's parents' night out to go Christmas shopping, our ladies family Christmas tea here at our house, our trip to Nashville, TN for J's office Christmas party and all of the other fun events to round out the holidays this year! Lots going on but lovin' every minute of it! It's definitely beginning to look like Christmas around here! : )

Our little cowgirl! : )

Katie's school had "Western Day" this week and she was so excited to show up for her class as a cowgirl! : ) Here are a couple of pictures to share.....

Trick-or-Treat...smell my feet....give me something sweet to eat! :)

Although we don't go overboard with Halloween (I have ALWAYS hated scary movies, haunted houses, Halloween stuff....just not my thing...and I'm too old to get scared.....I pee too easily! HA!).....we do love to have the girls get dressed up in the costume of their choice and go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood! This will probably be Allie's last year of this since she is in 6th grade....although she LOVES candy (takes after her mama!) so she would probably do anything to get some! : ) Here are a few pics of our fun night!

Romantic getaway to Arizona! : ) And a surprise party upon our return!

Jason had a trade show near Tucson, AZ last week so to help celebrate my upcoming BIG (40th!) birthday and our 15 year wedding anniversary that we celebrated this past March, he asked me to go with him this time around.....and of course, I accepted the invitation! : ) What a beautiful area of the United States to visit! And my hubby thought of everything to spoil me rotten! He had my diamond reset in my wedding ring (had lost the setting awhile back!) and surprised with that while on our flight out.....then he treated me to a shopping trip in Sedona, a few really nice dinners out...and a romantic lunch by the river one day....wow!!! We flew out of Indy early Tuesday morning and spent the rest of the week enjoying each other's company, relaxing by the pool, eating wonderful food, and touring the area of Sedona as well! What a wonderful time to reconnect and re-energize! We returned home late Saturday night and then Sunday after church, Jason, along with my family and close friends surprised me with an early birthday party over at our church rec center.....I was in shock to say the least! I am abundantly, beyoned-words...blessed and am so thankful for all that God has given me! : )

Fall fun....

We are enjoying the beautiful fall season here in Indiana.....my all-time favorite time of the year! Although it's been unseasonable warm this time around....I'm ready for chilly weather, sweaters and the smell of a bonfire every night! : ) We have been able to take advantage of our fire pit and great woods next to the house and have already had a couple nights of roasting marshmallows and sitting around the fire, one of our favorite past-times as a family! This past weekend we decorated pumpkins, had our family over for soup and yummy bread, celebrated my youngest niece's 17th birthday (where does the time go?) and spent a day at King's Island amusement park with the kiddos and some friends! What fun times! Here are a few photos from recently. Just trying to take time every single day to thank God for who He is and all that He has given us!!!!