Owen, Birthday Celebrations, and Back-to-Normal...Oh My!

Thursday evening, Nick & I went to Mitchell & Casey's to eat dinner and hang-out.  Bud wanted to show us how he rides on his new four-wheeler.  He kept telling Casey, "I wanna show Nana & Nick how I ride."  Precious!  We got there, and he was all bundled up for the cold weather.  I thought he was absolutely the cutest thing ever!  I just had to get a picture of him. :)

Melanie & Joe are keeping my nephew, Owen, for a few days while his Momma & Daddy get away for a mini vacation.  Melanie, Joe, & Owen came to visit me and go to lunch on Friday.  The kid ate my whole pickle spear.  I think we've made another lover of Pete's and his pizza!

Aunt Dede & Owen at Pete's

Cute little toot in his "Avengers" t-shirt.

 They then came into my office so Owen could see where Aunt Dede works.  I had to get a picture of him in his cute moose hat that Nick & I got him for Christmas.  He loves it!

Friday night, Nick & I went out to eat with lots of our friends for our birthdays.  We got to meet up with old friends we haven't seen in a while either.  My best friend from school, Hannah, now lives in Wyoming, so we don't get to see each other very often.  She was in town visiting her family (my second family growing up), so we wanted to get together.  We originally planned to go eat at Shogun's in Longview, but changed our plans a bit and went to the Shogun's in Tyler so we could visit with the Buller family.  We also got to meet up with a college classmate of mine.  He was in the area and called me on Friday to see what Nick & I were doing for dinner.  I told him we were going out with friends and invited him and a friend he was visiting to join us.  It took a while for the restaurant to seat us.  We had a reservation at 7:30, got there at 7:15, and weren't seated until 8:15.  Oh well, we had a great time and were able to sit and visit for quite a while.  I love all of our friends so much!

From L to R: Jared, Jessica, Mitchell, Casey, Tambri, & Kurt

The birthday couple. :)

Our cook was awesome... and Seth.

My Buller family (and we're going to include the Morse sisters in that description).

I love my Hannah!

You can't take a serious picture with Erin...

Making us laugh...

Seriously now!!!

 Saturday, Nick & I went with his parents, Owen, Aunt Patsy & Uncle Bobby, Tim, Laura, and Aunt Ruth to Country Tavern to celebrate the December and January birthdays.  We had a lot of fun, ate some delicious BBQ and cobbler, then went to McDonald's to visit some more.  Owen had a blast with everyone.  He walked around the restaurant with Uncle Nick, played with the juke box, flirted with some waitresses, and ate lots of pickles, some sausage, cheese, and even some rib meat.  He then played around McD's.  I downloaded the "Gangnam Dancebooth" app.  It's like elf-yourself where you take a picture of yourself, put it on a body, and the body dances.  I took a picture of Owen, and he danced to Gangnam Style.  It was sooo funny how mesmerized he was by it.  He ended up falling asleep in his carseat on the way home.  I so enjoyed getting to visit with the inlaws.  I've definitely been blessed in that department!  I forgot to take pictures.  Whoops.

Sunday, we attended church, ate lunch at Peralta's, then I took a wonderful nap.  Once I finally got up off the couch, Nick & I grocery shopped, Nick made dinner, I took down the Christmas decorations, Nick hung a ceiling fan, I stained a shelf Nick made the day before, and then we went to bed.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get out of bed this morning.  :)  The house is almost back to normal, and a little sad looking as well.  I love Christmas, and our house looks so boring without all of the decorations up.  But it's also nice to have things back in their proper place.  Even Satchel.

Almost there!

We're getting ready to head over to our friend's, the Borums, for some New Year's Eve fun.  We're also going to go to the country club this evening to dance to Koe & the Konvicts.  We shall have a very fun, rocking, New Year's Eve.  Tomorrow is my 25th birthday!  I'm going to be a quarter of a century old.  Oh my goodness.  We're headed to New Boston to celebrate with my family and extended family.  Can't wait!

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and SNOW...Oh My!

I had to go to work on Christmas Eve, but we closed at 1:00.  So, I ran by Brookshire's on the way home, and then my great MIL came over, and we started cooking!  Melanie was in awe of our Kitchen Aid mixer and how quickly it made the cheese roll.  She was so funny saying things like, "This is the best mixed cheese roll ever!", "I never even had to get my hands dirty!", "That only took 5 minutes!"  She made us smile.

Cole & Kat came over and hung out for a bit before the candle light service, but I didn't get any pictures.  Drat!  We went to the Christmas Eve Candle Light service at our church.  It was beautiful, and we got to sing some wonderful, timeless Christmas carols.  It was nice remembering the true reason for the season.  Happy Birthday Jesus!

Christmas morning was lots of fun.  This was mine & Nick's first year to wake up on Christmas morning in our own house.  As I've already blogged, Nick already had his Christmas gift, a grill.  However, I wanted him to have something to open on Christmas morning, so I got him a grill cover and wrapped it.  He also had his stocking to open.  Husband did a phenomenal job on my Christmas presents.  He got me a new pair of Anderson Bean cowboy boots and a charm for my bracelet.  The charm is a pearl and a heart engraved with the due date of the baby I miscarried.  The pearl would have been the baby's birthstone.  I, of course, cried, but I also thought it was so sweet.  I will definitely cherish it.  We were planning on eating a French toast casserole I made for breakfast then heading over to his parents, but we both just decided to load everything up and take it to their house.

Nick's & the puppies' stockings, and Nick's gift.

Yay!  Cowboy boots!

The pups were so excited for their Christmas presents... sweet potato-wrapped, candy cane-shaped bones.

Intense right there.

Satchel knows to chew on the blanket and not the couch. :)

Nick opening his grill cover.

He was excited, I promise. :)

Satchel's other Christmas present, a new hoodie.

Tex wasn't letting up until that thing was finished.  He accomplished that in about 45 minutes!

It says "Wildlife Park Ranger"!

Hahaha!

After getting ready, we headed over with a car loaded down for Christmas at Nick's parent's house.  Alan, Tovah, and Owen came as well.  We had a delicious lunch followed by gift opening.  We all had to leave pretty soon after opening presents because we were starting to get some yucky driving weather.

Melanie's new rod and reel from Joe.

Joe's new leaf vacuum from Melanie.

Owen's new fishing back pack from Oma and Joepa.

Joe & Buddy.

Owen's new tricycle from Oma & Joepa.

Nick opening his stocking.  The "Duck Dynasty" book. :)

The A. Robertson family.

Melanie opening her gifts from us.  This was a wood photo collage.  I designed it, and my coworker made it for me.  She loved it!

The wood photo collage.  You can order your's on her facebook site, Vanderpix, and see her other pieces she's done. :)

As I mentioned, it started snowing on Christmas day.  I had to trek outside to take some pictures of our house all lit up and covered in snow.  It was very pretty!

Forgot to turn the flash off.

Pretty pretty!

Nick & I went over to the Mayben's house on Christmas evening.  The kids wanted to show us all of their goodies, and Nick had to pick up his decoys from Mitchell to go hunting the next day.

Keyton in his awesome hat and four wheeler.

Kenlie with all of her goodies.

Cheesin' for the camera!

We had such a fabulous Christmas.  We're so blessed to be surrounded with so many friends and family.  Jesus had a wonderful birthday this year, and we loved celebrating it with him!

And the craziest thing happened today at lunch.  My best friend from school, Hannah, and I were texting yesterday.  She's in from Wyoming, and we were trying to figure out a time to get together.  Then today, Nick & I had lunch at Whataburger next to my office, and I look up and see Hannah's three nieces and nephew having lunch with their Dad!  Of course, Emalee decided she needed to come sit with Nick & me.  I was totally okay with that.  We don't get to see them very often. :)  We had to take pictures to send to Aunt Hannah.  Bailey & Mally gave me a big hug when we saw them, and then Emalee ran out of the booth and up to me.  Sam gave me a big hug as well, but I don't think he's old enough to really remember me like the girls.  Mally and Bailey helped the younger ones by reminding them I was a bridesmaid in Hannah & Brett's wedding.  So much fun getting to see them!

Mally Kate, me, and Bailey

Sam wanted his picture taken too!

Miss Emalee Clare and me

Nick & I went over to the Mayben's tonight to eat dinner.  Mitchell made some yummy roast, Casey made some delicious sides, and we brought dessert (pies from Christmas).  After dinner, Casey and I played "cows" with Keyton.  He got a farm and animals for Christmas, and he wanted us to play with him.  It was a fun night for sure!

Birthday, Puppies, and Christmas Adam...Oh My!

Wednesday, December 19th was Nick's 25th birthday!  We celebrated by going to eat at Double C Steakhouse with Joe & Melanie.  Then we all came back to the house for Nick to open presents and eat a cake I made him. :)

Nick said that I've softened his family up.  Melanie got him a sappy card. :)

I got him a new shirt and two vests. 

The dogs were playing in the floor, not paying attention.

Nick got new boots from his parents.  Snazzy!

I was concerned the candles were going to fall over before Melanie could get the picture.

Friday night, Nick & I headed to Grapevine with my parents and Sister.  Sister got a new puppy named Ranger, and we made a family outing to go get him.  He's a Maltese, and she got him from the same breeders we got Satchel from, Thistle Ridge Ranch in Weatherford.  He's absolutely precious!

Mom accidentally threw away her iPhone at Sam's.  She went trashcan diving!

The new pup!

He's such a cuddler!

It was cold, and Nick's hood was nice and warm. :)

He's so precious!

On Christmas Adam (Adam came before Eve - thanks Cox family), Nick & I celebrated Christmas with my family.  Satchel was uber jealous of Ranger.  Let's hope he gets over that.  I got a new camera, so all of these were taken with it. :)

I think this is the first time we've taken a picture of them from our vantage point.  Oh, and the fridge is in the living room because they're getting new floor in the kitchen.

Sister. :)

This is the most awesome quilt my Sister made for Nick & I.  It has the Tarleton rider on it.  There's a better picture further down.  Ranger wanted to play on it.

Mom was super excited about her present from us!

A bean pot... Nick thought I was nuts when I told him I was getting Mom a bean pot.  But she really wanted it. 

"He's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!"

He didn't want me to take his picture.

Such happy faces!

Dad fishing for a puppy!

He's not just the cutest thing ever!

Satchel sulking.

Playing with the fish-eye setting on my new camera. :)

The zoom on this puppy is really good!  I was sitting in a recliner taking pictures of ornaments on the tree.

It's so clear!

This is how far I was from the tree.

My baby...

Sister's baby...

Better photo of the quilt!

Go TSU!

Today is Christmas Eve.  I worked until 1:00.  My mother in law came over, and we worked on food for this evening.  My love is frying a turkey.  I'm also working on desserts for tomorrow.  I absolutely LOVE this time of year.  Melanie made two cheese rolls.  I think we have her convinced she needs a Kitchen Aide mixer now.  :) I made sausage balls, sausage and cream cheese pinwheels, skinny spinach dip, 2 caramel pies, and a French toast casserole for in the morning.  Whew!  Now to get ready for our Christmas Eve service. :)