Catching Up

I did some catching up today so scroll down. There are a few new posts!!

Christmas Day

Here are some random pictures from Christmas Day. We woke up at home in the morning. My mom and dad came over and we opened gifts and had our traditional "Christmas Morning Rolls". SOOO yummy. Made with white bread dough, whipping cream, sugar and butter. A great thing to have right before you make your New Year's resolutions. Anyway, we played with our new toys and then went to Tri-Cities for a day of visiting, playing games and prime rib dinner. My favorite day of the year!!

Daddy and Zach - Just getting up.

Opening stockings.

Opening presents. Ain't I cute in the morning after 4 hours of sleep and b4 coffee?

My mom's tree. I am 99% sure we will have a flocked fake next year as well. I LOVE this prelit, fake, flocked tree. No needles. No allergies. We'll see.

Mmmm. Mom's homemade cherry pies.

Ashley requested this pose and then the picture. She stayed in her Christmas jammies all day. Actually she had two pair and changed mid-morning.

Zach and Mammy.

Mr. Zachery

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve! I absolutely love our church and the candlelight service. The interesting part of the night was that about 7:30, Ashley decided she did not want Santa to come. She ended up sleeping with Danny and me. There was NOOOO way she was sleeping in her bed. It really made me wonder why we ever started with the whole Santa thing. Anyway, we had a good night. Santa did come and she, of course, was fine with it in the morning! I had a WONDERFUL picture of Zachery and Ashley together on the couch on Christmas Eve and I DELETED it from my memory card. I am so sad about that. Anybody know any magic way to get it back???

Chocolate Cake

Ashley helped me make a Texas chocolate sheetcake last night (recipe from my first job at La Esperanza Mexican restaurant)and this picture was too cute not to share!

Baby Jesus

Well, today at Ashley's little class at church they made baby Jesus dolls out of cotton balls and pieces of fabric and then tied them together with a piece of yarn. The teachers talked to them about the story of baby Jesus while they made them. Very sweet. When we were on our way home from church, Danny and I were asking Ashley what she learned about in her class. She said "Baby Jesus".

"Oh", I say. "That's so special. What did you learn about Baby Jesus?" Her response: "To tie him with a piece of string."

A Priceless Conversation with Ashley

So here's a conversation I'm having with Ashley right now. I'm typing as it's happening because I must capture it.

"SANTA?"

"Mom, can Santa hear me?"

"No" I say, "I don't think he can". (Second guessing myself - was that the right answer?)

"JESUS?" "MOLLY?" (Molly is our golden lab that we had put to sleep when Ashley was 16 months old. Ashley didn't seem to care or notice until just the last few months. Last week she told me we should get Molly back from Jesus.) "JESUS CAN HEAR ME".

"SPIKE?" "SASSY?" "MOM! Where's Spike? What happened to all the cats?" (We had two cats who have also been dead for quite a while. Didn't seem to phase her until this moment.)

WOW!!! It could be a long night.

Fun Christmas Questions

Getting to know your friends Christmas style!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? WRAPPING PAPER IS MY FIRST CHOICE, GIFT BAGS IN A PINCH
2. Real tree or Artificial? REAL BUT BY THIS TIME OF THE MONTH, I AM SICK OF CLEANING UP PINE NEEDLES AND WATERING THE TREE AND SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING THE FAKE FROM COSTCO.
3. When do you put up the tree? ANYTIME AFTER THANKSGIVING
4. When do you take the tree down? DEPENDS ON HOW DEAD IT IS BY CHRISTMAS
5. Do you like eggnog? YES, I REALLY DO AND I LOVE LINDSAY'S IDEA FOR EGGNOG FRENCH TOAST!!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? ORCHID DOLL
7. Do you have a nativity scene? YES BUT IT'S MISSING PIECES AND BROKEN. NEEDING A NEW ONE.
8. Hardest person to buy for? MY PARENTS
9. Easiest person to buy for? ASHLEY. SHE GAVE SANTA A GREAT LIST THIS YEAR, INCLUDING BUBBLE WRAP!
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? MAIL!!
11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? WHERE'S THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT IN THAT??
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? HOME ALONE OR CHRISTMAS VACATION
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? THE DAY AFTER THANSKGIVING
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? NO
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? MY MOM'S CHRISTMAS MORNING ROLLS
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? COLORED
17. Favorite Christmas song? SLEIGH RIDE
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? STAY HOME!!!!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? YES
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? STAR
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? ONE ON CHRISTMAS EVE - THE REST ON CHRISTMAS MORNING.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? GRUMPY PEOPLE
23. What do you want for Christmas this year? A NEW CAMERA
24. Favorite ornament theme or color? BRIGHT AND CHEERY
25. Favorite for Christmas dinner? PRIME RIB