Merry Christmas

Our first Christmas was spent at Kurt's Mom's house in Caldwell. We had a country Christmas and all exchanged White Elephant gifts on Christmas Eve. However, Kurt's sister, Kelli, had gifts for all of us. She and Tab hand-made all of their Christmas gifts this year, and they were delightful! Many of them had birds on the shoulder with bird poop running down the back of the shirt and mine was a simple blue t-shirt with artificial flowers sewn all on the front and back. It's definitely something I would consider wearing to a New Year's party. We all laughed and had lots of fun. We came home Christmas night so Kurt could get to work on Friday, then we left for Beaumont that evening to have Christmas with the Coco's. We had a great time there too and enjoyed getting to see MOST of our family over the holidays. It's so hard to make the complete round trip to see everyone with limited time, so we've decided to split up our time during the holidays in order to let ourselves relax a bit. It was a very Merry Christmas in 2008! Posing with my hand-made tshirt from Kelli & Tab

Kurt & Kyle with their shirts, which were attached with safety pins...hillarious!

Kelli and her new welding equipment.

Cash just enjoying himself as usual

Kelli, Kurt, Wanda, and Kyle on Christmas Eve

The Last Wedding of 2008

As many of you know...there were many weddings this past year. Lots of our friends were married and our year was booked! We never thought December would ever come in time for Kristen and Jackson's wedding, but it finally arrived and like all weddings, it was over so fast. The wedding was in College Station at A&M United Methodist Church and their reception was at Pebble Creek Country Club. We had a blast and definitely enjoyed the photo booth at the reception. Kurt attended his office Christmas party that Friday night so I went solo to the rehearsal dinner and he met me at the wedding on Saturday. We had a blast, and now all the girls are going to have to think of other excuses to see each other besides at each other's weddings!

Kim and I showing off our "bra" napkins, made by my tasteful husband at the reception.

The beautiful Christmas tree at Miramont after the rehearsal dinner. And the bride and bridesmaids before the wedding!

Welcome home Chad!

What a day! As most of you know, my brother left at the beginning of June this year and headed for Cuba to serve our country in the U.S. Navy. He wasn't able to attend our wedding at the end of June and we've only been able to communicate by email and some by phone when he is able to call...for the past 7 months. It was really upsetting when we learned he was going away only two weeks before Kurt and I got married, but he was doing something so courageous and fighting for our freedom. We sent him pictures and video from our wedding that he was able to watch on his laptop while in Cuba. Chad served as a guard at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, and although he is unable to talk about what he did while he was there, it seems as though he'll never forget the experience.
All that to say...Chad finally got to come back to Texas today! My Mom and I greeted him at Hobby Airport this afternoon with a HUGE welcome home sign and lots of hugs and kisses. Tears were shed, but all of joy and excitement that he returned safely and knowing what a service he did for our country. Chad received 3 medals before he left Cuba! He looked great in his uniform when we saw him today and we're looking forward to visiting with him over the weekend. As we were walking through the airport, people would say "Thank You" to him...people we had never met before. It was pretty amazing, and he was getting lots of positive "stares" as we walked to claim his army green bags. I've never been more proud of my brother, and I'm so glad that he made it back to Texas safe and sound!

The Best Time of the Year!

It's hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner! We put up Christmas lights on our house a few weeks ago, but I'm just now getting them from my camera to the computer. Kurt wanted to get a real tree this year, so we went and picked it out ourselves! We hung all of our ornaments and are hoping that Cash doesn't get ahold of any...the tree hasn't been knocked over yet! Kurt was so great about putting up the lights, and then we had the inevitable problem...part of the strand went out! We spent so much time getting the lights on the house to work, but after lots of bulb testing, we finally got it all together! Our first real Christmas tree
Front door entry

Yard art...as Kurt would call it

Lights!

Our little family of stockings

Kitchen...excuse the mess on the counter, but I made the garland on top of the cabinets. It really does look better in person.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kurt and I were in Beaumont for the Thanksgiving holidays, and we really enjoyed having an extra long weekend to spend with everyone. We had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with my Mom on Wednesday night, which consisted of spaghetti and meatballs. It was nice that we didn't have turkey twice! We headed to my Dad's on Thanksgiving Day to enjoy more family time. The boys did some fishing and the girls looked at pictures and got to visit with each other. My aunt from Los Angeles was in town for my grandmother's birthday, and my aunt from Austin was in for Thanksgiving, as well as some of my cousins. We had a great time and enjoyed each other's company so much! Did I mention that we had a ton of amazing food - thanks to everyone! Cash decided to go for a dip in the pond...just the usual
The huge catfish Kurt caught

Let the feast begin...ham, turkey, cranberry salad, mashed potatoes

Deviled eggs, dip, and salad...made by me!

Homemade rice balls and stuffed artichokes...so yummy!

Some of the fam...Dad, Erin, Margaret, Ed, and Mamoo