The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

I absolutely LOVE Christmas!!!  It has been my favorite time of year ever since I can remember.  I know that a large part of the reason why I love it so much is because of all the special things that my parents did for both me and my little brother when we were growing up.  Santa Claus was a huge deal at our house and my parents started this fun tradition from the time we were babies.  I remember one year my dad had started a fire in the fireplace on Christmas Eve and when I woke up there was a boot mark in the soot...Santa Claus's boot obviously!  Another year, Santa left behind a piece of his velvet red pants that he must have accidentally torn on the fireplace screen when arriving or trying to go back up the chimney.  When Michael was born, I was 5 and Santa Claus became so much more fun.  I had a partner in crime to rush into the living room with to see what Santa had left us on Christmas morning.  We However, my parents always made us wake them up before we ran into the living room to see all our goodies.  They would go and turn on the Christmas tree lights, turn on the Christmas lights outside, turn on Christmas music (Neil Diamond's Christmas of course), turn on the lights in the living room so they could see us, and set-up the video camera so that they could catch our reactions as well as us opening everything.  As soon as they told us they were ready, we made a bee line for the living room.  When Michael was little, he started sleeping on a pallet on the floor in my room so that we could wake up together on Christmas morning.  This tradition actually lasted up until Cody and I got married.  The last year that I lived at home before the wedding, Cody slept in Michael's room and Michael still made a pallet on the floor in my room.  In fact, the first couple of years we lived in our house, Michael would stay in our guest room and when we were all ready to go across the street, we would call my parents and tell them we were ready.  They would still make us wait until they got everything set-up before we could walk over.  My parents still do Santa Claus for us even though we're all in our twenties...some of us late twenties...but I won't mention any names! 

Our Christmas traditions have been the same ever since I can remember and I love that it's that way.  It makes me think about my childhood and just the warmth of having family all around and being together with each other.  On Christmas Eve, we always open the presents that we got for one another.  The youngest opens one first and we go all the way around to the oldest and then start over again until all the presents are opened.  Then, we watch Christmas movies, usually the Santa Claus, then head to bed and try to get some sleep before Christmas morning.  My daddy always makes sausage balls and we still call (or text) before we walk across the street to do stockings and Santa presents.  Neil Diamond's Christmas CD's still plays in the background and to to this day, they are my favorite Christmas songs.

After we open our stockings and have breakfast, Cody and I usually go back home to get ready for Christmas lunch.  Depending on the year, we either eat lunch here in Abilene or go to my Mimi's house in Hamilton and have Christmas lunch with my mom's side of the family.  This year, we spent Christmas Even in Hamilton with my aunt, uncle, cousins, their spouses, and the two kiddos that one of them has.  Our families are the same when it comes to how many children my mom and aunt had as well as the gender of each of us.  My aunt had Amber first, then Drew a few years later.  My mom had me first, and Michael nearly 6 years later.  We are not that far apart in age and have always been close.  Chad and Amber have been married now for nearly 11 years and have two precious puppies.  Drew and Tamara have been married for almost 8 years and have two boys, Hunter will be 8 this year and Maddox will be 4...I think.  My Mimi was really excited that we were all going to be there this year.  Her entire family that now consists of 14 people, including herself, were all together for Christmas and spent time eating, laughing, and talking for an entire afternoon.  Time goes by fast though, and shortly after lunch we headed back to Abilene to celebrate Christmas with our own little family.

This year, our traditions were still similar, but also a little bit different.  We are all older now, and really, there is nothing that any of us need that we couldn't go and buy for ourselves.  So, we decided that we would all get together, my family and Cody's family, and adopt a family and provide a Christmas for them that they might not otherwise have.  It was probably the most fun Christmas we've had in a long time.  We all got together one Sunday evening and went shopping for a sweet mommy to a four year old Autistic little boy.  She also has two other children, two girls, one lives with her grandmother and the other lives with her dad.  This precious family was so sweet and it was so overwhelming to see the look on that little boy's face when we came over to their house to drop off the presents.  We were truly blessed by this family and got to see the real reason why we celebrate Christmas right here on earth.  Before we left, we all joined hands and prayed together.  Christmas is such a wonderful time of year.  It's a time to be with your family, to just sit back and enjoy things and not rush around like you do every other day, but it's also a time to remember and celebrate our Lord and Savior's birth.  It's so much fun to do presents, Santa Claus, and stockings, but to be able to do it for someone else has truly blessed all of our lives more than we know.

When Christmas day rolled around, I called dad soon after we had gotten up and he told us to come over around 8:30.  He always makes the best sausage balls, but I thought I would add a few more dishes to the breakfast table this year.  I made a overnight breakfast hash brown casserole, sticky bun breakfast ring, and baked cranberry banana oatmeal.  After all that was done cooking, it was about time for us to head over for breakfast and stockings.  My parents still decided to do stockings for all us kids (which I was secretly excited about because I always loved seeing what Santa had brought me in my stocking) so after breakfast, we dug into our stockings to see what we had gotten.  All of us got pretty much the same thing, some candy, a blanket, new pj's, and a few other things that we each love and are unique to us and our personalities.  We stayed over there for about an hour after breakfast and then headed back home to watch a movie or two and spend some time with our babies before we went back over for lunch.  I love that Lifetime always plays tons of Christmas movies from right after Thanksgiving all the way through Christmas day.  So, we just turned it on and watched the movies that were playing while we relaxed and waited for lunch to be ready.  My parents cooked the traditional meal...and it was SO good!  We had turkey, ham, dressing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, green beans, cranberry salad, and pumpkin pie.  Needless to say we were stuffed!  In fact, we were a little worried we wouldn't be hungry for dinner.  Which normally wouldn't be a big deal, but Michael's girlfriend and her family had invited us over for Christmas dinner that evening.  Thank goodness we finally got hungry because that meal was also delicious!  They had fried turkey, steaks, two different kinds of green beans, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, a salad, and a huge veggie spread with lots of yummy dips.  We spent the rest of the evening talking and spending time together before heading back home.  Cody and I stayed up for another couple of hours just laying on the couch with the three dogs piled up there with us.  We watched another movie and just enjoyed the fact that we could actually spend some much needed time together and not have to worry about the next place that we needed to go or having to cross something off a to-do list.  Christmas was so much fun and we enjoyed just getting to stay home and spend the entire day together with our families and our sweet puppies!

The day after Christmas, Cody's family came over for Christmas dinner with us that evening.  I debated and debated and went back and forth a million times on whether to cook a traditional Christmas dinner or do something super non-traditional.  The more and more I thought about it, the more and more I was craving the traditional Christmas meal.  Even though we had already had two traditional meals, one at my Mimi's and one at my parent's, it just doesn't seem like Christmas unless you get the full fledged traditional meal.  Then, I was on a mission to scout out the yummiest recipes to make for our family's dinner.  Of course, I could have just used family recipes.  But I like to find new recipes and put my own little spin on them.  Thanks to Pinterest and the 20 plus food blogs I follow, I came up with some pretty amazing recipes that I was super excited to try out...and eat!  Here's what I made: a brown sugar-pineapple glazed ham topped with pineapple slices from Taste of Home, traditional stuffing (I made alterations to it) from The Pioneer Woman, sweet potato casserole from Skinny Taste,  green bean casserole from For the Love of Cooking, pumpkin pie from Skinny Taste, and a pecan pie from The Pioneer Woman.  I also bought some King's Hawaiian rolls and made our family's holiday punch recipe that we make every year.  It's made with orange juice, cranberry juice, and ginger ale...and it's so good!  Cody's family came over around 6:30 and we had so much fun eating, talking, and spending time together.  The whole gang was there: Cody's parents, his sister, her hubby, and their three kiddos were all able to make it so that we could enjoy Christmas dinner together.  Everyone loved all the food, and there were even leftovers.  Which I was super excited about because this kind of meal is so, so yummy leftover!  There wasn't much though, but I promise it all got eaten!  I actually need to make another pecan pie because it's Cody's favorite and he only got one piece of it.  His company went on a little vacation to Ruidoso that next morning and got back that Thursday.  But, by the time he had gotten home, it had long since been devoured.  I wonder by whom....  The dogs were also glad to see everyone.  When people come over to our house, they think that everyone there is there to see them.  We have so much fun with Cody's family and it even seemed like a continuation of celebrating because Chrissy had just graduated a few days before they came over for Christmas.  So, that was super fun!  The kids are growing up so fast and it amazes me to watch how fast little Aaron is growing.  I swear it was just yesterday that we were going to Del Rio to celebrate his birth and he'll be two in June!  Airicka will be driving this summer...on her own and Eli is going to be a teenager in a few days.  What?!?!?!  Time really does fly by.  But, we savored every moment with them while they were at the house and just enjoyed being together as a family.  Christmas has been so much fun this year...but it's not over yet!

New Year's was fast approaching and one of our very best friend's birthday is on New Year's Eve!  How much fun would that be?!?!?  We decided awhile before her birthday that we would get together at Brent and Bria's for brunch on New Year's Day.  On New Year's Eve, we each did our own thing.  Dallas cooked an amazing birthday/New Year's Eve celebration dinner for Britian including stuffed lobster, steak, and asparagus.  Brent had to work all day and night (he's a fireman) and Bria also had to work a shift at the gym, so she just went home afterwards to relax and have dinner.  She's about to have their little girl, Jansen, so she was thankful to have a nice, quiet evening at home.  And Cody and I just spent the entire day together watching TV shows on Netflix.  We literally laid on the couch all day long watching episode after episode of season 1 of a show that I will not name because I've been threatened to not expose this information to anyone!  I got Cody addicted to a show that is not very manly and I promised to keep it a secret...hehe!  I cooked dinner for us that night and we celebrated the new year with our three loves while watching Netflix all night long.  The next day, we headed over to Brent and Bria's for brunch and a birthday celebration for Britian.  Bria made pancakes, two different kinds of quiche, fruit, cream cheese rolls, and mimosas.  It was amazing and we stuffed ourselves full!  We sat around the table and just visited for a long time before it was time to play the Wii.  The boys played games and we went in Jansen's room and just sat on the floor and talked for several hours.  Shortly after, we got a little hungry and headed downstairs for a quick snack and then right back upstairs and watched the boys play the Wii...they are so funny!  They were yelling and laughing...so competitive but so funny at the same time!  Everyone brought their own meat to put on the grill for dinner, Bria made some side dishes to go along with it, and then the Cowboy's game was watched.  It was an amazing way to bring in the new year and just made me even more thankful for the precious people that God has put in my life.  I truly have such amazing family and friends!

And finally, this past weekend, we finally got around to going to Kerrville to see my Grandma and celebrate Christmas with her.  It's been kinda crazy with all her treatments as well as her recovery from the surgery.  But, we managed to get down there to visit her.  She was fighting a cold, but was feeling amazingly well.  The reason that we didn't go down there the week after Christmas like we normally do is because she had had a chemo treatment on the 27th.  We wanted to make sure that she was feeling well enough after her treatment to accommodate us, so we decided waiting until the next weekend to go down and visit would be the best thing to do.  It's been amazing though, she hasn't really felt bad at all throughout all her chemo treatments.  In fact, I think the only time that she ever really felt queasy and didn't have much of an appetite was after the second treatment.  This last one she just had was her sixth treatment.  She'll have just one more, so seven in all, and then only have to go in for routine check-ups to make sure that the cancer is still gone.  Gone...that's insane to even think about considering what we were told in the beginning.  My Grandma's close to being in remission, this is completely God's healing hands performing miracles on this earth in front of our very eyes.  I honestly have to say that we had one of the best weekends down in Kerrville that we've had in a long time.  Cody and my dad went down there on Friday night and stayed down at the ranch so they could hunt or do whatever else...like relax...which is exactly what they did!  Mom, Michael, and I got up early on Saturday morning and got there around lunch time.  We decided to go straight into Comfort, pick up the boys, and head to Boerne to eat at this amazing little place called Hungry Horse.  My grandma and cousin met us for lunch and we all ate and enjoyed every bite...this place is just so good!  After we ate, all the boys went back to the ranch and we headed back towards Kerrville.  When we got into the actual town of Comfort, us girls stopped at the Comfort Candle Store, picked up a few goodies, then went back to my grandma's house.  We sat around and visited for a little while, then my grandma got a little tired and decided to go rest for a bit.  Mom and I headed into town to piddle for a little bit and go to a few of Kerrville's little boutiques before it was time to go back home for dinner.  We decided to just eat at home, but order food from Fuddruckers, and just go pick it up so that we could just be at home and eat...but not have to do any of the work!  After dinner, we did our family Christmas, and then just sat around and visited for a little while before the boys left to go back to the ranch.  After they left, we stayed up and talked a little more, but we were all so tired, we went to bed pretty soon after they left.  That next morning, mom and I always go into town and get coffee...we're spoiled!  Getting coffee from a coffee shop just makes the morning better.  Don't get me wrong...I love making coffee at home...but a little treat every now and again is good for the soul!  We got some for both of us as well as for my grandma.  She was still asleep when we left, so we just got some for her just in case she wanted some when she got up.  When all of us were up, caffeinated, filled full from breakfast, and ready for the day, we decided to head back into town and do some shopping before the boys came in for lunch.  My grandma went with us this time because she was feeling really good, and we seriously had the best time.  We went to a couple of stores and just got some odds and ends, some fun goodies, and I even got a new mixing bowl!  I was super excited about this because I broke my big one that I mix everything in over the Thanksgiving holidays.  About the time we were finishing up, the boys had called that they were in town and bringing a deer into the processors that they had shot the night before.  Spotlighting is illegal...but we have those Axis deer on our place and they're exotic.  So, those can be shot at night with a spotlight, which is exactly what they did on Saturday night.  They got one Axis doe and were bringing her in before they met us for lunch.  We met up at Cracker Barrel, a family favorite, and had an amazing lunch.  The predicament that all of us have there is whether to order breakfast or lunch.  I decided that I would just have both!  So, I ordered off the kids meal so that I could have exactly what I wanted and not have to sacrifice their delicious breakfast or their yummy lunch.  I got the kids chicken tenders with a side salad and a pancake...oh so good!  I got a bonus too because my mom ordered the big pancake breakfast and gave me one of her pancakes...I love their pancakes!  Everyone else got breakfast and my dad and I also had some coffee to go along with our meal.  We spent a lot of time together throughout the weekend and enjoyed everyone's company as well as the conversations that went along with it.  After lunch, we packed up and headed home.  It's always hard to come back home from being out of town all weekend long, but it is so worth it when you get to spend precious time with family.  The entire Christmas break was spent enjoying every moment with family and friends, relaxing, and just being ever so thankful for my wonderful family and precious friends!  Happy New Year!!!

My beautiful cousin...love her so much!!!

Me and Cody with my cousin Amber and her hubby Chad

All of us kiddos!



The kids plus the little kids!



Sweet Mimi with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren

My Mimi's ENTIRE family.  Two daughters, two son-in-laws, four grandchildren, three grandchildren-in-laws, and two great grandchildren...what an accomplishment for such a wonderful woman.  We love you so much Mimi!!!

My sweet Mimi with her two beautiful daughters...my momma and my Aunt Carolyn



Me and my little brother...love him to death!

Me and my handsome hubby in Hamilton at my Mimi's house :-) So glad that I get to spend every Christmas with this amazing man!

Uncle Cody with sweet Aaron!!!

Chrissy and I before dinner...so blessed and thankful to have her as a sis-in-law!!!

This little boy LOVES his momma!  So sweet!!!

Relaxing on the couch after dinner...some much needed "guy" time!

Love these people!

Merry Christmas from the Kelley's!!!

Me and my love with his precious sister!

Cody's parents with their three sweet grandchildren!

Our beautiful niece, Airicka, and our two handsome nephews, Eli and Aaron.  Such sweet kiddos!

Cody and his sis :-)

Love this girl!!!  Great way to start off the New Year!  Hope everyone has a fabulous 2012!!!

Congratulations Chrissy!!!

On December 17, 2011 Cody's sister, Chrissy, graduated from college!!!  And...we couldn't be more proud of her!!!  Chrissy has been working on getting her Bachelor's degree now for quite some time, and I know she is so thankful to have accomplished this goal as well as be completely done with college.  When Cody and I first started dating, she was planning a wedding, making plans to move to Del Rio, raising two kiddos, working full time, and going to college.  She and her hubby got married in June and by August, they had moved to Del Rio to begin their new life together.  When they moved, Chrissy had been attending Cisco Junior College so that she could get all of her basics out of the way.  She and Richard had been together for a long time and she knew that after they got married, she was going to be moving to Del Rio with the kids.  So, she didn't want to attend a major university and then have to deal with the headache of all her credits not transferring and so on and so forth.  Whenever they moved, she was able to only do school for the first year they were down there.  Well...I say that.  They were getting adjusted to living in Del Rio, the kids were involved in sports and after school activities, and Chrissy was in school full time.  When they moved, she transferred to Sul Ross Rio Grande College.  She was able to take several classes online, but she also had to attend traditional classroom lectures.  Sul Ross is in Alpine, so whenever she had class in the actual lecture halls, she would have to commute one hour both ways to attend school.  Needless to say she was very busy. 

At the time they moved, they lived in a really cute three bedroom apartment, but new that they would soon find a house to live in so that they could all have more room as well as a backyard for the kids to play in.  After their first year there, they began house hunting, found a house, and moved in.  About a year after they lived there, Cody and I went down to see them during Spring Break.  Neither one of us had ever been to Del Rio, so they showed us all around.  I must say, there are some beautiful little spots in Del Rio.  We had a lot of fun with them and enjoyed our stay and getting to spend time with them.  By this point, Chrissy had found a full time job that she was really enjoying and still going to school full time as well and being a full time wife and mom.  Not too long after that, she and Richard had decided that they wanted to try and have a baby.  Chrissy's two oldest were thirteen and ten at this point, and they were super excited at the possibility of having a new baby brother or sister around.  Well...soon after they first started about having another baby, we got a phone call with their announcement that they were pregnant!!!  YAY!!!

The whole time Chrissy was pregnant, she was still going to school, working, raising two kiddos who were busy and involved in lots of activities, taking care of the house and her hubs.  I remember talking to Cody several times about how she was such an inspiration with doing all of this and still being so determined to go to school full time and get her degree.  At this point in time, I had just started going back to school myself to get my Master's and it was hard on me and we don't have kids and my entire degree program is online.  I couldn't imagine trying to go back to school while working full time and having two kiddos as well as being pregnant...she was definitely an inspiration to me!  In June of 2010 we traveled down to Del Rio to welcome sweet little Aaron into the world.  He is the cutest little thing and will be two years old this year...wow how time flies!

After Aaron was born, Chrissy took that summer off so that the could focus on taking care of her sweet newborn and start getting into the routine of having a new baby in the house.  It was good timing because Airicka and Eli were out for summer break, so they were huge helps to Chrissy and Richard when Aaron was born.  In the fall of 2010, Chrissy began school and went back to work full time...but she was down to the last two years of school.  I can't imagine how busy she really was, but I do know that I have never seen anyone more motivated or determined to go to school while being involved in all the things that she was involved with.  She never missed a single thing that any of the three kids were doing or involved in.  They were always around for the holidays, remembered birthdays and anniversaries, came to visit when they had time off, took the kids on mini vacations, all while both working and Chrissy going to school.  I know it was super helpful to be able to take many of her classes online, but I also know that it was really hard on her the one or two nights a week she had to travel out of town for class.

But...this December...it all payed off!!!  December 17, 2011 will be a day that Chrissy will never forget because that is the day that she walked across that stage and received her Bachelor's Degree in Social Science.  The commencement ceremonies took place in UvaldeOmni when we go to San Antonio and this time was no different.  After we ate, we checked in to the hotel, both took showers, and then just crawled in bed to watch TV.  It was so nice to not have an agenda and just be able to sit in bed together and watch a movie...before that night...I couldn't have told you when we did that!  On Saturday morning, we woke up, had breakfast, went to the work-out facility in the hotel (which is so nice...and one of the reasons we love staying there), got an amazing work-out in, went back to the room, got cleaned up, then headed out for a fun filled day.  We had lunch at BJ's Brewhosue...which is by far our MOST favorite restaurant of all time.  Abilene seriously needs to get one of these restaurants.  Thank you Amie for introducing me to it several years ago when I went down to stay with you for a girls weekend...I'm officially addicted!!!  I've also gotten my entire family on the BJ's Brewhouse kick too...it's just that good!  We had an amazing lunch, then headed out to the La Cantera Mall.  This mall is fabulous!  Think North Park and the Galleria combined...but the corridors and hallways are all outside!  The weather was so nice, it was cool, but just warm enough that walking around the shopping center was so enjoyable.  Cody and I got Chrissy a gift certificate from there so that she could go shopping and treat herself with anything that she wanted.  She doesn't do that very often, so we thought the perfect graduation present was a gift certificate to go on a shopping spree!  We did a little bit of shopping ourselves, then headed back to the hotel to change, freshen up, grab some dinner, and head to Uvalde.  We were running a little late, so we wound up stopping to eat at an amazing little mom and pop restaurant in one of the towns on the way.  I believe it was called Sammy's.  Anyways, we got to Uvalde around 7:00...just in time for the commencement ceremony to begin at 7:30!  There were about 120 graduates that evening walking across the stage.  Several of them were receiving the Master's degrees while the rest of the graduates were receiving their Bachelor's degrees. 

All of Chrissy's family was there.  Richard's parents, one of his sisters and her little girl, us, both sets of her parents, her sister and her boyfriend, and of course her hubby and their three kiddos.  She had a full house with just our group there!  When her name was announced, we all stood up to clap for her and show her our excitement and how proud we were of her.  After graduation, we were going to try and make it back into San Antonio to go have drinks and appetizers, but we did too much celebrating and didn't even leave Uvalde until 9:30!  We took tons and tons of pictures and just talked and enjoyed one another for a little bit after the ceremony was over.  Chrissy and the rest of the family were all staying in San Antonio all weekend as well, so we all headed back to our hotels and made plans to get together for an early lunch that Sunday.  After we got back from Uvalde, we watched another movie...it was so nice being lazy!  We slept in a little bit on Sunday morning, had a light breakfast, got ready and packed up all our stuff, checked out of the hotel, then headed to meet everyone for lunch.  Chrissy picked Cheddar's, which we hadn't been to in forever either, so we were excited about that!  We all had lunch together and got to spend time with the family before we all went our separate ways.  Chrissy and her little family were going to to to the mall and do some shopping and we were heading back to Abilene.  We had so much fun getting to celebrate Chrissy and spend some much needed time together!!!  Luckily, we were going to be seeing everyone again in a week because it was going to be Christmas!!!  Yay...my favorite time of year!!!

Chrissy, we are so very proud of you!  CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Showered With Love

On December 10th we got to have a baby shower for precious Jansen Hadley Jordan!!!  This little girl has already been showered with so much love and prayer...but every little girl and her momma deserves a fabulous baby shower to celebrate the arrival of her birth!  When we first started talking about the baby shower, Bria said she just wanted something super low key.  In fact, she said that she just wanted it to be like a girl's night...where we all just get together, hang out, eat, talk, and have a few girly cocktails!  All of us hostesses agreed that this would be a super fun way to shower Bria and Jansen and for us all to get together on a Saturday night and spend time together.

When we first started talking about dates, food, invitations, and all the other fun stuff that goes along with baby showers...we all had so many fun ideas and couldn't wait to start planning, shopping, cooking, and decorating.  There were four girls hosting the shower; me, Britain, Leah, and Erica.  One weeknight, we had a little  meeting at Starbuck's to talk about what we were each going to bring, buy, and cook for the shower.  Then, we spent one Saturday afternoon getting the invitations and the presents from all of us hostesses.  Then we just called, emailed, and texted back and forth on whatever else was going on up until the shower.  We really all had so much fun putting this together for Bria and we couldn't wait for the day of the shower so we could all be together and celebrate her and her precious baby girl.

During the summer (I'm back-tracking a little), Britain had an amazing idea to get letters from all of Brent and Bria's family and friends from home, they would write them to Jansen and Brent and Bria.  When she told me about the idea, I was so excited and was totally in on getting all of our Abilene friends and other friends from college to write letters to this precious growing family.  The plan was for them to write these letters on standard scrapbook paper and we would compile all the letters into a three ring binder and give it to Bria on the day of her shower.  Britain did such an amazing job of putting everything together and that book was overflowing with love, stories, memories, prayers, etc. to Jansen and her precious parents.  They were funny, tear jerking, sweet, exciting, and you could just hear people's words come to life as we all await the arrival of this little one.  She has been prayed for and loved since the moment we found out Bria was pregnant in May.  They have been through so much and I know they are so excited and anxious for Jansen to be here.

So, the day of the shower gets here and it was so much fun getting ready for the day!  We had the shower at our house, so it was fun getting the house ready for all the girls.  Everyone brought their own little girly drink to share so that we could all taste everyoneelse's favorite cocktail.  We had chicken salad, mini sandwiches, fruit and dip, veggies and dip, hummus, a cheese ball, and spinach dip with crackers, Brie 'en Croute with crackers, mini chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, mini fruit turnovers, mini Lofthouse cookies, and mini brownie bites.  And...it was all SO amazingly delicious!  Everyone ate and sat around and talked for a long time before we decided it was time to play a game so that Bria could start opening her presents.  Erica and Leah had asked Brent a bunch of questions about having a new baby in the house.  Things like: who would get up in the middle of the night, who would change the diapers, what Jansen would wear, and so much more!  Bria had to answer the questions and whenever their answers matched up, she got to open a present.  It was so much fun hearing what they each had to say, especially when they're answers were different!  But, they were pretty spot on with most of their answers.  So, Bria got to open up all her fun presents about the time we were done with the questions.  After that, we spent the rest of the night sitting around the living room and the kitchen just talking and spending some much needed girl time together.  The boys were off hunting, going spot-lighting for hogs in fact while we were at the house.  They all walked through the door around 1:30 in the morning and there were still 5 of still sitting in the living room talking!  When they got there, we sort of started saying goodbye...but we always have so many things to talk about and love spending time together...so we stood in the kitchen for another 30 minutes and talked some more!  We are so blessed to have friends that we truly consider our family.  What's even more amazing is the fact that we are welcoming more and more members to our little family with all these precious babies!  Brent and Bria are expecting their precious bundle of joy on February 4th...and it will be here in the blink of an eye!!!  Jansen Hadley...we are SO excited for you to come into this world.  You are truly blessed to have an amazing mommy and daddy that love you more than life.  They are amazing Christian people and will give you the best example and all the love you could possibly imagine.  Jansen, you have been prayed for and loved more than you will ever know...we love you soo much!!!

Having so much fun opening presents, hearing Brent's hilarious answers, and spending time together!

Such precious clothes and goodies for sweet Jansen!

"Redneck Wine Glass"  From one of our friends that teases Bria by drinking out of anything but a normal wine glass...great gift Adam!!!

Cute little bouncer for Jansen to play in!

The hostess gift!  Her diaper bag with lots of fun goodies inside!!!

Giving Bria her book full of letters to Jansen, Brent, and Bria...so very sweet!!!

Bria with all the hostesses...we love you Jordan family!!!  We can't wait for Jansen Hadley to grace us with her beautiful presence!!!

Welcome Home!!!

Josh is back!!! Yay!!!  One of our dearest friends has officially moved back to Abilene...and he's here to stay!  I wrote about Josh in a previous post...he and his precious fiance got engaged in October and began making plans for him to move to Abilene.  Well...he had been planning on moving back to Abilene before they got engaged...but now it's official!  I texted him on the day that he moved  his stuff down here from Austin and he said he had already gotten a gym  membership, transferred everything to a local bank, and had gotten all of his stuff here from Austin.  No turning back now!!!  And we couldn't be more thrilled that one more set of friends has joined us here in Abilene. 

The day he was officially home, his fiance Abbie had been planning a surprise get together for him with all of us there to celebrate his arrival to Abilene.  Of course, Josh had no idea what was going on.  So, when he started calling all of our hubbies to hang out that night, they all told him that we had already made "plans" to do other things.  Little did he know that our plans where soon to be his plans!  We all met at Papa Jacks, this amazing little whole in the wall Mexican restaurant on Treadaway, at 6:15.  Josh and Abbie were going to get there around 6:30 or 6:45.  I had been texting her back and forth letting her know who all was there and who all we were waiting for still so that she would know to wait a little longer.  As soon as the last few couples arrived, I let her know that we were all there and they could head that way!  Abbie had gotten a cake made for Josh with a picture of him on it and a ton of balloons.  So we tied the balloons onto a chair and had the cake open so he could see it as soon as they arrived.  The minute he walked in, we all shouted welcome home and the look on his face was priceless!  There were about 15 of us there, so it was a pretty loud welcoming!

Once they got there, we all ordered dinner, ate, then sat around the table for a couple of hours and just visited with one another.  It was so funny that we were all there waiting for him and he thought we all had other plans that night.  Cody told me that when he talked to Josh, he was a little sad that no one could get together because we all knew that he was going to be moved back on that Friday.  Abbie did such a good job of putting it all together and surprising him with everyone of our friends there!  After dinner we headed over to the Warehouse for a couple of drinks and just more time with friends.  There was live music and yummy cocktails, beer for the boys, and more laughing and talking amongst all of us.  I love each and everyone of our friends so much, we truly are like a little family!  Next up is Josh and Abbie's wedding...which will be here in June!  We are so excited to be apart of their special day and are counting down the months until it gets here!  Welcome home Josh...we love you and are so excited to have you back in Abilene!

SURPRISE & WELCOME HOME!!!

The infamous cake!  And let me tell you...this was some GOOD cake!!!

Josh with his cake!!!  We're so glad you're back!!!

Beautiful Abbie and I at The Warehouse...love this girl!!!

Cancer Free!!!

The past seven months have been quite the roller coaster.  Back in April, my grandma was out in her backyard re-potting plants and flowers that had grown too big for the planters that they were originally planted in.  She felt a pull on the left side around her hip and groin area and the next day couldn't even walk.  She went to the doctor and they first told her that she had probably pulled and very badly strained her muscles and ligaments.  They gave her some pain medicine and told her to stay off of it as much as possible.  She slowly began to be able to walk with a cane, but she still had shooting pains around her left side and it was now going into her pelvic area.  This time, her doctor wanted to do a CAT scan as well as an MRI to see if something else might be going on.  And, that's when they found it.  She had a mass on her left ovary that was probably around the size of a grapefruit.  Immediately, she was recommended to a specialist in San Antonio that has amazing credentials and our journey/battle with my grandma's cancer began.
Before they even did a biopsy, the doctor/specialist told my grandma it was cancer.  The biopsy confirmed what we all feared.  It was time to talk about what all the options were from surgery, chemo, radiation, or nothing at all.  My grandma is 80 years old, but as healthy as a horse.  She is very active and strong and all the tests they ran on her heart and her physical strength proved that as well.  However, the tumor was so large, none of us really knew what the best option was.  The doctor immediately ruled out surgery.  He said that before he would even discuss surgery, he would need to do chemo treatments on her to try and shrink the tumor.  Radiation was also not an option because there was also "caking" around her intestines.  Chemo was the best option to try and shrink the tumor as well as reduce the "caking" that had grown around her intestines.  My dad was with her at all the appointments leading up to her final decision on what she felt like she needed to do.  Of course, one option was to simply not do anything at all.  The doctor would never say how long she would have if she did or didn't do anything.  But from the way he talked, we feared we wouldn't have her around much longer either way.  We were also scared that if she decided to go through with chemo treatments and then possibly surgery, the recovery would just be too much for her.  Even with how strong she is, that's a lot to take for someone that's my age...much less an 80 year old woman.

My grandma is such a fighter.  She made the decision to start chemo treatments with the hope of eventually being able to have surgery to remove the tumor and the caking.  The surgery would would also involve a total hysterectomy.  All of this has major side effects as well as possible complications and a long recovery, but we knew who would be seeing this through and put everything in His hands to take care of.  She began chemo treatments in August after an entire summer of testing, evaluations, research, appointments, etc.  The doctor wanted to do three rounds of chemo, check to see if the tumor had shrunk, and then re-evaluate their plan.  Originally, he wanted to do six chemo treatments and then check to see if the tumor had shrunk, but he felt certain that it would shrink significantly after three.  And so the treatments started.  Every 21 days she went to San Antonio for treatments.  My dad was with her every step of the way, and my aunt went to as many appointments as she could as well.  The treatments lasted for about six hours, most of which my grandma was able to sleep through and get some rest.  Only once or twice did she feel nauseous from the treatments, which is so lucky.  She was able to eat, her appetite was a little different, but she still ate and was able to keep everything down and eat almost as normal as she did before the treatments.  She lost a lot of her hair, but not all of it.  The only thing she really complained about was being tired and not having the energy to do the things that she used to do.  That is God having a healing hand on someone.  You just don't hear about chemo treatments going that well for a young person, much less an older woman.  I'm telling...she's a tough old bird!

After the three rounds of chemo, it was time for a check up to see if the tumor had shrunk.  I kid you not, that tumor had shrunk to a fourth of it's original size.  So, if it was about the size of a grapefruit when we first found out, I believe my dad said that it had shrunk down to the size of a ping-pong ball or golf ball.  Once again...God performing miracles.  The doctor told her that he wanted to schedule surgery and proceed with removing the tumor, caking, and a hysterectomy.  Surgery was scheduled for October 28th and we all made plans to take off work and be there throughout this procedure.  My parents left on Thursday night so that they, and my aunt, could take her down to San Antonio and be there throughout all the pre-op.  Cody, myself, and Michael left on Friday afternoon around 4:00 to make our way there as well.  The surgery was originally scheduled for 11:00...but she wound up being taken back for surgery about 3:00.  We got to Kerrville around 7:30, dropped all of our stuff off at her house, picked up my cousin and flew to San Antonio.  It's only forty-five minutes away, but we wanted to get there as quickly as possible.  About half-way there, my dad texted us and said that she was out of surgery and they had gotten everything...everything!  When we got there, she had just been taken to her room and was awake and talking to everyone.  She was still a little loopy from the drugs, but very much aware that we were all there and that she had been healed by the hands of God and the amazing doctors that were given these God-given talents.  We all left about an hour later to head back to Kerrville.  The next day, we woke up early and headed back to the hospital to be there with her and just sit and visit for awhile.  We weren't sure how long she would have to stay in the hospital, so we wanted to be there as much as possible.  She was able to sit up in the bed and eventually moved to the chair so she could sit and eat some lunch.  The doctor came in to see and check on her around 11:00 and told her that everything went perfectly and that he was able to get everything.  He was also able to perform a less invasive surgery so that the recovery wouldn't be as intensive.  With all that said, he also said that she could come home that day!  How crazy is that?!?!?  She just had major surgery and was going to be released at 3:00...not even 24 hours after she had been in post-op.  After hearing that, we went and ate some lunch, then came back and started getting ready for her to be home.

Cody and I left the hospital a little earlier than everyone else so that we could get back to her house, make her bed for her, do some laundry, and get dinner started.  My parents were going to head back to Kerrville with my grandma after she was released, so we wanted her to be able to just come in, get in bed, and rest.  In the meantime, and this is cruddy news, my parents car got broken into.  All of my dad's hunting stuff was stolen, including his bow.  The people who broke in busted out one of the back windows and took about $2,000 worth of stuff from their car, including a knife I gave him when I was five.  It was a total shock to all of us, especially my parents.  They have gotten everything taken care of, it just stinks that people are capable of such things.  However, we had so much to be thankful for, and it really helped us to put things into perspective as to what is really important in life.  And that's God, our family, friends, and the relationships that we have with them.

The rest of the weekend, which was Saturday night and Sunday, was spent making sure that my grandma wouldn't have to lay a single finger until she was fully recovered.  The doctor said it would be about two weeks, which is amazing, until she would be able to move around or lift anything like she had before the surgery.  My mom and I went to the store for her and bought tons of groceries so that she wouldn't have to go to the store for awhile.  We also bought food to make five different meals.  Because she wasn't supposed to be on her feet for long periods of time, we didn't want her in the kitchen trying to cook meals.  So, we made pasta primavera, enchilada casserole, Mexican spaghetti, chicken casserole with bread crumb topping, and plain old spaghetti.  We separated them out into about ten different pans that could be frozen, so she could have meals as well as leftovers for a long time.  It was busy, but also fun.  We were all crowded around in the kitchen cooking, talking, and laughing with each other.  More than anything we were thankful and overjoyed that God had healed her and had allowed everything to go so seamlessly.  Grandma will have three more rounds of chemo just to make sure that any microscopic cells are treated.  After that, she will just have routine appointments to make sure that it hasn't come back.   Our God is such an awesome God!  We thank Him everyday for the simple things in life that we take for granted as well as the miraculous healings that He still performs to this day.

Christmas in my Classroom

I have the best students...EVER!  One of the best things about teaching in Blackwell...asides from my amazing co-workers...are my fabulous students.  I love them all so dearly and they each bring new light to my life.  They are so respectful, caring, funny, light-hearted, smart...well you get the drift!  I would really have to say that I work in teacher heaven.  Not too many teachers come to school every day looking forward to seeing the people they work with, their bosses, and their students.  And I think I speak for the majority of everyone at Blackwell when I say that we all enjoy coming to work everyday!  There's the occasional bad, stressful, or just plain yucky day  My job brings me so much joy.  I feel so blessed to work here and serve the Lord while teaching, learning, and laughing with these precious children of God. 
As you all know...I LOVE Christmas!  And, I'm not about to let my classroom go undecorated :-)  So, the Monday we came back from Thanksgiving break, it was time to bust out my classroom Christmas decorations.  I have three...yes three different tress.  All of which are pink!  Duh!!!  One is tiny...like 6 inches tall and a bright fuchsia pink...it just sits on the shelf not decorated.  I have another one that is made out of tinsel that has black feather ornaments, Eiffel Tower ornaments, Fleur De Lis ornaments, poodle ornaments, and crystal ornaments...it's my Paris theme tree!  It sits on my desk.  Then...I have a brand new four foot, baby, pink pre-light Christmas tree that I bought last year after all the Christmas decor went on sale.  I bought tons of white and silver ornaments for it and it made its debut in my classroom this year.  As I was getting everything out to be put up, it was time for my 7th graders to come to class.

Since I had already drug all my Christmas stuff out and they were coming into class, we spent the first 15 minutes of class decorating my tree!  I unboxed all the ornaments and put the hangers on them while a few of my girls and a couple of boys hung them on the tree.  I forgot to buy a topper for it...so one of my girls had the bright idea to put one of the silver sparkly ornaments on the top.  It looks so pretty and they did such a good job and were so helpful.  Sadly after the decorating was done it was time to get down to business and do some school work!  But not before we took some pictures!  Luckily...they were excited about the assignment they were doing because they were going to be making a Christmas poster!  Have I mentioned that I love this time of year?!?!?  I also love the fact that I can bring Christmas in my classroom with decorations as well as the projects and assignments that my kiddos create.  I love to see their creative skills shine through as they put their own spin on whatever we are working on.  I am so blessed to be able to get work here and be around amazing people all day long!

My 7th grade girls decorating my tree!

All finished!  They did an amazing job...love these girls!

My 7th grade class...these kiddos are such a joy to be around every day!

My freshman class...I've had these kids in my classroom since they were 7th graders.  They have all grown-up so much already and put a smile on my face each and every day!

My sweet Bre!  This girl is now a junior and was in my first class of 8th graders when I started here.  I've had her every year since and have watched her grow into a precious young lady...she's amazing!

My pretty tree all light up!

A close-up of my tree...I LOVE it!!!

My Paris themed tree that sits on my desk...so fun!!!  Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!