Six Years of Bliss...

I am trying to update! Sorry this was back in Jan.!! I know this is extremly late but we had so much fun on our 6th anniversary I had to share pictures! I can't believe in 5 months we will be married for 7 years! Where does the time go!

Christmas 2008 and Ringing in the New Year

Reagan singing her heart away!

Final Outcome-not bad!

Christmas Eve Dinner

All excited-working with Daddy!

Making a the Ginger Bread House

Heading to Dickens of a Christmas

Heading to Dickens of a Christmas

In Awful Arthur's(at the bar mind you)


Christmas went by too fast...it seems like every year it goes by a little bit faster. We had a wonderful December doing all the holiday festivities. First we went to our Annual Christmas Play at our church which was extremely nice(if I was able to see it all). We decided to take Reagan with us because we thought she would enjoy seeing all the characters, especially Baby Jesus. Well mid-way through the production she needed to pee and when I told her she was going to get a spanking(since this was the 2nd time and it had only been a minute After we sat down) she decided to kick and scream down the aisle while she was dead weight and me dragging her by her arms. Oh the joys of motherhood!

Reagan had her first school performance....she did Great! Her class of three year olds sang Jingle Bells, Holly Jolly Christmas, and many more! She is a performer like her father. We weren't sure what the play was going to be because she kept talking about her being an angel and her friend Audrey being baby Jesus's mama, Mary. But come to find out they sang but her teacher Mrs. Smith read them a book in class and they picked who they were going to be. With a three year old you are always having to piece together the puzzle!



The following week-end we went to Dickens of a Christmas downtown. It was so much fun! Our friends Stacy, Tim, and their three children went with us and it was def. a memorable night. We started of the evening watching the Roanoke Christmas parade while the guys went and got us a table at Awful Arthur's(seafood restaurant). After the kids were tired of watching the parade(it seemed to Never Stop) we went to find the guys. We could not find the anywhere in the dining room. Come to find out they were waiting for us in the bar area beside the pool tables!!! Apparently that was the only seating available!?! I was a little peeved to say the least, since I really didn't want my three year old in a bar eating dinner. But as my good friend Stacy told me, "If it was any other night it would be a lot different". So I calmed down to apologize to Ryan for being rude. While Ryan and I are talking to Stacy, Tim is asking where Caleb went(this is their oldest son who is 7). We thought he went to the bathroom but as we turned around we ALL noticed he was learning how to play pool with a man tattoos all over him and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth...priceless. We got through dinner and lets say the kids actually had a blast! Reagan and Emmie rode on a arcade game as a bike...they thought they were so cool! We then went outside in the FREEZING cold to go on a carriage ride and get our picture taken with Santa Clause. The picture turned out really well even though Ryan had a lovely Dip in his mouth so All I could see is the lovely bulge on his cheek! Reagan sat down on my lap with Santa beside me and he asked her what she wanted. She simply stated "A pink TV", he looked at me and said, "A TV?" and Reagan looked at him and said, "Yes, pink"! It was hilarious. Finally we got to the carriage ride and it was the icing on the cake! We all pile in(8 of us) and it was very nice and windy! As we are coming around the last turn before our ride is finished this nice looking(to put it nicely) comes right beside our carriage and acts like she is "hot stuff" and gets her picture taken. Well, WE ALL think she isn't all that but our nice carriage ride person hollers out loud with OUR LITTLE Children sitting there, "That skank a$$ Ho isn't all that!!". We all looked at each other in shock and started laughing, we didn't know what else to do...at least the kids didn't ask what that meant!! Even though it was freezing outside we all had a blast with many laughs!



The rest of the month flew by with decorating our ginger bread house(which is a daddy and Reagan project) to baking our famous Butter Cookies. We had a very relaxing Christmas this year with everyone coming over to our house on Christmas day. It was very nice because we were able to stay in our P.J.'s all day long!. Reagan was priceless when she came down the stairs and saw her Pink TV, chenille chair with stool, and all the other famous toys from Santa. She sat and her stool and starting looking through a book before we even started opening gifts. She said,"she wanted to watch her TV, read, and relax". Of course she finally got up and started unwrapping.



New Years was extremely relaxing...we ended up grilling out on my brother-in-laws new Green Egg(if anyone has seen this you would know why it is called a Green Egg!) We had a lot of fun with them and our friends Willie, Robin, and their little boy. We stayed up eating sweets and playing on Ryan's new Wii. How the years have changed with New Years Eve when children are in the picture! Wouldn't change it for the world!



We are truly blessed to have such an awesome God and wonderful family who loves and supports us. We love being home for the holidays near the ones we love. We miss our extended families over seas but know we will see them soon!



Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and blessed New Year!



Here are two lovely recipes I wanted to share. The first one is a tradition my mother started when I was little. I have had these cookies every Christmas since I could remember! After you eat these you will not go back to sugar cookies! The second is a new recipe that will be a tradition from now on. I made it with our breakfast casserole and it was a hit! Enjoy!




Butter Cookies

Ingredients
1cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2cups confectioners sugar
2 1/2cups sifted all purpose flour
1 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cream tarter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Cream butter, add sugar gradually, cream until fluffy. Add unbeaten egg and vanilla. Beat well, sift together dry ingredients. Blend into creamed mixture. Divide dough. Chill dough. Roll on well floured pastry cloth to 1/8 inch thick. Cut with floured cookie cutters. Bake about 6 minutes at 400'; cool on wire racks. Half recipe makes 3 dozen cookies.




French Toast Casserole


INGREDIENTS
12 day-old French bread
5 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS
Arrange bread in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, 3/4 cup brown sugar, vanilla and nutmeg; pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Sprinkle pecans over egg mixture. Combine butter and remaining sugar; drizzle over the top. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with blueberries. Bake 10 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Ryan is OLD

With all the excitement around I meant to mention Ryan's 30th Surprise party! He was def. Surprised. I had planned for months and months. If it wasn't for my good friend Stacy I wouldn't have been able to pull it off so well. I had roughly 30 people show up at Cornbeef and Company and it was all decorated in a Golf Theme. We had an awesome time with good food and friends. Than the next day Ryan played golf with 6 of his good buddies. Needless to say it took longer than expected but they had a blast in the 30 degree weather! I can not believe I have been with him for over 11yrs! Time flies when you are having fun!!

Decorating like the Griswolds!!!

I starting decorating the week of Thanksgiving since Thanksgiving was late this year. I love to decorate our house with all the pretty garland and lights. It makes it feel so homey around the holidays. I call it tastefully done. Well, my husband on the other hand likes to decorate like Clark Griswold. I finally gave him the thumbs up this year to do Whatever he would like outside. He even likes me to come out and sing "Joy to the World" and then make that god awful sound that Clark's mother-in-law made with her tongue like a cat call. Then magically the lights come on. We have BLUE lights this year, I mean, are we K-Mart? I can not stand tackiness, that is one thing I cringe at but my husband thinks it is wonderful! I am posting a few pictures but this is not done! He wants to get on the roof and put lights(Blue, mind you) done the chimney! Why, Why, Why did I say it was OK? I will post more pictures later when the final lights are hung by the chimney with care, ha....

Thanksgiving with a New Addition

My brother and his wife finally had their baby! Reagan is the big cousin instead of the baby. His name is Evan Bernard Lee and weighed 8lbs and 20inch long! Katie was induced on Wednesday the 26th at 5:30am but did not end up having him till that evening by C-Section at 10:30pm. He was sunny side up and was a little too big for her to have normally. I was very proud of all of them! They got to take him home on Saturday morning at 9am and he is doing Great! Reagan says she loves him just a little bit, not much, just a little bit, ha! She also says he has mermaid hair (his hair is an auburn color). What a girl comment!

Our Home Away From Home~Charleston

We packed up and headed to Charleston, SC for the Citadel Homecoming on a Wednesday and did not come back till Sunday night. That is def. our second Home. Ryan would do anything in the world to work at the Norfolk Southern Hub down there, but as many know it is where ALL the retirees go when they have put 20yrs into the company! Ryan spent 4yrs of his life at the Citadel and absolutely loves the city. I have came very fond of it myself and Reagan did not want to leave! We did many Citadel events since it was Homecoming week-end. Reagan wanted a Cheerleader outfit and if I say so myself she looked adorable. On Wednesday we stayed at our friends Beach House on Isle of Palms(Gorgeous!) and then the rest of the week we stayed at the Lodge Alley Inn in the middle of downtown Charleston. A nice surprise was one of my old friends from high school lives nearby in Savanna and drove up to visit a friend and have dinner with Ryan, Reagan, and I. Our lives have became so similar since we have gotten married that it is pretty scary. Her husband is a 2005 Citadel Grad and an officer in the military. She is going through many situations I had to go through. He is deployed now and they have only been married for a few months. She is a strong woman and I know will be a wonderful Army Wife! It was extremely enjoyable to catch up with her and to see how her family has been doing. It is amazing how many years can go by and you can start off where you left it! The trip and the people were def. worth it!! Enjoy the Pictures.....

Catolicous

After the curlers came out........

Getting her Kitty Face on.....

Isn't she Catolicous! Here Kitty Kitty.....

Trick or Treat, Give me something good to eat! That is what my lovely three year old says to everyone who she greets with her bag wide open! Wonder who taught her that! She had a blast this year trick or treating with her friends and family! We def. got double dips this year. Our church had Trunk or Treat the night before and then of course on Halloween we had even more fun going to our friends house and treating with them around the block. Here are a few pictures of the Miss Pris getting ready. I had put sponge rollers in her hair to make it extremely curler. She left them in all day and ran errands with me. She did not like people looking at her with them in, she said it was "embarrassing"! Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween!