Another Christmas, another year, come & gone...

Yep.  That's pretty much how it is!  Christmas has come and gone once again.  The past two weeks have been a blur!  We had a great time visiting and celebrating Christmas with friends and family this year.  Sad it's over, but looking forward to a fun new year ahead.  I think we can safely say that we did get a White Christmas here in Georgia this year!  A first and probably a last for sure.  The snow moved in late Christmas night and snowed quite heavily all Sunday morning and flurried all afternoon.  The ground was really wet and slushy so we didn't get much to stick, but it sure was pretty anyway.  And made for a great day to stay home and get the Christmas decorations down before heading back to work on Monday.  Christmas Eve we got together with Nana and Papa at their house for breakfast and presents, then everyone headed over to our house for dinner.  Christmas morning we woke up and did "Santa" with Kate, then headed over to see what Bubby got.  After that we went to Grandmama and Grandaddy's for Christmas dinner and presents.  We had a great weekend.

A new xylophone!

"Build-a-Bear" from Nana and Papa.  She loves her!

Will and Kate both got new tricycles

What's in there?

Oh, to be a kid at Christmas again!!!

A very rare photo...Bobby reading Kate a book.  

He came!!

Kate checking out Elmo...she really loves him!

Love this one...Kate with Great-Grandmama and Great-Grandaddy

Love this one too...Will and Kate with the "Greats"

Beautiful Maggie.  So glad she was home for Christmas!

Baby Stella from Lori and Brian...giving her back her paci!

Looking forward to the rest of the week and celebrating New Year's this weekend.  No plans, but lovin' it!  On a downer side note...my car was broken into today :(  right in front of the nursing home (I was consulting this morning) and in broad daylight.  Thankfully nothing was taken and no one was hurt.  

Update

The holiday season has obviously been in official full swing for quite some time now, seeing as I have not found the time to record what we've been up to lately.  It's been a fun-filled, busy few weeks and we have been enjoying every minute; well, almost every minute...
I'll go on ahead and go into the minutes that have not been quite so fun.  Joe actually left town about 2 weeks ago for a week-long deer-hunting trip in Kansas.  Things just aren't quite as fun around here when Daddy's away.  We sure do miss him.  But he's back home now and hopefully not leaving for Kansas again any time soon!  Joe's fun week in Kansas also resulted in my doing 90% of my Christmas shopping online this year, which I rather enjoyed!  So much easier than trying to lug a 15-month old all around town! We have kept the UPS man very busy these past few weeks.
We spent this past weekend in Perry with the Todd's celebrating Christmas.  A little short on time this evening, so I'll wrap up with some recent pics of Kate and some shots from our weekend!  We had a great time!

One of Kate's new hobbies:  Mom's kitchen cabinets!

Will and Kate trying to escape??

Sweetness in her Christmas outfit

Santa's a-comin'!

As I mentioned, we celebrated Christmas this past weekend with the Todd's in Perry.  Kate got all kinds of fun new toys to play with!  

Watching the lake with Grandpa and Hank

Thanks Aunt Julee and Uncle Parker for my ladybug pillow pet!

Another fun one...wooden duck push toy from Grammy and Grandpa

My duck towel from Julee and Parker!  (Kate loves anything and everything "duck")

"What else ya got in there?"

Wow!  My very own blackberry!

Showing Daddy and Julee all my new toys

Grammy helping me open my present

Pretty fleece...just my size!

Shopping cart from Grammy and Grandpa...her face says it all.  She loves it!

Two pretty girls!  Kate is trying out her orange in honor of hunting season.

Uh-oh Kate!  Did something scare you?  Holding onto Aunt Julee for dear life!

Daddy and Kate...look-alikes?

Giving Aunt Julee kisses

Christmas is Saturday!  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

Thanksgiving 2010 was a success!  We had a great day.  We got up this morning and headed on over to Bartow for some of Patsy's good cookin' and some great company.  Then wrapped up the day with dinner over at Grandmama's...also extremely tasty fare.  My stomach is smiling tonight.  Kate was a real trooper today...she never had a nap this morning so was pretty tired during our visit in Bartow, but she hung in there.  She never really got fussy and was quite friendly with everyone!  

Blessing the meal in Bartow

Kate playing with Sean, Seth, and Will

Playing outside

Grammy and Kate on the front steps at Patsy and Smokey's beautiful home 

Gathering on the veranda for the meal!

Julee and Kate

Riding the golf cart with Grandpa

Nobody quite like her...or her dressing!

"The wheels on the bus go round and round..."  Nobody sings it quite like Lori!

Like I said, Kate was a real trooper today.  We left Bartow about 3:30.  As soon as we started rolling out of town she crashed.  She slept the whole way home to Augusta. 

Thank you so much to Patsy and Grandmama for such fabulous meals today.  I'm convinced they get better every year!  How blessed we are to have such loving family and friends with whom to gather and share the holidays.

Have to sign off with this pic of Kate in the tub last night.  Daddy fashioned this mohawk out of her soapy hair.  Cute!

Scrubby-scrub-scrub, little cutie in the tub!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Busy Lately

Yes.  It has been busy lately.  But good busy.  Not with anything in particular, either, just everyday "stuff."   Last week we went to the Lady Antebellum concert Monday night and on Thursday evening I hosted Bunco (not really sure why we call it this...we never play!!) here at our house.  Always so good to get together with the girls.  Since we were in town this past weekend and everyone was well, we headed to church.  Kate is not handling well our leaving her in the nursery these days.  Although, they assure us when we go to pick her up that she only cries for about 5 minutes or so after we leave her (at most).  She had the death grip on Joe this past Sunday morning with huge crocodile tears.  So sad...for Kate, and Mom and Dad!  But I know deep down that it's good for her (and for us, too) so I think we're just going to have to keep at it.  I'm counting on the fact that one day she'll realize, "Hey, this really isn't that bad.  They always come back for me after an hour or so!"

Here is a little sneak peek at some of our Christmas pictures...

Daddy and Kate

Sweet shot of Kate and Papa

Is Christmas here yet?

Kathryn, Jacob, and Wyatt came over to get in on the Christmas picture action

Sweet girl

Kate is officially walking now.  It came on pretty slow.  She has been taking steps here and there for a little over a month now.  But just recently (really within the last 2 weeks) she has started getting around by walking.  She is so cute toddling around the house!  She is very cautious with every step and moves pretty slow.  She puts her arms out in front of herself to be sure she keeps her balance.  So cute.  

Becca stopped by the house Sunday on her way back to Perry after visiting Augusta for a wedding!

Becca and Kate

You can see the chocolate all over Kate's mouth in this picture.  Once she realized Becca had the "goods," (Mama's chocolate dessert) she and Becca were BFF.  We had fun catching up Becca!

This week is Thanksgiving.  Excited about spending the holiday with friends and family Thursday and hanging out with my own little family this weekend as we get the house decorated for Christmas!  We are so looking forward to the Christmas Season!  Happy Thanksgiving! 

First Fair Trip

Ok, so I have been a resident of Columbia County for, what, 22 years or so? and I have never been to the Columbia County Fair! (gasp)  So this evening, we packed up Kate and headed across Columbia Road to go see what all the fuss was about.  It really was a lot of fun!

Kelly, Billy, and Will came out too, as well as Paul, Cy and Ansley, and also the McMurray's!  So fun to see the kids get excited and see their little eyes light up.  Kate road the Carousel with Daddy and Billy, Kelly, and Will.  Kate and Will weren't too sure about it...and I don't think the adults were either!  Joe said that thing went a little faster than he thought it would, especially since they were riding on the inside circle. Think they got a little dizzy.  Next Joe and Kate rode the big slide together.  I think she liked it, although there were a few tears at the top of the slide when the man in charge took hold of Kate while Joe sat down on the burlap sack.  She did not like that.  But she had recovered by the time they reached the bottom.  Joe said he think they caught a little air coming over those humps in the slide.  Mama was a little nervous watching :)

After the slide Ansley wanted Kate to go ride "Nemo" with her.  This is a cute little ride of a bunch of little Nemo fishies that the kids sit in and are strapped in.  So she actually got to ride this one on her own!  I wasn't too sure about this either, at first, but the lady in charge of the ride tried to assure us they were big enough and would be fine!  I think Kate could have taken it or left it...she didn't seem to love it nor hate it.  Will, on the other hand, wasn't too fond of it, but was a big boy (had a big day today...first haircut!) and hung in there until it was over.  We had some dinner (fair food!!!!), walked around a little more, and headed home!  All that fun, and I leave my camera IN THE CAR.  :(  Luckily Kelly had hers.

Joe did manage to get this image with his phone of Kate on the Nemo ride

  

We were in Perry this past weekend so Joe and Terry could get some hunting in and Kate and I could help Grammy around the house some while she recovers from her knee surgery. 

It was a coooooold weekend!

We went on a few golf cart rides.

Kate liked driving!

You guys hopping in or what?!

Watching the water

The holidays will be here very soon!  Can't wait to see her little face light up when she sees the tree this year!  I also can't wait to teach her about why we celebrate Christmas.  

Pretty Casey, & Brushing Teefies

Poor Casey.  I recently got a new lens for our camera and have been trying to figure out how to use it.  Casey has been my subject.  She has been such a good, patient model, and if I do say so myself, is one good-lookin' dog.  Casey just had a birthday, too!  Like our marriage, she is 5 years old now.  She has been with us every step of the way.  Love her.

Pretty Casey

Sweet Puppy

On another note, one of Kate's new loves in her bedtime routine is brushing her teeth.  Of course this could change any day, but for the time being she really loves brushing!  Aunt Dr. Kelly will be so proud!

Brush-a, brush-a, brush-a!

Brushing is F-U-N!