Christmas Morning

Christmas morning is very relaxed at our house; we wake up between 7:30 and 8:00am and open presents and eat breakfast. We spend the rest of the day in our PJ's watching Christmas movies and playing with our new goodies.

Note: my Christmas and New Year's pictures were taken in a raw format with my digital camera so I have not been able to edit or enlarge the data.

Merry Christmas

As our tradition on Christmas Eve continues, we attended church for the candlelight service and then had our annual Christmas Eve dinner at our house with our family and the Farrahs. We had a delicious dinner of beef tenderloin and many side dishes. Before dinner, David read the Christmas story from the Bible and then we had a birthday cake for Jesus. The children left reindeer food on the lawn for Santa, Rudolph + others. It was a very enjoyable evening and we look forward to hosting it every year- Next year I need to get a group picture of all who attended!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

I took the girls to visit Santa at the mall as in years past. This was the first year that Georgianna was not scared of Santa and she was so happy to see him. Ellie took Harriett our Elf on the visit.

Christmas Sing-A-Long

Ellie's school had its annual Christmas brunch and musical. Each grade sings a few Christmas songs for the parents and siblings. Along with the breakfast; the school has a book fair. This year Clifford, the big red dog, was present.

Friends ... Emma Kate, Ellie and Gabrielle
3rd grade singing (E is in middle row)
Ellie & Georgianna with Clifford at the school book fair

Disney Dreams

For Thanksgiving this year, we went to Walt Disney World in Orlando with my family. The trip included my parents, my siblings and their spouses and children. The trip had been planned for over a year to work with everyone's schedule. I think we all had a fabulous time and enjoyed our time together.

Porter and Georgianna

Ellie with Mac

Ellie with "Thing 1 and Thing 2" (Dr. Suess character shirts)

Breakfast with Mickey Mouse

G and Buzz Lightyear (Porter)

Ellie, Snow White and G

Things I am thankful for ... my family

After a week of Disney, I am still thankful for all 15 1/2 members of my family!
The MacKenzies, Montagues, Tays and Toothakers.

Thanksgiving Song

Georgianna's class had a Thanksgiving party and they tried to sing an Indian song. G did not sing very much!

Twilight Moms

Juliette, Ramona, Cara and Traci

Ok... I admit it... I am addicted to the Twilight books. This afternoon I went with some friends of mine to see the new sold out Twilight movie. After waiting in line for 30 minutes, we were able to get in the theatre and finally see the movie. It was so fun to experience the crazy fans and the yelling and clapping in the theatre. The movie was good, but cheezy. I think we all enjoyed it and can not wait for the next movie in the series.

Dance Class

Libby and Georgianna before ballet and tap class.

Martha's 40prah Trip

In celebration of our birthdays, we took a girls trip to Chicago this past weekend. (I am the young one of the group; one more year till turning 40!) On Friday morning we were in the audience of the Oprah show for the Oprah Fridays Live. They separated the four of us in the audience; but it was a good thing since we were placed in the front section and had awesome seats. The taping of the show was everything we hoped and more. It went by too fast! After the show, we spent the weekend shopping, eating, drinking, laughing and shopping some more. We did take a break on Saturday night to see Wicked the Musical. I think we all had a wonderful time on our trip to Chicago and are looking forward to our next adventure.

Juliette, Julia, Martha, Laura Beth

Shopping in the "O" Store after the show


Martha, Stefanie & Juliette

In the limo!

Riding

Ellie's favorite activity is riding horses. She rides once a week; and she would ride more if we would let her. With the time changing this past week; it got dark during the end of her lesson. Here is Ellie riding bareback as the sun was going down.

More Football Pictures

The Arkansas Razorbacks beat The University of Tulsa yesterday 30-23. We enjoyed the game and capacity crowd at our tailgate party. Some old friends from TU even stopped by.

Ellie took this picture of the TU team running on the field.

Football Reunion

Happy Halloween!

Georgianna called Halloween the "best day of the year" while she was trick or treating. The Farrah family was nice enough to have us over for dinner and treats for the evening. Halloween at the Farrah's has become a nice tradition.

The Princesses

Happy 4th Birthday Georgianna!

Georgianna had a Princess Tea Party for her 4th birthday at our house. There were seven girls from her school that attended. They played, had a tea party, and played some more outside in the playhouse and trampoline. Julie was nice enough to come dressed up as Cinderella; it was a big hit with the little girls.

American Girl Fashion Show

Ellie was a guest model in the American Girl Fashion Show at the Arts Center of the Ozarks on Saturday. She was able to walk on stage and take one of her dolls with her. Ellie chose Julie the 70s doll.
Ellie walking off stage ...