Our Christmas Vacation!

What a wonderful Christmas we had with all of our family!

Christmas Eve night, we went Van Buren to visit with my cousins Tammy and Joe and their sons Brad and Michael.

me and Tammy

me and Joe

me and Brad
I am so proud of my cousin Brad who now lives in Washington DC. He is the communications director for Congressman
My other cousin Michael (not pictured-he arrived a bit later) is also doing well and working as a car salesman at Joe's car dealership.

After visiting with my cousins, we headed to Pops and GoGo's house for dinner. We always exchange our gifts on Christmas Eve night!

Uncle Will helping Christian open his new laptop

Christian wearing his new winter coat!

me and Kimberly

Christian showing Pops his "shaving" kit we gave him for Christmas. He was so excited to have his own shaving cream, mirror and play razor so he could "shave" like dad!

Christian took this picture of his Uncle John! :)

GoGo and Jim (Christian took this picture too!)

After going to bed REALLY late, we awoke Christmas morning at 7am to see what Santa had left for Christian!

Santa got Christian a new bike, portable CD player, Fisher Price digital camera and airport, a red Power Ranger and a remote control car! WOW!

Ann always prepares a wonderful Christmas brunch on Christmas morning. Uncle Rob and Janie, Uncle Bill, Shawn and Grandmother and Grandad came over too!

GoGo showing off her fancy rubber gloves!


We always has a Happy Birthday Baby Jesus cake too!

Christian listening to his new CD player

Santa even brought GoGo a present! A fur coat!

Uncle Will, GoGo, Grandmother and Grandad

Jim, Christian and I headed back home on Christmas. Friday evening, I met Mischelyn for shopping at the Promenade and then we met my friend Meg who flew down from Michigan for Christmas. We had dinner at PF Changs and it was so much fun! Meg stayed with us Friday evening then on Saturday we had a lazy morning then went to have lunch at Guidos Pizza. We all drove down to Van Buren again on Saturday afternoon. We celebrated Wrenn's Christmas (because he had to work in Plano on Christmas) and did some family pictures. Meg and I then spent the afternoon shopping around Fort Smith. Saturday night, we all had dinner at Rolandos with friends.

Meg and Eastin

Kimberly and Wrenn

Walter and Jim

me and Meg

What a wonderful Christmas we had with all of our friends and family!

Time with friends...

The holidays are about family but also about spending time with friends. On Sunday, we invited our friends, Jennifer, Chad and their daughter Brianna over for dinner. We also played some Guitar Hero too! It was a fun evening. On Monday night, my friends Crissy and Hope came over and we celebrated my birthday and exchanged Christmas gifts. Crissy got me gift cards to Sign, Sealed and Delivered and Hobby Lobby. She also got me a beauiful scarf, NYC calendar, a notebook, and a Willow Tree figurine, "A tree, a prayer". Hope made me a new floral arrangement for our kitchen table and a new Willow Tree figurine, "Quietly" that is a mom holding her two sons. Thanks ladies for the wonderful gifts but especially for your friendship!

the 2nd Anniversary of my 29th Birthday...

Saturday, I celebrated my 2nd anniversary of my 29th birthday (the big 31). I spent the day relaxing in my jammies and finished wrapping Christmas presents. I had fun spending the day with Jim and Christian at home. I even took a nap! Saturday evening, Jim and I went out to dinner at Hog Haus with our friends Chris and Elise. We went to see "Spamalot" at the Walton Arts Center.
It was a crazy and fun show!
I am thinking beginning next year, I am going to start celebrating my birthday on June 20th (my half birthday). Having a birthday around the holidays and in cold weather is not always fun. So mark your calendars for June 20th next year to celebrate my 31 1/2 birthday! HA!

All wrapped up!

This week at work, we completed the ultimate of practical jokes. Our co-worker Duncan was out until Friday, so we had the idea to wrap everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) on his desk! If you recently saw the Christmas episode of "The Office", Jim did this to Dwight. From his phone to his post it notes, everything got wrapped! When he came to work on Friday, he was quite surprised, but I think he enjoyed the joke!

Tiny Tots Christmas Play!

Friday morning was Christian's Tiny Tots Preschool Christmas play. Pops, GoGo and I attended.
Christian played the part of an angel (of course, ha) and his line was "Do not be afraid!"

My angel and me!

After the play, all the children sang Christmas songs and had Happy Birthday Jesus cake. Then they exchanged gifts. Christian received an "Ants in my Pants" game. Ms. Tina gave all the children step stools with their names on them. Christian is using his in the kitchen so he can help me cook!
After the play, we took Christian back to his daycare class and GoGo brought a gingerbread house for all of his friends to eat!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Christian and Santa

Pops and GoGo with Santa too!

This past week has been full of fun holiday activities! Last Sunday, I went on the Junior League's Winter Dreams Tour of Homes with GoGo and my friends Dara and Susan. On Thursday, I invited GoGo to attend our church's annual Christmas Brunch and Tour of Homes. Friday night, we drove down to Van Buren to celebrate my birthday with Jim's family. GoGo cooked a wonderful dinner. On Saturday morning, we went to celebrate Christmas with the Sharums in Fort Smith (Jim's mom side of the family). It was so much fun! Aunt Janie makes a big brunch for everyone and all the cousins stay in their jammies and open presents!

me and Jim

me and Kimberly

GoGo and Aunt Janie

Christian and his toy guitar!

Christian going through his stocking. Santa even stopped by Rob and Janie's house to hand out stockings to all the kids!
Saturday night, we went to Creekmore Park to see the lights and the Christmas train. Then after dinner, we drove around Van Buren and Fort Smith to see some of the best local Christmas light displays!

ARVEST1 Trade Desk Christmas Party!

Saturday night, Jim and I hosted the ARVEST1 Trade Desk Christmas party. The food for the party is always a Mexican theme and everyone brings a yummy dish to share!

Jamie and Rachel

Trent and Candace

Ty and Lauren

Joanna and Dwight
Though Dwight left us to go to work for Wal-Mart, we always invite the "alumni" of the desk, and we had to have some "Dwig-it" at the party!!!

And our newest addition to the trade desk, Paul and his wife Tabitha. Paul is heading to Dallas next week for the Series 7 cram course and takes his test on Monday, Dec. 15th.

So to get the party started, we busted out some Guitar Hero World Tour!

Jamie, Paul, Trent and Rachel "rock it out" to some Michael Jackson's "Beat It!"

Here is a little video that I just had to share of Jamie doing his best Michael Jackson moonwalk...

Dwight singing "Eye of the Tiger"

Trent rocks the drums!

Even our boss Stephanie gives the guitar a shot! She did great!

Paul speak fluent Spanish, so we requested that he sing "La Bamba". It was awesome!

Jamie and Ty

Trent was one of our most entertaining singers!

The night could not be complete without an all girls band! I sang "Spiderwebs" by No Doubt!
Thanks to all who came! We had some fun gifts and it was great party!