Dirty Santa Party

Eric's dad and stepmom, Robbie, host a Dirty Santa party each year, and this year it was on Christmas Eve. We had a great time! I won a gift card to Kroger (score! :) and Eric ended up with a set of photo coasters. Needless to say, he was thrilled. ha :)


Mr. Terry opening his large print remote control. :)


So who is glad they are not Mr. Terry on the other side of this look??!


Did you know these three presents come together??


The giver of the "three presents that come together." :)


My sweet husband with his first gift, the popcorn popper. Thankfully, John needed it more than we did.

Weekend Before Christmas

So, I have realized my posts are out of order, but I'll try to do better next time. :) This one is from the weekend before Christmas. Ab came to stay with us, so she got to come to Mrs. Pam and Warren's house on Saturday night for Christmas dinner. Other than me being sick, we had a great weekend! :)



Abbie loved dancing to Christmas music in our living room! This picture says it all! :)



She can also catch some air! Eric jumped over her, so she decided to jump over Smoky! :)

Now, I didn't get a ton of pictures that night at Pam and Warren's because I just wasn't feeling well... but I did hit the jackpot with these! Mrs. Pam is rocking out on Guitar Hero, and Warren is her groupie! I promise I'm not flipping Warren the bird. :)

Mary and Kyle :)


Last but not least, Toya jammin' on Guitar Hero! Eric thinks she looks a lot like Jimi Hendrix...

Christmas in Mississippi

Every year at my parents' house is so much fun! ...and I'm not just saying that! No matter how far apart everyone is during the year, it is always so wonderful to be together during the holidays. Mama cooked an amazing dinner! We opened presents, watched football, and played Catch Phrase (our family's favorite!). Sweet Abbie was certainly entertaining! You talk about personality... that girl has such a cute one! :) Eric and I reeeeally hope we don't have boring, dumb children. :) Here are just a few snapshots from our time in MS:

Love this! Every time Eric or my dad put on this Santa hat, Ab sat and said, "What's your name?" and she'd always tell "Santa" she wanted a bicycle and a tricycle and M&M prizes for Christmas. :)

My beautiful parents :)


We are a house divided! It must be love, right? :)


My brother, Trae, and his wife, Amber, with their new portrait of Ab on the beach.
We were all sporting our new hats! :)


Eric got this from Trae and Amber... it's an official game day warm-up jersey signed by the one and only Bruce Pearl! :) It's a one of a kind! It will soon be framed and decorating the wall of our bonus room! :)


Do I wear boots often? Um, yes. I'm wearing a pair and holding my newest pair! :)


This is a shout out to my Daddy, Mr. Way-Too-Much Cologne Wearer. :)

Sweet Christmas Memory

Of all the pictures that were taken at my parents' house this past Christmas, this one is my favorite. :) That is my grandpa, Daddy Bob (who will turn 80 on March 2), and his great-granddaughter, Abbie (who is almost 2 1/2 in this picture), sharing a moment that I'm sure Daddy Bob will remember. I know I will!

Abbie came into the world at the perfect time... God's plans always turn out that way, right? :) My Mimi (my grandma) passed away in May of 2005, I moved to Tennessee that June, my great-grandfather (Gran-Gran) passed away in July, Hurricane Katrina ravaged our hometown in August, Trae and Amber moved to Tennessee in September (or Oct...?)... and then we found out Abbie was on her way into the world that December!! :) Her place in this world made life a lot easier for all of us at a time when we were going through more changes than we could imagine.

...and although we wish Mimi could be here to see and to love Abbie, I really think Daddy Bob makes a point to love her for the both of them! :)

Our First Married Christmas :)

We had an amazing (and busy!) holiday season! I can't believe how much God has blessed this life of ours... family time, friends, and especially time with my husband really made me appreciate everything that I have! ...and although we had practically every minute of the month of December planned, we loved every minute! :)

Here's our first married Christmas tree! I didn't want to take it down! To be honest, it didn't come down until the weekend before my birthday. :)

This is my attempt to decorate... it took us a while to decide how we wanted to decorate. We have a lot of new ideas for Christmas 2009! :)

That's all for now! I am way behind on my blogging and pictures, but I'll have some time this weekend! :) Happy 2009!

Decorate the Tree :)

Things worked out for Trae, Amber, and Abbie to stay another night in MS when we were there for Thanksgiving (bad weather has its perks!), so we started putting up Christmas decorations at my parents' house. When my dad was putting up the tree, Abbie came into the den and said, "Papa, I help you with your tree, okay? You need some oh-naments on it. I help you." :) Naturally, he let her. :)


Girl was concentrating! I must have taken twenty pictures of her. She was having nothing to do with posing for a picture. :)


I love this... it's as if she's saying, "Talk to the hand, Aunt Johnnie." :)


This is the only time she looked right at me. My brother said, "Hey, Abbie! Aunt Johnnie has a monkey on her head!" She turned right around to check. :)

Whatever works, right??