our christmas

This was one of the best Christmases we've ever had. I wish we still had another week and could do it all over again. I cherish these precious moments with my family.

My sister, Ashley, flew in town from San Fran on Tuesday, December 21st. She stayed at our house this year (instead of my parents) and we had SO much fun! She is going to stay with us every Christmas from now on. My brothers, Trey and Tyler, flew in from Montana on Wednesday. Everyone came in town this year!! On Thursday, Ashley and I drove to the Delta to see McCarty pottery and Peter's pottery (you can go to both their studios and buy the pottery directly from them). It was so neat! We ate lunch at the Warehouse in Cleveland (delicious) and then went to McCarty.

We both got some beautiful pieces and it was such a cool experience because you're in an old house and Mr. McCarty lives upstairs! Then we went to Peter's Pottery and we got to meet Peter! I can't wait to go again next year. We both got some great pieces for our collections and then drove back to Jackson.

Friday night we all went to dinner at Char for my birthday (which is really on Christmas day). It was so fun!

After dinner we all came back to our house to hang out.

On Saturday (Christmas Eve) we spent the day at my mom's house and then went to Christmas Eve mass that night.

Afterwards we went to my parents house to eat dinner.

 We had fun :)

Me, Danny and Ashley woke up around 9am on Christmas and went to my parents house. They had coffee cake and wassail waiting for us. We opened presents in the morning and then everyone starting helping cook our big Christmas lunch.  It was so good! My birthday is on Christmas day and this year I turned 25....that means that this is my golden year because I turned 25 on the 25th! I can't believe I'm a quarter of a century old. Weird. On Monday Ashley and I spent the day shopping and then we all went to my parents house for dinner that night. They cooked spaghetti and we watched the Saints game.

We truly had a blessed Christmas and I really cherished the time spent with family. My siblings and I all live far away from one another, but I still feel we get closer and closer the older we get. I love them so much! It was so fun having Ashley stay with us and having Trey & Tyler come over and hang at our house. I'm really sad they all left yesterday. But Danny & I are already planning our trips to San Fran and Montana in 2012!

And last but certainly not least, I want to introduce the newest member of our family:

Luca :)

We have been wanting a dog for sometime and knew we definitely wanted to adopt. Danny always wanted a boxer and we got a call from a friend of mine that volunteers at the animal shelter that they got a boxer (which is really rare). They got her on Wednesday, December 14th and we got the call on Thursday. We went to see her and fell in love!

We picked her up on Saturday and brought her home. She is 1 year old and only weighs 30 lbs. They think she was abused and she was definitely malnourished. She has the sweetest personality and is so loving and super loyal already (excuse the iPhone pics below).

 We took her to get spayed that Monday and she spent last week recovering. She was still acting very lethargic and just very strange and we knew something wasn't right. We took her back to the vet this past Monday and he told us she has a bad back injury. We are giving her anti-inflammatory pills and she is a whole different dog! She is running around, jumping and playing with everything! I am so glad she is feeling better and it breaks my heart that she was in so much pain before (she couldn't even get on the couch by herself and she is a big dog). But now she is great :)

We love her so much! Welcome home, Luca!

merry christmas

...from our family to yours!

tacky christmas party

 We had our 3rd annual Christmas Party on Saturday, December 10th. The theme this year was Tacky Christmas and we had so much fun!

This is my kitchen pre-party. I am a little OCD and have to have everything laid out and organized before I set out the food.

This is the "sweet table". The reindeer sticks below were super easy to make - just pretzel rods dipped in melted chocolate and then covered in sprinkles!

More sweets...

My parents make a few things for my party every year and my dad made these delicious chocolate candies!

These chocolate trouffles were super easy to make.

More food

The dessert table :)

I got the sandwich recipe from Kelly's Recipes. They were so easy & delicious.

The bacon weenies were little vienna sausages wrapped in turkey bacon and sprinkled with brown sugar. So good.

I was obsessed with Danny's outfit. He looked hilarious!

My best friends from college, Rhianna and Brannon, drove in town from Alabama! This is us pre-party - she got there early and helped me setup!

Sarah won "tackiest outfit"! Haha!

Our neighbors, Kayla & Perry, and good friends Yvonne & Pablo! I think there were about 25-30 people there by the end of the night.

We had live music by Dain Edwards! He is so talented and plays at alot of the local bars/restaurants around town. He had a contest online to win a free private performance and I won! Haha! It was so much fun.

Sarah & Derrick singing - hahaha!

We had so much fun and are already looking forward to next year's party!

deck the halls

I love love LOVE this time of year! Christmas is my absolute favorite season. I love the cheer, the decorations and that it brings families together. And I really love rejoicing in the birth of our King.

Enjoy your sneak peek into my holiday home!

This is the view to the right when you walk in the front door.

And the view of my living room.

Another living room view :)

I love Christmas countdowns and Advent calendars.

We got a new surround sound system, so I couldn't put my garland on the mantle like I normally do. So I improvised!

I had the stockings made by a local seamstress a few years back. They tie in to the zebra print pillows on my couch and the curtains in my kitchen.

I love the look of the hanging ornaments under the mantle and it was so cheap and easy!

I loooove gold and glitter!

This is my entry table in my front foyer.

This table is on the wall behind my couch.

Arrangement I made with little glitter snowflakes.

Remember my gold thumb tack wreath? I just changed out the ribbon for Christmas! 

And my split pea wreath- I spray painted it gold and changed the ribbon. 

Pretty lights Danny hung on our back porch.

And our tree! I used gold mesh and different sized ornament balls. I also added a little gold spray at the top. 

My Disney jingle bell door hanger :)

This is our guest bathroom. 

 Guest bathroom

Merry Christmas!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. -Luke 2:11