Silent Night…..Silent 3½ weeks

For all you fellow bloggers that are able to keep up with your blogs during the holidays, kudos to you! I don’t know how you do it. We have been so busy, which means we have a lot to share, but I just haven’t found the time to share it.

November 26, 2009
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be Thankful for that I don’t even know where to begin…or end…it could go on for days. To keep it short I will say that the thing I am most thankful for every year is my wonderful family. I love being surrounded by so many family members and friends and the wonderful memories that come with that. We had probably around 50 people at mom and dad’s house for Thanksgiving. We spent time together. Raced my cousins to Aunt Eva’s mac & cheese, ate until we were stuffed, laughed with (and at) each other, watched football with the men, loved on the babies, chatted in the kitchen with the women while cleaning the dishes and spent valuable time with family that we haven’t seen all year. It was a great day. Here is the gang…..

November 27, 2009
The following day we bit our nails, held our breath and at times covered our eyes while Bama pulled off another EXTREMELY close victory against our archenemy in the Iron Bowl. Paul traveled to the game with his cousin Mike and his wife Shannon, while I choose to stay home in the warm comfort of my parent’s house and watch it on TV. They had a great time and I hate I missed hanging out with them, but I am glad Paul got to go.

The rest of the weekend we put up Christmas decorations, ate leftovers, watched Christmas movies and really just had a great time. It was a great vacation with 4 full days away from work.

December 5, 2009
The day started off great. We woke up to snow on the ground. And I got to take our nieces (Taylor and Marli) to breakfast with Santa. They asked me if "Santa brought the snow with him?" and "Where did he put the reindeer and sleigh?" So cute! They ate pancakes and then got to see the big guy. Neither of them was scared. Walked right up to him, climbed in his lap and started with their request. Taylor wants a “baby doll that talks” and Marli requested “new boots with sompting on ‘em”….not really sure what that means, but hopefully Santa does. Afterwards we went back to our house where we snapped this cute picture with Sophie and got to play in what was left of the snow.

Later that night…..

As you may have heard The University of Alabama won its 22nd Southeastern Conference Championship on Saturday, December 5th and clinched a trip to the 2010 BCS National Championship Game on Thursday, January 7th at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. We are so proud of our boys in Crimson!

We watched the game at home with our friends Greg and Sherry. And I was a terrible host. I just felt like I had no energy at all that day. I was so excited to see the Tide play so well, yet I could hardly move off the couch the entire time. My mind wanted to jump up and down screaming, but my body would not allow it. Later that night, we learned why. My fever spiked to 102….I had the flu. It was terrible. We still aren’t sure which variety (Swine or Seasonal) that I had, but Tamiflu along with all the other stuff the doctor prescribed did the trick. I was confined to the house all week and you think I would have gotten something done (like blog to all my homies), but I couldn’t move off the couch. I am feeling much better now, just an annoying cough left over.

December 10, 2009
We had a video conference with our doctor to go over risk and benefits. Like we haven’t read over all of this stuff a million times and are fully aware, but I guess they have a checklist they are required to go over. So at least it is out of the way. We look forward to getting started sometime after the holidays. We still have some lose ends to tie up before we can actually start, but we are getting there.

After our appointment, we attempted our first Christmas shopping. Got several things done, but still have quite a bit to do. For some reason I only want to buy toys for the kids….I have a hard time with the adults. But Christmas is coming ready or not, so I better get to it!

December 11, 2009
Taylor starred in her very first school play. It was the sweetest thing. The Kindergarten through Second Grade acted out the nativity story. Taylor was in the angel choir. They sang all our favorite Christmas songs and ended with with her only line of the night (which was recited with the entire school) “God always keeps His promises.”

December 12-14, 2009

My childhood friend Alicia flew in from Orlando to bring her precious new son, Sawyer to meet us. We had the best weekend getting to hold him and spoil him rotten. He is just so cute. We had a great time visiting and loving on this precious little guy.

Sophie was the best baby sitter. She just loved Sawyer and wouldn’t let him out of her sight. If we put him on the couch, she laid on the opposite end and watched him to make sure he was okay. She really wanted to sniff him, so I had a hard time keeping her away from him during his mat time. She thought he was very interesting.

December 12, 2009
The 2009 Heisman Trophy was awarded to Mark Ingram. This is the first ever for the University of Alabama. We are so proud of #22. I will have to say I was surprised. I really thought Colt McCoy from the University of Texas would win. He is a good kid and also a great athlete, so were all of the candidates. We look forward to watching Mark in the future…hopefully at Bama for a few more years since he is only a sophomore, but the NFL may be hoping to see him too.

December 14-18, 2009
Back to work and 4 Christmas parties this week. WOW! I am worn out. I love Christmas, it is my favorite time of the year. Unfortunately that flu put me behind on everything. Christmas will be here in just 5 days and I hope to slow down enough to enjoy it.