Christmas

Hi everyone. After looking through papers, on top of papers, I ran upon my orginal username and password so I can post again. It's been awhile! Don't have any photos today but just wanted to say it's been a very Merry Christmas for us all. We enjoyed very much. I do regret not seeing my Mom and Dad this Christmas but have talked to them often and I am so glad they are doing so well. Good health and basic happiness surely makes for a happy Christmas, no matter where we are! Mac is doing well and we are all so blessed because of that. What a whirlwind it has been but we are getting ready to go to Hawaii!!! I made my to do list this morning earlier and will proceed to check it off to be on our way in one week. It seems manageable, just slowly but surely. It was so good having Doug and Mandy here longer than normal during Christmas. It was really nice to have time just to visit and hang out. Doug, I think that's the longest you've been home for Christmas since high school. It was really enjoyable. Mandy, you were such a big help and I really appreciate that so much. Mary Beth andDee Dee sure enjoyed you all being around too. We'll have to post the flannel PJ's photo. Glad you all had fun with that. Mom, Dee Dee included that photo with the ones she sent you. Dee Dee wanted a pair of flannel PJ's for a Christmas gift. So I decided since Mary Beth and family were spending the night on the 23rd and we were doing brunch the next morning, to get Mary Beth, Mandy and Dee Dee matching PJ's for their first Christmas gift. They had fun opening on the night of the 23rd and wearing them together. That's the story behind the photo. Hope all is well with each of you as you head to the New Year. Looking forward to a wonderful 2006. Oh, yesterday I rested some in the afternoon and found on the Travel Channel several hours of shows about Hawaii. I recorded and we watched some last night. The best beaches, etc......Sounds great! Hope this gets us started back up again and maybe we can all add some photos. Love to each of you. Mom/Debbie

kitchen slate

hey guys! grandmother betty and grandad said they are still checking this so i wanted to show them the kitchen slate. these are pictures from last night before the grout was dry and the sink wasn't back in. we actually put another coat of sealer on the slate today and it made it shine a little more and really looks sharp. i will be taking some more pictures tomorrow and will shate those also. :) hope everyone is having a great first weekend of christmas break/last weekend to shop before christmas. it's hard to believe christmas is next weekend, but we are excited to see everyone again. merry christmas to everyone early and i hope you really enjoy this special week next week (i think the week before christmas is fun b/c there is a cheery hustle in the air).

love,
mandy

griswald's family tree

hey guys! i don't know if anyone is still checking this site, but i thought i would post these pics just in case. i kind of feel like i'm talking to myself on here! :) we thought it was funny b/c we felt like the griswalds in the station wagon with the tree on top, altough i don't know if clark would like the size of our tree this year. :) check out doug's scary face... :)

love you all,
mandy

some thanksgiving pics

hey everyone! i hope you all had a good weekend and are enjoying the first few days of this special month. we had a good visit with anita and chris, but it sure felt like the weekend flew by. doug and chris are currently driving back to stl and anita's flight gets in this evening. we got our tree up and a few decorations so the house is beginning to feel pretty "christmasy" (spell?) i have realized that our decoration supply is pretty slim though so i think i'm going to hit the after christmas clearance sales. :) these are some of the pictures from thanksgiving that we thought you all might enjoy.
love,
mandy

24 days until christmas!!!!

hey everyone! happy december 1st! i can't believe we only have 24 days until christmas! i'm so excited!! we getting our tree either tonight or tomorrow and are going to decorate the house to make it feel more like christmastime. anita is driving in tonight and chris is flying in tomorrow night so we should have good time this weekend with them. our cabinet guy is supposedly finishing our cabinets today, so keep your fingers crossed b/c he tends to arrive late and leave early. i repainted the kitchen with the correct yellow and it looks SOOOOO MUCH BETTER! the paint guy at home depot realized he accidently used the pastel base white rather than the ultra pure white as the base and it made a huge difference. anywho, i home all is well in franklin today. doug has really enjoyed being able to hang out with you all this week and i'm sad i couldn't be there too. he should bring home the camera tonight so i will try to load some pictures from thanksgiving on here for all to see.

love,
mandy