Blizzard 2011

Party Time!!!

In honor of my birthday, Doug and my dear friends, Sue and Kristin, hosted fabulous fortieth festivities (no, I'll never tire of using alliteration). Friends and family gathered for an afternoon of food, games, and fun followed by an evening of drinks, laughs and more food. I never knew turing 40 was so much fun!

Turning 40!

Forty! Forty! Forty! I still can't believe I am really 40! How is that possible? :-) I could wax philosophical about turing 40, but I'll try to keep it short and sweet. I am so grateful for God's gift of forty years. After losing a dear friend far too early in life, I don't take reaching this big milestone for granted. I feel abundantly blessed by the amazing friends and family who have impacted my life and shared in my journey to this point. I love each of you. Now I'm ready to party!!!

A Model in the Making

No, not really, but I just had to post these adorable pics of Miss Ava. She does a fair amount of posing and primping, but we won't be pursuing a career in modeling for her. We'll just enjoy her cuteness here at home...and on this blog.

Christmas Continued

On New Year's Day, we finally celebrated Christmas with Doug's family. After a delicious dinner, we spent the afternoon opening gifts and relaxing. The girls also decorated cookies and a gingerbread house with Grandma. Thanks, Grandma! We also packed in a birthday celebration. It was a fun-filled day! Now I need a nap. :-)

Happy Birthday to us...26, 50 40!

Happy New Year...2011!!!

We rang in the new year with a bunch of friends. I'm not sure who had more fun, the adults who enjoyed great food, drinks and conversation, or the oodles of kids who played and played and played. :-) Thanks, Marc and Shelly, for another wonderful New Year's Eve.

Christmas Celebrations

On Christmas Day we started the day with a beautiful worship service at church. After church, we opened our stockings before heading off to celebrate with my mom's extended family. Our day was filled with food, games, reconnecting, laughs, and more food. We had a great day! I am so grateful for my mom's family and the wonderful time we have together.

The next day we finished celebrating Christmas with our kiddos. We continued our tradition of the "3 gifts of Christmas." Ava was ecstatice to get a Knuffle Bunny! She loves the Knuffle Bunny books - you'll have to check them out if you've never read them. She also got Felicity's foal called Patriot. Hannah flipped out with excitement when she received Felicity's horse named Penny. She also got a scrapbook. For their third gifts we gave them a Barbie house built by our friend Keith. They were over the moon when they discovered it hiding under a blanket downstairs. Hannah is so eager to help me decorate it. In the evening, we celebrated Christmas with my dad's family. It was a busy couple days but filled with lots of joy and happy memories! We will be having a belated Christmas celebration with Doug's family on New Year's Day since his brother and family were away for Christmas.

Joy and peace to you!