One of My New Favorites

I have a million birthday and Christmas pictures that I need to download and post...and I will soon...but I just loved this picture. My dad caught this shot when he was here last time, and I thought it was so funny. Anna Lee with her high heels and guitar. Doesn't get much better than that. Music and style.

The Newest Member of Our Family

We have been looking for a long time now for a new car. I have been VERY specific (maybe to a fault) about what I have wanted. Jim has worked so hard to find the right car for our family. Last week, he told me he had found a car in Houston that was exactly what I wanted....year, model, color, leather, dvd player...the list is long. I thought he was being crazy. But we flew to Houston, bought the car, and drove it straight home to Dallas. I have been so excited!!! What a fun Christmas present!!! It meant so much to me that Jim worked so hard to find what I wanted...enough to fly to Houston with me to get it!

New Baby Cousin!

Anna Lee's new baby cousin, Ryan James, was born last Thursday evening. We went to visit him in the hospital, and it was so fun to get to meet him! He is so cute!!! Anna Lee LOVED him! She wanted to hold him, put his passy in, kiss him, rock him, whatever she could do to "mother" him. It made us think about what is to come. We are so excited sweet Ryan is here, and that he is healthy. His two brothers and sister were excited to meet him too- what a fun Christmas present!

Thanksgiving and the Musical

This post is a little late, but better late than never I guess. The past month or so has been a whirlwind, including a fast and fun trip to my grandmother's house in Sudan, Texas for Thanksgiving. Anna Lee only lasted a few minutes at the table before she was ready for a nap, but she seemed to enjoy the turkey and mashed potatoes that she got to eat. While we were in Sudan, we tried to fit in as many parties and celebrations as possible in just 3 days. After our official Thanksgiving feast, we had a small (early) birthday party for Anna Lee so my grandmother could give her presents to her. Anna Lee got an Elmo Live from my grandmother for her birthday, and she could not have loved it more! I tried to capture her excitement in the pictures. She was even giving Elmo hugs after a few minutes.

The day after Thanksgiving, we celebrated Christmas with my grandmother, since we all won't get to be there over the actual Christmas holiday. Anna Lee loved getting to decorate my grandmother's tree with us, and helped us put on the ornaments (kind of). Our small Christmas celebration there got me really excited for the real one. It is so much fun to see the difference that one year can make, and how much more fun she has with Christmas this year. She loved getting and giving presents to everyone.

So after "Christmas," my dad had a fun afternoon of games planned. He had bought a bunch of prizes...some good, some better. We were divided into teams and answered riddles to get the prizes. I think he was caught off guard by how competitive we were with the games. No one gave anyone any mercy...not even my grandmother.

This was one of my prizes. I was very proud to win it. I also ended up with a Nike jacket.

Anna Lee enjoyed the flying bird more than anyone. She and my dad spent a good while flying it outside after the "games."

The last game was the most exciting. Dad pulled out a $50 bill and said whoever correctly guessed the sex of the baby would win the money. A drawing will be held between the people who were correct. The drawing is to be held soon between Jim, my sisters, my grandmother, and me. My parents both guess girl. A second $50 bill was pulled out for whoever guesses the closest weight of the baby. A $100 bill was the prize offered for the person who ends up guessing both the correct sex of the baby and the closet birth weight. My question was: is there a prize for the one who actually HAS the baby?? I guess it is a baby. :0)

Last but not least, we had a fun surprise birthday party for my mom. Talk about a packed...and fun...time with family!

The week after we got home from Thanksgiving, I helped direct a Christmas musical for the 1st through 5th graders at church. We have practiced since August, and we were so excited to finally be performing. The musical talked about Jesus' family tree, and how we all get to be in God's family because of Jesus' sacrifice. It was such an honor to get to teach the kids about music, acting, being on a team, and God's word. The kids did an amazing job, and we were all so proud of them. It was bittersweet to be finished. Here are a couple of pictures of the night we performed. This first picture was with some of my favorite people, Kasey, Tobin, and Abbe, who helped me in a million different ways over the past several months. It was such a blessing to get to be a part of such a fun project with close friends....and to become even closer.

The kids were so cute and did an AMAZING job. I was so proud of them!

Anna Lee had her birthday party this past weekend. Pictures will be coming soon. I can't believe she is already going to be 2!

It's a...

BOY!!!

We are so excited! It will be so strange to have blue things in our house...or in my family! At the sonogram, everything looked great, and he looked very healthy. He is also measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule. We were so thankful for a great report!

Pink or Blue???

We find out tomorrow afternoon if this new little baby is a girl or a boy. Any guesses???

A Princess Party

Anna Lee's cousin, Brynlee, had the cutest birthday party I have ever been to last weekend. (I can't believe she is already turning 5!) The party was at a little tea room, and the little girls got to dress up like princesses and have a real tea party (china and all). I was a little worried how Anna Lee would do...but she "princessed" it up right along with all of the 5 and 6 year olds. At first she was a little hesitant, but she eventually figured it all out and joined right in. Here are a few of the pictures we caught of the girls. It was so fun to watch all of them!

To begin, the girls all got to go to a room filled with pink princess dresses and pick out one to wear. Anna Lee was very specific about the dress she wanted. She picked an off-the-shoulder dress that was pink with lace and pearls. After they changed clothes, the girls got a "make-over" of sorts. They all waited in line to get their make-up done and their fingernails painted. We could not believe it, but Anna Lee patiently waited right along with all of the other girls until it was her turn. She sat as still as a rock while the lady in charge painted her fingernails, and then followed all of her directions (closing her eyes, opening her mouth, etc.) while the lady put on her eyeshadow and lipstick. It was too funny!

All dolled up

Brynlee was crowned "princess of the party." She was loving it!

She then crowned each of the girls "princess," and they each got a crown. Anna Lee was the only one who didn't want to wear her crown. Perhaps it was hurting her head...all of the other girls had full heads of hair to soften the combs. (Hopefully she will someday too!)

Just checking out what all of the other girls were doing.

She was working very hard to do what they were all doing...

That included drinking with her pinky held out.

All of the girls had a princess parade at the end, and then had a photo shoot as a group. Anna Lee looked so little with all of them...but acted so big. What a fun, fun day!