Our Halls Are Decked

Jeff and I picked our Christmas tree up on Friday night. It definitely did not feel like Christmas time! It was quite warm and humid and it definitely did not feel right!

Fortunately, the rain brought a cool front that made it feel like Christmas time the very next morning. So, I opened up my windows, cranked up the carols, and decked our halls!

Hey, Dad, do these glittery ferns look familiar!?! I found these at an Old Time Pottery while visiting my Dad a few weeks ago. When I saw them, I couldn't wait to turn them into my new Christmas centerpiece. Of course, when I bought them, I was covered in glitter, and when I put this together, I was covered (again) in glitter! My Dad, being the great guy that he is, mounted the display bins to dig out the very last green, glittery fern when I bought them...he was covered in glitter too. :-)

Look! Santa has all ready brought me a fun, handsome (sleepy) man for Christmas!

Giving Thanks

We made our annual pilgrimage to my mom's for Thanksgiving and it was another great time--lots of fun and delicious food!

We had only one kitchen fire...

Fortunately, it was contained in the oven and was just a bit of flaming apple pie goo!

We all pitched in to make our delicious feast. I made the rolls (again). We couldn't remember exactly when this became my task but, I think I've been the bread-girl for the last 13 years and I've about got it right!

Dave fried the turkey and it was delicious!

Even Jeff pitched in, cutting the pears for the salad and looking extra cute in his blue polo.

We played a nice family game of Texas hold 'em,

which Jay won,

and we all took very seriously. (For the record, Jeff says he had to smile like this so that he could keep his chips over his eyes.)

New to our Thanksgiving gathering this year was the Turkey Games! We had a five-event Wii tournament that featured the downhill, ski jump, hula hoop, obstacle course and archery. Of course, doing this soon after eating several thousand calories made it all the more interesting!

At the end of the 5-rounds, Greer was crowned the wii-nner of the first annual Turkey Games. Her prize...$40 (it was a $5 buy-in) and bragging rights for the next year.

I have much to be thankful for this, and every, year. Not the least of which are all of the yahoos above. I've been incredibly blessed to be surrounded by good people, at home, at work, at church and to have the opportunity to love, and be loved, by my sweetheart. I'm grateful to be able to work and provide for our little family. I have a job that I love (most of the time) and am engaged in work that provides many opportunities to leave the world, and people, around me a little better. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior that know, and love, me and are there to give me a spiritual hug when I'm feeling down and direct me to the good things in life when I seek Their counsel. I'm grateful that Thanksgiving is a holiday that reminds us to focus on the good and recognize the great blessings we receive. It's the perfect way to set the tone for the Christmas season!

When we have free time...

(which has been quite rare lately) we fish! Jeff took me on a romantic fishing date a couple of weeks ago. Nothing says love like fish, stinky shrimp, and aggressive seagulls!

This was Jeff's sad face after we ended our fishing date. He was sad about the score:

Amy - 3

Jeff - 0

A beautiful end to our fishing date...

For reference, this date was the second week of November--it's this time of year that I love living in Florida!