Dig in...

Presents...did some one say presents???
Bella is getting the hang of it!
The family...
Is that Wyatt or Bob the Builder???
Bella was fascinated with her second cousin, Emily, and everything she had!

Emily was a trooper letting her play with it all!

Brunch at Aunt Sharon's....

Tim and Suzi Cousins

Izabella, Emily, Wyatt and Tate

Aunt Sherry, Great Aunt Mabeth, Papaw, Cousin Curt and Uncle Dave

This morning we headed up to Lafayette to Aunt Sharon's and Uncle Butch's for a wonderful Christmas brunch. This is a tradition we have done as long as Tim and I have been together. It is a nice morning to visit with family, have some great food, presents for the kiddos and a fun gift exchange for the adults!

Thanks for having us!

Happy 3rd Birthday Julia!

We hope all your princess wishes come true and your year is full of lots of love, laughter and fun!!!

We can't wait to see you next month and your baby sister too!

Thank Goodness for my Girlfriends...

Tonight I was very blessed to be surrounded by many of my wonderful girlfriends for a Girls Night Out at PF Chang's!!! YUMMY!!!

Many laugh, Much Girl Talk, and Great Friendships...ohh and some wine too!!!

I met each of these girls at different phases of my life and I count my blessing each day that they are a part of my life!!! I can't imagine my life without them! It would be quite boring!

Sometimes we get consumed with the busyness of life that we don't get to see each other enough but how much fun we have when we do!

I only wish every one could of joined us tonight, although I realize what a busy time of the year it is!

THANKS Girls for such a fun night! What a great birthday treat!

Love you all!

Beautiful Birthday Morning...

I woke up to birthday kisses from Tim and announcement that it had snowed. I said, "yeah it was suppose to snow" and he said, "no, It has snowed!!!" Then when I looked I outside I realized what he meant! What a beautiful scene the first snow of the season had left in our backyard! The snow always seem to bring such peacefulness. (until you hit the road)

Bella and I snuggled in bed a little longer today ... it was perfect morning!

Then she was off to the babysitters and Cathy took my to a very yummy Birthday lunch at Bravo's before I had to go into work! Yes, it was a little bit of a bummer that I had to work on my birthday but it is ok! I am looking forward to celebrating tomorrow night with many of my girlfriends. Then on Saturday Tim and I are headed downtown to celebrate! I am going to have to be on a MAJOR diet after this week of celebrating is over!

Thank you to every one who sent me a birthday wish....via email, phone and/or card! It was so nice to get every ones wishes today! My best gift of all have is my beautiful daughter and loving husband to wake up to each morning and to be surrounded by amazing family and friends!

THANK YOU!

Yeah...By Usher...Bella Version...

Most of the day I try and have the TV off but I do usually leave the Sirrus radio on. Bella loves to sing and dance... showing off some of her moves that daddy and I taught her. She is "raising the roof" to Ushers, Yeah! Daddy thought she have might be doing the sprinkler later in the night.

Love the Hat...

Avoiding the Camera at all cost...
Silly Face!
A little better
I am outta here mom!!!

I tried numerous times to pose Bella after church in her little outfit/hat that I thought was adorable but she really didn't want to have anything to do with it! This was the best we could do!

Our family was honored to be asked to light the first advent candle of hope today at church! We hope that Izabella always grows up knowing the true celebration of Christmas!

The Birth of Jesus!!!

Birthday Sisters....

For 28 years Rachel and I have celebrated our birthdays if not on the same day right around the same time! Sometimes we had our on very indivilized parties and sometimes we shared outings. We are 3 days from being 3 years apart! I still remember Rachel coming home on my 3rd birthday when my Aunt Beth and Grandma still threw my Kermit the Frog party for me with all the little neighbor friends over! I was so proud of my little birthday gift as each guest would come in I would ask them if they wanted to see my new baby sister! To this day I am still so proud to call Rachel my sister...she is a true gift to our family!

Tonight we celebrated our birthday as mom made one of our favorite meals: Chicken & Noodles and Carrot Mashed Potatoes ( A Great Grandma Hop Recipe) Then we had a wonderfully rich and beautiful red velvet cake! It was such a nice night to just share with my family!

Thanks mom and dad for a great birthday dinner and Rachel for being a wonderful sister to share the evening with!

Happy Birthday, Sister! I love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Aunt Rachel

We hope you have the happiest birthday with many more to come!!!!

May you year be full of much laughter, love and happiness!!!

We Love you!!!

Tim, Alli and Bella Raye

The Girl Line Up

Once again we attempted to get the girls in a picture all together!
Mission: FAILED....they are too quick and want to do other things than take a silly picture!!!

Maybe next time we will try when they are sleeping! By the time they are old enough to sit still there will be new little ones in the picture!

O well...it is fun to keep trying to get a snap shot of the girls! Someone should capture a picture of all the adults while trying!

Friday Evening in With Friends....

Reusser prepared quite the yummy meal for us all to enjoy...

pork loin, rolls, green bean casserole, mash potatoes, mac n cheese

The girls enjoy sitting next to each other and sharing what they didn't want. Addie was showing off her skills with the spoon. She can eat applesauce all by herself!
Fallyn, Emily, Addie and Claire playing with the cool new house Addie's cousin gave her!

What a great night...I can't remember the last time we were all together with the girls!

Thanks for having us over Reusser's!!!

Morning Routine...

Most mornings when Bella Raye wakes up we bring her and her sippy back to bed with us for some cuddle time while she drinks her sippy. Then she asked daddy to play with his cell phone while he gets ready for work and recently she want to wear his hat too!

Step By Step....

Bella has been taking a few steps for a couple weeks. Two weeks ago she took 10 steps to Uncle Ernie but we haven't got her to do much more than that...until tonight...she was walking back and forth like crazy! Hopefully she remembers in the morning or Grandma M will just have to come to our house every day!

Sorry about the footage again...forgot to turn the camera around and her walking on the first video is near the end! Just wanted to catch what I could on film while she was doing it!

Fascination....

Bella LOVED her gloves....
she wouldn't let me take them off when we came in!
She even played for awhile with them on!

I thought it was too cute! Hopefully she always wants to leave her gloves on when it is freezing outside!

Bundled Up....

Once Bella Raye woke up from her nearly 3 hour nap after play group I just couldn't seem to make her happy with anything! We let the dogs out and she went back to the door and was trying to reach the handle. So....we bundled up and headed outside for awhile where she was completely happy!!!