Christmas 2011

The house was decorated.

We watched football games in front of our burning fire.

Natalie was home!

We hung Skippy on the tree!

I was 5 years old when my God Mother gave Skippy to me as a Christmas gift. 

Skippy has hung on our Christmas tree ever since and continues to bring joy each year.

   

What would Christmas be without cookies?

We shared an appetizer while watching Mid-night in Paris.

It was a magical Christmas we were home and together.

Gary played Santa!

Natalie treated all the girls with adorable monkey socks,

Meredith and Blake "belted out" a Christmas carol around the tree. (not, so fake!)

I also love the choir boys decoration from my childhood. 

Growing up the boys were displayed each Christmas on my mother's piano.

We hope your holiday was filled with love and laughter.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Shutters

The shutters arrived and I started painting the natural wood.  I first painted each side twice with a tinted oil base primmer.  (The oil base was painted in the garage last weekend.  It's turned chilly so I moved inside to complete the work.)

Then I did 3 coats of exterior paint by Restoration Hardware the color is Flint.

Finally they are finished and ready to be hung.

We trimmed the existing plants that flank the office windows in preparation.

Gary decided "oh what the heck" let's just take them out.

The shutters are hung and the plants are removed.  Next I'll be looking for exterior lights to replace the old ones on either side of the garage.

In addition we will be adding new plants in the spring.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanksgiving 2011

We kicked off the holiday by enjoying our Thanksgiving with family hosted by Ron and Carolyn.  Their beautiful home is located on Lake McQueeney in New Braunsfels, Texas.

The weather was amazing so we were able to spend our day on the porch with the lake as our view.

What a perfect location to spend the day swinging.

Ron and Carolyn have built a pump that cycles the water from the lake.

You can hear the waterfall as you walk down to the lake.  A little slice of heaven!

Starting left; me, our mother-in-law Reinette and Carolyn my sister-in-law

Far left; our Daddy Billy, Ron and happy Gary

Our Carolyn is such an amazing cook!

Yea baby the food is on the table

Everything is perfect except we miss our Natalie. 

Meredith takes a turn to tell her she's missed and loved.