Christmas 2007

Happy Holidays! We had a great Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve we went to my parent's house where we had hors d'oeuvres and opened gifts. We had great food which included: cheese tray, swedish meatballs, artichokes/cheese in phyllo, cherry tarts and more. We all received some great gifts. The most fun was watching my niece and nephew open their gifts.

On Christmas Day we went to my Sister and BIL's house for an early dinner. The delicious menu included:

Beef tenderloin with horseradish sauce
Spinach gratin
Macaroni and cheese with pesto & goat cheese
Cesar salad
Rolls
Peppermint dessert

Below are a few photos from the holidays. I got lots of photos but I have to say most include my niece and nephew (which as I've stated I won't post them for privacy reasons). I did forget to get annual shot of hubby and I and a family picture.

Happy New Year! I'll be back in 2008.

Holiday card (it was personalized). Photo is blurring online for some reason.


Christmas Tree at my parent's house
Under this tree were lots of great gifts including; new Uggs, perfume, cupcake cookbook and more! Thanks Dad and Mom! Also Hubby gave me a beautiful necklace...thank you!!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thankful Thursday -- a little early

I am thankful for:

The Holiday season and all that it means.

My husband's sweet gift- a donation made in my name to a favorite charity.

My in-laws stopping in town and spending the evening with us.

My family and all our blessings.

All the wonderful Christmas cards from family and friends...they just make me smile.

Winter Fun

We took the dogs outdoors to play in the snow, as you can see they had a great time.

Weekend Wrap Up and Snow!

We had a good weekend, I believe I now have all of my Christmas shopping done. Now I just have to wrap presents, address Christmas cards (hey...better late than never), and bake cookies. It has been snowing here since Saturday, below are some photos of our snowfall. It started yesterday morning, but it wasn't enough to deter me from my hair appointment and Christmas shopping. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:

Receiving the "Brown Envelope"....it finally arrived today.

*For those of you unfamiliar with this it's the notification sent to adoptive parents that the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou has received our approval from USCIS to adopt.

Being able to go see my niece and nephew's Christmas programs. They were too cute!

Employment at company that values the holiday season and giving back to the community. I'm also thankful they decorate for the holidays, it makes going to work during this time of year a little more enjoyable.

My warm winter clothes.

Weekend Wrap Up

We had a great time this weekend with our nephew, he is so sweet and very funny! On Saturday our Chocolate Lab turned two...we are now hoping she will finally grow out of that "puppy stage." And today is a very exciting day for us as we celebrate our 2-month LID!! We have such a long wait ahead, but helps to count down the months. I like to think we are now 2 months closer to our little girl. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Editors note: I don't post photos of my niece and nephew for privacy reasons in case you're wondering why never see them.

(Photos of our girl when she was 2 months and now 2 years.)

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:

My niece and nephew, they are so precious to us. We're also very excited to have my nephew spend the night this weekend.

My husband- I don't always realize how much you help around the house until you go away on a business trip and then it becomes so clear. Thanks for all you do.

Friends we have made in the adoption process who received their LID recently! We are so thrilled for you.

My Mom and Dad for instilling the love of reading in my sister and me. I hope to do the same for our daughter.

7 Things Meme

I've seen this on a few blogs so I decided tag myself...maybe I should include that as one of my weird things??!

First here are the rules: (that I didn't follow)
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I am obsessed with hand sanitizer and washing my hands. Yes, you could say I’m a little obsessive about germs. This leads into another obsession of lotion, because my hands get dry from all the above.

2. I can’t stand to eat meat on a bone…something about seeing the bones completely gross me out.

3. I constantly make lists/notes of things to do or buy and use little post it notes. I usually have a purse full of these random notes.

4. I don’t like people to wear their shoes in the house…especially my house. If you come over, please be prepared to leave your shoes at the door.

5. I love tea, both ice tea and hot tea.

6. I’m allergic to cats. My husband used to have a cat and she was not a fan of me...I got bit constantly. She ended up leaving our home. Don’t worry cat lovers, she went to a great home and is very happy.

7. I love magazines and currently have five different subscriptions. I don’t even have time to read them all but I like having them in case I do. Not to mention it’s much cheaper to do a subscription then buy just a few issues...at least that’s my reasoning.

I tag anyone who reads my blog and hasn't done this meme yet.

Some Ideas Are Better Than Others

On Saturday I had the idea that we’d take the dogs to have their photo taken with Santa. Well you can imagine how that went down…not pretty. First off the Santa they had there was maybe 17 and the background was just terrible, but since we were already there I decided to just go with it since the money went to charity. Well we did not get any good shots of dogs, this was partly due to the fact they did not have this sectioned off there were dogs running around everywhere…bad idea. You can see below the one photo I got both dogs were looking the opposite direction. So we left with one bad photo. Once we got home I decided I’d just put some bows on the dogs and try and few shots by the Christmas tree. You can see how excited they were with getting their picture taken. Additionally, our Chocolate Lab decided it would be more fun to chew the bows. Hubby and I decided this was a good lesson to help us prepare for photos with children. It was my intention this year to make a holiday card with their picture; however, I’m rethinking that idea. Hope you all had a great weekend!

*Note: I have a new camera that I apparently cannot operate hence the flash issue with the eyes.