LAST WEEK OF 2010

I was so glad that it worked out for my parents to come because I had no clue what we would have done with the kids that second week they were out of school (Nathan took vacation the first week). Oh my, it's only the beginning of our predicaments of child arrangements now that I work full time.

We were able to celebrate my dad's birthday with him while they were in town.Brooke wanted Grandpa to have a smiley face and polka dots on his cake...So there you go.Yep, it's fairly obvious that I slapped that sucker together in no time. Sorry but I had to work all day and was a tired girl.

I know I've mentioned this before, but there's really not that much to do here. I mean, you can only go to the movies, our rinky dink Chuck E Cheese, and the park so many times. Good thing grandparents are creative and flexible with their time.

I did manage to get my friend's dad to open up his secret shop and show my parents his amazing stash of fabulous old cars.

Tennessee did actually squeeze out a tiny bit of snow while my parents were here but nothing spectacular.

My parents stayed just long enough to allow Nathan and I to go to a New Year's Eve party...No clue when the last time we did that was. We had a great time but I didn't take any pictures with my camera at the party. Shocker, I know. There were too many people there that we didn't really know and, I wasn't in the mood to be that weird person flashing the annoying light in everyone's most likely foggy eyed faces. Got a cheesy picture for Sara to post on Facebook though!

Thanks mom and dad for coming to our rescue the last week of 2010!

CHRISTMAS

This was our first Christmas to be just the four of us (family wise) throughout the entire holiday season. Choosing not to go back to Texas was a hard decision to make but it was necessary.
Look at all the presents! Both sides of our family sent all kinds of goodies ahead of time...The kids were soooo excited.
I'll admit that I did try to deter the kids from wishing they were with their cousins with lots of presents. I pretty much put one thing in each bag to make it look like more. Plus we had all of our relatives presents under our tree instead of going to the grandparents' houses to open them. Ridiculously expensive footwear. Thanks Peyton Manning for making my child think that Reezigs are the greatest shoes in the world.
Grandma and Grandpa sent Cole a super cool Texas Rangers hat...LOVE!Brooke was already telling stories to a couple of her new friends. And Cole was in chill mode for a minute while SportsCenter was on.About 4:00 pm the doorbell rang, and the kids got another surprise for Christmas. My parents left Texas early that morning and drove all the way to Tennessee without the kids ever knowing they were coming for a visit. Back in October Brooke asked my mom to come bring Ginger (their little dog) to visit her. My mom decided right then and there that they would come for Christmas.

Brooke was soooo excited to see that little dog. They just love each other.

Yes, the kids were thrilled that Ginger brought Grandma and Grandpa along, too. :-)

Nathan's parents sent along some goodies with my parents for he and I that including some fabulous cowgirl boots that are beyond AWESOME! Unfortunately, one boot had a defect and they were a little too big so, they had to travel back to Texas with my parents to be exchanged.

All in all, I think it turned out to be a fantastic Christmas Day and a great end to an unexpected year of changes for us.

PIZZA PARTY

When our friends Mac and Sara found out that we weren't going home to Texas for the Christmas holidays, they immediately invited us to join them in their Christmas Eve festivities.

For the last 20 years or so they've made home made pizzas and have a judging contest on the taste and presentation of them. Something completely different than what we could have ever imagined doing on Christmas Eve but, it turned out to be a really good time with some great company. Brooke was so proud of her pizza. Cole did the scarce half.Cole could have really cared less. He took off as soon as possible to goof off with the boys.Is it a secret? What's Daddy saying, Brooke???My pizza wasn't allowed to be judged...Because I was talked into being a judge...But I couldn't resist making one anyway. Oh my goodness, I ate way too much and tasted some weird concoctions that can only be a good recipe for a belly ache.Nathan tried to bribe one of the judges (ok, it was me) by making a pizza that said I "heart" U. The other two judges said that was cheating. I thought it was sweet though. :)Thank you, Sara, for inviting us to join in your family tradition and make some wonderful memories on our first year away from our families on Christmas Eve. Loved it!

FAMILY PHOTOS

It came as a shock to Nathan but, I actually decided to do a picture with all four of us in it for our Christmas cards. I normally refuse to be in pictures but, I'm getting better about it. We tried two different days to get it all right until the kids couldn't take it anymore. I don't know what they were complaining about because I was one the getting leg cramps from running back and forth to do the timer on the camera.

So here are some of the shots that were worthy of avoiding the delete button.
Nathan wanted this one for the card but I didn't like how my hair was all limp since it was after work and the curl was long gone.

I love this one...Too cute!

Brooke had lost another top tooth by the time we did the second session, and she refused to show her teeth because the gap was soooo large in the front.
And this was the choice below for our Christmas card. The coloring was a little orangey once it was printed but, it's not too shabby for a 10 cent photo in our living room with poor lighting and our little camera.