The Girls' Christmas

Casey and I got to celebrate with Miss Taylor Leigh and Miss Ronna Keller... We had a cozy dinner at a little (really little) place and then we enjoyed a little Karaoke. So fun!

Christmas with the Nicholases

We had a really fun time at my family's celebration. There were 17 of us - there were lots of toys and wrapping paper flying everywhere.


The favorite toy (even more than the Wii) was the eyeclops that magnifies anything 200x onto the TV screen... With all those boys, you better believe we looked at some gross things! And, as always, there were many dogs at the celebration. Sadly, ours got left at home because Jade thinks she'd like to eat the little ones... She's not a very friendly cousin :(

Andrew's Birthday

We were a little late, but we finally got to celebrate Andrew's 23rd birthday. I can't believe my baby brother is so old! I love my family. I had a good time taking pictures of them:

The Birthday boy himself :)

Austin, Sam (well, his hair, anyway) and Kaleb

My cute nephew, Nick. Single ladies, he's a sweetheart-I can hook you up.

My beautiful sister... I am proud that I caught her in an open-eyed smile!

David: what an angel...ha ha.

My silly husband.

Casey stole my camera...

December Dreaming

It finally got cold after a record-setting 84 degree day! We are taking full advantage and snuggling with all of our animals in front of our fire with our Christmas lights on! Too bad we have to leave the comfort of our home and head to Holiday in the Park in the freezing weather... Casey's excited, but I'm just scared I'll freeze.

The Zakaryans

Kim and Brent came to Fort Worth to celebrate Thanksgiving and Brent's grandmother's 80th birthday. We got to have breakfast with them at a local Fort Worth eatery (Paris Coffee Shop) with Brent's family, which we thouroughly enjoyed, and then we stole Kim and Brent away to our house. We had such a wonderfully relaxing time - well, Kim and I did, anyway. The boys played golf in the freezing rain and Kim and I cooked and baked in my warm kitchen! We are so thankful that we got to see them again :)

Thanksgiving

Casey and I hosted his family for Thanksgiving on Wednesday this year... We had so much fun! Our nephews (3 and 4) were very impressed with the sparkling cider (or what they call dr pepper) we got just for them :) Casey's grandmother, "Nanny," spent the night with us and went to my family's Thanksgiving at my mom's house. It was so nice to have her. And I really enjoyed the food... all over again! We enjoyed the cold weather, too. It just feels more authentic that way.

Walden, New York

One of our favorite trips has been to visit the Clark family. Since our last visit to Wisconsin, they have moved to New York, had a fourth child and started working at a new church. We were so glad to get to hike with them and spend some time laughing and sharing and playing games. We love Katherine, Ryan, Hope, Anya, Josiah and Joshua :)

We had such a great time on our California road trip...
It started with a layover in Denver where the Wileys came to eat dinner with us!

Then we landed in Santa Barbara to celebrate Brent Z's 30th birthday.

We got to meet Eric and Beth, hung out with Marci and ate some really yummy food.
On Sunday we got to go to Jason and Holly Lomelino's church in IV and visit with them afterward. It was so nice.
On Monday we went to the zoo (which is my favorite - small and beautiful)
Then we headed down to Ventura to finally meet Mr. Caleb Barnett (and visit with his parents)
Then we headed to Pismo, Carmel and San Francisco to meet Deb for lunch.
We ended up in Sonoma at a great bed and breakfast where Casey experienced feelings of utter euphoria.
Then Ken and Tiffany met us and we traveled all over the wine country, the valleys and the cute little towns.
Friday we headed into Redding and got to see Ken and Tiff's cute house. We also got to see our friends Hannah, Elijah & Christina, and Todd!
Overall, we had such a great time. We got home at 1 AM on Sunday and then headed to the ER at 4 AM. Apparently I hadn't had enough water to drink in the wine country and had gotten a kidney infection! Not fun, but I'm well on my way to recovery...