Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas as usual was great! Christmas Eve, was spent cooking, and getting ready for Christmas day. On Thanksgiving, my Granmoma taught me how to make her homemade Mac and Cheese, so for Christmas I made it all on my own, with a little supervision from the expert! I thought it was quite tasty and apparently so did the rest of my family, because they ate it all up! YUMMY!!

After all of that cooking, we opened packages!!! (This is my FAVORITE tradition!) I got some really cute glasses to go with my cute dishes!

That night, my mom and I drove to my other Grandparents house for Christmas with the Shipley's. Usually we draw names, but this year we decided to do the Chinese gift exchange with nice gifts. I went home with a super cute James Avery necklace that I had on my wish list!

Christmas Day we all went to my Aunt Carole's house. For the first time in a while, all but one of us was able to make it!

Our pretty table and a fun picture of the glasses.

Jenni, Me and Jordan


A cousin picture of a picture from last year.

Jordan, Paul, John, Me, Tim, Jenna, Victoria, Jenni - We are just missing Andrea and Jeff.

My Aunts: Debbie, Carole, Dee and my mom

Christmas tends to be a stressful time of year. I think sometimes we loose focus of the true meaning of Christmas when we busy ourselves with so many Christmas parties, and being the perfect host. We loose sight of what the focus of Christmas should be. Here is one of my favorite passages taken from : http://ministry-to-children.com/christmas/ that I like to read to remind myself of the true meaning of Christmas.

Luke 2:1-20 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. (2) This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. (3) And all went to be registered, each to his own town. (4) And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, (5) to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. (6) And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. (7) And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (8) And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. (9) And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. (10) And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. (11) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (12) And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (13) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, (14) “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (15) When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” (16) And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. (17) And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. (18) And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. (19) But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. (20) And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Here are some other fun pictures from work/ work Christmas Party.

The world is a better place with 2 Laura's!

Jana, Katie and Me

Laura, Laura, and Ashley

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My mom, Grandmother and I went to go see Marley and Me. I went into the movie not knowing much about it except that it had Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson, and a cute dog. Well.... let me just tell you. Do some research about this movie before going!!! I was caught WAY off guard and cried buckets. Soemthing I absolutly hate to do in front of people. Overall, I think it was a good movie, I just wished I would have known the ending. (See... this is why you should ALWAYS read the end of the book first, check out movie spoilers etc.) Do your homework, go see it, and let me know what you thought. My mom seems to think that Copper is Marley Jr. Copper and I disagree! :)

Christmas Eve with the Shipley's

Christmas Eve has always been a very special day in my family. When I was young, we (My mom and I) would get up and open presents from each other. One of the presents would always hold a new outfit to wear to Christmas. After packages, we would then bake, and get ready to go to my Grandparents house on my dad's side.
This year was almost identical to the past years except I woke up in my own home, and traveled to Grandmomma's house. I was looking forward to this Christmas Eve because Grandmomma agreed to come with us to Mimi and Papa's house!
All the food is on the table, and there are not enough places for people to sit around the table, so we head off to the den. After good conversations and funny stories we head into the living room for presents. We draw names, so you only have to buy for one person. This year my cousin Shannon had my name. I got 2 deodorants, 4 air fresheners and 2 different razors. (hmmm.... I think I get the hint! :) )
My favorite part of Christmas is giving! I love seeing the expressions on the person's face when they open up the package.I also love the excitement of shopping for the person. Finding things they would love is challenging, but oh! so much fun!
This year my favorite gift from the Shipley side of the family is a picture of me with my 2 Grandmothers. I am 26, (almost 27) and I am so blessed to have 2 healthy grandmothers who live close to me!

Thankful for my Family!

It is at this time of year, that we stop to think about how many things we have to be grateful for. Family, friends, a job I love, a working car, a fabulous house! This week, I have been very thankful for the quality time I have been able to spend with my family.

Yesterday, we had our early family Christmas at my aunts house. I look forward to this day ALL year. I love the anticipation of the annual Chinese gift exchange. I begin thinking what I am going to put into the gift exchange on December 26th. That way I will have a full year to prepare and hopefully have the most desired gift in the exchange!
This year, in keeping with the tradition I started last year, I ended up with my own gift! I came home with my new Magic Bullet! It is supposed to chop, dice, and make smoothies all in 10 seconds! I can't wait to get it going and create hundreds of delicious 10 second recipies!

Today I am particularly thankful for my family. My mom and Grandmother came over after our favorite meal at Spring Creek to bake! We had so much fun making dressing, pecan pie, and my favorite; Cherry Pie! It is this quality time together that I love the most!