TV Shows and a fun night out

We had a really good weekend visiting my Papa in Granbury. I think I'll save that blog for another day though. I think I'll just write about random stuff again today -like I did on Friday. Hmm.. Gray's Anatomy - SO GOOD! I was dying when Derrick and Meredith were in the closet. And I can't believe Izzy has a daughter! Crazy. But, next week looks amazing. Being the genius that I am - I had no idea what "Code Black" meant - so I definitely looked it up on the internet. Now I can't wait to watch on Sunday!!

Who watches the Bachelor? Who is your favorite? For some reason, I really like Moana. I don't know why - she's honest I guess. Nashville girl bugs me, and I kind of like Susan. Thoughts?

I stayed up WAY too late last night. There was a movie on about Flight 93 on September 11th. It was really good, but very tense. My chest still hurts. James and I were on our honeymoon over 9-11, so we never really felt or experienced what everyone else did on that day. Watching that gave me a much clearer picture of what went on and I was flooded with so many emotions. It's sad to think that so many Americans have become desensitized (sp?) to the tragedy of it all. I'm really glad I watched it. Even though it was over at 2:00 in the AM!!!!

Last night I went to dinner with my fabulous cousin Brenna and my new favorite friend and co-worker Katie. We had so much fun. Those two girls can make me laugh SO hard. My stomach is sore from laughing - literally. We enjoyed yummy food at Chilis, an awesome trip to Target, and a drive through stop at Bahama Bucks (the best shaved ice ever) on the way home. Here are some pics....


Me, Brenna, and the one and only - Emmitt Smith. Nice.













Yay for the timer on the digital camera! (Notice Katie's new fabulous necklace she purchased at Target)











It was really fun hanging out with these girls and pretending like I was back in college again. But the second I went home and saw Kaitlyn sleeping in her bed with her hands tucked sweetly under her cheeks, I was so thankful for the stage of life I am in right now and wouldn't change it for the world.

Friday!

Today is Teacher Sheryls last day to teach Kaitlyn. She will be switching to another day care center. This has really made me sad! Kaitlyn talks about her all the time, always wants to take her a donut in the morning or color her a picture. She always runs right in to class and gives her a hug. She missed school Monday and Tuesday of this week b/c she was sick. My parents were in town on Wednesday morning, so they went with me to take her to school. I thought Kaitlyn would not want to go since Mamaw and Pappy were there, but she went straight to Sheryl. She is wonderful with all of the kids in her class. They did the neatest crafts. She has been so patient with Kaitlyn through her "stages." Sheryl has probably spent more hours with Kaitlyn than I have. She has been very instrumental in who Kaitlyn is, and I am so thankful for her. I wish her much luck as she begins a new stage in her life, but she will be missed by many!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James's good friend Cliff is staying with us for a couple of days while he speaks at a conference here at ACU. I think Kaitlyn is in love with him. She has always loved older men - I don't know what it is. Especially guys with beards. And man does Cliff have a beard. It's awesome. I'll try to get a picture of them together. This morning Cliff was sitting at our kitchen table with his computer getting things ready for his presentation. James told Kaitlyn that she could sit in there with him, but no talking because he was working. So, Kaitlyn goes into her room and gets her toy laptop. She set it up right next to him, didn't say anything and just began "working." It was so cute. It would have been a very funny picture, but of course the batteries were dead on the camera.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I read this headline this morning: "Should Brad and Angelina get married? Of Course! Then the gossip can start about divorce!"

Seriously? This was kind of wake up call for me and my love for Hollywood news. I love looking at People magazine, US Weekly... anything of the sort. And I don't really think there is anything wrong with that - but why was that quote a LEAD headline on MSN? What does that say about our society? What does that say about how marriage is viewed? There are many, more important topics to write about. I could go on and on about this, but I'll stop there.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's Friday! Kaitlyn and I may head to Ft. Worth. My Papa is in the hospital. He fell this week, broke his hip and had surgery on Wednesday. He could use some cheering up! Plus, it would be fun for Kaitlyn to play with her cousins for awhile.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend! Say a quick prayer for baby Seth O'Quinn. You can read about the latest at www.theoquinnfamily.blogspot.com

Would You Rather.....

I decided to try and make Thursdays the day that I ask a random question. Except today, I'm asking 10 "Would you rather" questions. Feel free to answer all, or expound on one particular one that you have a great answer for. Or - just read through them, and answer to yourself. (But it would be more fun if you shared with the class) So...

Would you rather:

Be put in prison for 15 years or have all of your teeth pulled out?

Be able to fly or live to 200?

Sit on a fire for 5 seconds or eat 50 flys?

Be 4'1" or 7'9"?

Live without music or without TV?

Be gossiped about or never talked about at all?

Be able to hear any conversation or take back anything you say?

Publish your diary or make a movie about your most embarrassing moment?

Have one wish granted today, or three wished granted in 10 years?

Write a mystery or a poem?

An Email from a 2 year old... with her Daddy's help

Dear Mommy,

I love you, and playful. I gonna write mommy a book. I’m gonna make mommy an e-mail. I want to do something else on your computer. Hey, I want to do something else . I love you. I don’t want to tell a lot of things.

Miss you, have good day at work.

(this was what Kaitlyn would have typed if she could, instead I just typed what she said. She did type the subject line)

Yada, Yada, Yada

Here is what we did this weekend for all of you that care... However, if James is right - all of you are bored with this blog and I am writing this just for myself. Either way... here is what occupied our time Friday-Sunday.

Friday night: I went to Body Step at 5:30. Yes, I'm the loser that works out on a Friday night. The teacher came up to me afterward and said, "I have really enjoyed having you in my class. Your facial expressions are just so animated." Hmmmm.... Good or bad?

After working out I ran home to quickly change clothes, pick up the family, and head to the ACU bowling alley for some non-stop fun and excitement with our good friends Clayton, Felicia, Amanda and David. We had the lanes to ourselves and the girls lane was fully equipped with the bumper things. (There are some advantages to having a 2 year old on your team). They even had cute little bowling shoes that were just her size. She called them her "special kicks." She did pretty good throwing her ball down the lane!

Saturday: An awesome day filled with shopping with Erica!! I was so excited to spend as much time as I wanted just hanging out going to fun stores that I don't go to very often. We had a great lunch at Beckers Loft in the middle of our trip. I was pretty disappointed that the only thing Erica bought was some wallpaper paste, but she was great company! (And if you saw the wallpaper the former owner had up in their kitchen, you would be buying anything to get it off) She has such a good eye for decorating.. their house is already so cute.

Oh - but before I left to go shopping we spotted a mouse in our house!!!! YUK!!! Hopefully the 37 traps we set out will get the whole family. I'll keep you posted on that situation....

Saturday evening Kaitlyn went with me to get some grocery shopping done. The girl LOVES Walmart. Just wait until she experiences a Super Target.....
While there, she got to pick out a new fish. Gill, our previous fish lived for quite a while, but passed on not too long ago. So, she got to pick out a new one. She named him Jesse. He was dead before morning. She had no problem with this. She noticed he wasn't moving so she came into the living room and said, "Jesse is still sleeping. I need to go to Walmart and get another fish that swims around." She helped James flush it down the toilet. According to Nemo, all drains lead to the ocean, so she had no problem with it.

Sunday: Got another fish, whom she named Treith. Pronouned Treeth. I have no idea where she came up with this. I tried to change her mind about the name plenty of times. It had to remain, Treith. (If that is even how you spell it.) Treith the fish was dead this morning. What is the deal?!? No more fish for awhile.

IT RAINED!!!!! I'm not gonna lie, I almost started crying in the middle of the night when I woke up and saw lightening and heard the rain outside our window. On the way to church Kaitlyn said, "Thank you God for the rain!" So sweet. Sunday afternoon we were L-A-Z-Y. We all took naps. I love naps. Sunday night I went to a fun surprise dinner for a good friend at Abuelos. The best Mexican food ever. And fun times with friends!

In the middle of all this madness, James and Kaitlyn are not feeling good. They both have horrible coughs. Kaitlyn has not slowed down one bit, so I hesitated to even take her to the doctor. But, today I took James and Kaitlyn both to the doctor. They both have viral bronchitis. Fun!! Kaitlyn LOVES Dr. Martin. She laughed and laughed when he looked in her ears and her nose. When he was finished looking at both of them she walked over and gave him a hug and a kiss on his hand. Too bad he had just sanitized them. Oh well.

Hopefully they will feel better soon!! Have a good week!

Odds and Ends

James told me yesterday that I needed to post something interesting. Was that a shot? Is my blog really that boring? He said for me to write about something else besides what we do every day. I proceeded to tell him that the purpose of this blog is not for other people to necessarily read (though I LOVE when lots of people comment), but for me to journal about our life and what is going on, so that one day I can look back on it and remember the good and not so good times.

I am not good at coming up with a random topic, or interesting question for people to ponder and comment. But - I decided to try and come up with one random question a week to just throw out there to see what others have to say. These could be serious questions, or silly - pointless questions.

But, before I ask my random question of the week - let me just say how glad I am that the Beards are now in Abilene. We called them totally last minute last night to go eat at Chilis for dinner. They are awesome people that I know James and I both wish we would have known better when we lived in Dallas. So, now that they are here we can start a new, great friendship with such great people. They may not think we had a good time last night b/c Kaylee "had not had a nap" if you catch my drift - but we had a blast, and look forward to spending more time with them.

Okay.. here is my random question:

What is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Think about it and let me know...

Ramblings...

Thank you to everyone who posted advice on the sleep issue. Let me just tell you... since the day I posted this -the technique I tried has worked better and better each night. And last night, our sweet Kaitlyn fell asleep completely on her own and slept in her own bed until we woke her up at 7:15 this morning!!!

So, I went with the Nanny 911/Shanta technique. We went through our nightly ritual of reading 2 books, maybe sing a song or two, say our prayers, kiss goodnight. Then I just sat my bootie on the floor and stared at it for what seemed like FOREVER - and slowly inched my way to the door. The first night it took her about an hour and a half to fall asleep. The second night, she was asleep in about 20 minutes. Night three she regressed a little bit, taking about 45 minutes - but then last night was perfect!! I hope I am not jinxing anything by writing about it. I seriously did not think this technique would work. I was sure that she would hop right out of bed and start playing, or she would talk to me or something. But it has been great. I will also add that I took her to Walmart so that she could pick out a fun night light. I thought that may help. She chose a Dora and a Strawberry Shortcake one. So, which ever side her head is turned she can see a friendly face!! Whatever works, right?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We had a fun weekend. My parents came down on Saturday from Lubbock. Dad helped James replace a CV joint? Something on "Silvia" (the Honda). I was really impressed with James's ability to replace this certain thing. It was huge! Kaitlyn, mom and I had fun and just hung out. We ate fast food all weekend and just enjoyed each other's company.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was SO disappointed to see my boyfriend Peyton Manning lose on Sunday! What an exciting ending though! We have some friends that are HUGE Steelers fans (what?!).. they came over on Sunday night sporting their black and gold. Whatever.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I really want (not a need, just something I would like) a new, fairly inexpensive digital camera that takes awesome pictures. Any suggestions? Kristen OQ... what kind do you have? The pics on your blog are always so good and clear!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We desperately need rain! Everything is so dry in so many parts of TX/OK and other states right now. I'm so tired of hearing about fires every where! Pray for rain people!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gray's Anatomy last night? Loved it. Did anyone watch The Office last Thursday about "The Injury?" That was the funniest episode of anything I have seen in a long time. Golden Globes are on tonight - I LOVE award shows.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a really awesome boss. There was a few of us that had to work on this day of celebrating MLK. He just came in and said I could leave whenever, but still put a full 8 hours on my time sheet. And I can use this day as another paid day off whenever I want. YAY! Now I can go to Body Step and Pump! This is turning out to be a good Monday..... Have a good day!

The Longest Night Ever....

The evening started off well, with James cooking us a wonderful dinner of pancakes and eggs. I LOVE having breakfast for dinner every once in awhile. The 3 of us enjoyed sitting down together, talking about our days... just enjoyed each others company.
Not long after dinner, it was time to get Kaitlyn ready for bed. For the past few weeks, it has been the biggest struggle putting her to bed. She has always been a good sleeper - since she was a baby. All of a sudden, she turns 2 and forgets how to fall asleep on her own. When we moved her into her big girl bed she still did okay going to sleep on her own, but she would come into our room sometime in the middle of the night. We thought this was a phase... she would stop doing it eventually... it really didn't bother us, etc. Well, this has continued for months now. And for the past 3 weeks she will not go to sleep unless someone is in the room (preferably in her bed) with her. Warning! Pushover Parents alert! Warning! "Sure honey bunches of oats, we would LOVE to spend 2 hours laying with you until you fall asleep!" Idiots.

So, yesterday I decided to end it all - let her cry and cry and cry, but the girl needs to go to sleep on her own. This can not go on. So.. here is a rundown of our night:

7:30PM - bathtime.

7:45PM- She wanted me to play with her dollhouse with her instead of watching a video. NO problem. I let her know that I would play with her for a few minutes - then we would read books and go to bed.

8:00- Read 2 books (with a fight because she thought she was still getting to watch a video)

8:25- left her in her room after saying our prayers, I love you, Goodnight.. Started crying almost immediately

8:30-She stopped crying, but she is up out of her bed putting on a pair of her jeans.

8:45- Begins putting pieces from her dollhouse into one of her rainboots.

9:00- I make the decision to go in her room and put her back in her bed.... starts crying

9:10- Gets out of bed to get her bible and looks at it for awhile.

9:15- James and I hear a few chords being played on her piano.

9:30PM- I go back in to check on her because it sounds like the walls of Jericho came crashing down... put her back in bed.. more crying

9:40PM- Starts reading her bible again.

9:50PM- We hear her Rudolph stuffed animal start singing.

10:00PM- Go in her room to find her with no pajamas on, no socks on - sitting in a half-daze in front of her doll house. Put her back in bed (4th time), left her crying for her Daddy with her eyes closed... this HAS to end soon...

10:20PM- ASLEEP!!! For how long....

12:45AM- She comes into our room, and James carries her back to bed

1:35AM- She comes back into our room, and I carry her back to bed

2:00AM- Back into our room.. I take her back again.. she starts crying VERY hard.

2:45AM- Who is crying harder, Kaitlyn or Leslie?

3:00AM- Still screaming her head off saying she is scared, monsters are going to get her, she doesn't like the water heater, her tummy hurts, her bottom hurts, she has 2 boo-boo's.....

3:30AM - Has not let up yet... I am about to go insane. By this time I am wondering how long do I do this? All night long? Should I go lay with her until she goes to sleep? Right as I go in there, she is at the door, so I just pick her up. She has never held on to me so tight in her life. I carry her to our bed and she is asleep in about 30 seconds.

What have I done? This is so hard. We tried a reward system sometime in there - but that didn't last long at all.

Needless to say, I will struggle all day with keeping my eyes open.

Any suggestions for what to try tonight? James will be out of town, so I'm all on my own.

Weekend rundown...

Man, I am TI-RED this morning! Monday mornings usually hit me pretty hard. We had a really enjoyable weekend just being at home and not having any big plans. Friday night we took Kaitlyn to Chucky Cheese - she loves that place. Expensive food, but each ride/game is just one token, so that helps! The bigger winner of the evening was James, however, winning about 80 something tickets on this game where you have to push a button right when it lights up on the Jack Pot. I was pretty impressed! For her prizes, Kaitlyn picked out some rubbery fish and lizards, 3 packages of Smarties, a purple bracelet, and some airplane toy.

Saturday the weather was SO pretty! I got up and went to Body Step (my new favorite class). When I got home James took down the Christmas lights while Kaitlyn and I picked and ate some pecans. I tried to help James with the lights, but I wasn't "wrapping them right," so I had to quit. Sorry... I didn't know there was a certain way! But, when he was all finished - they did look very neat and organized!
For lunch we went and got some chicken and had a picnic at the park. We took some bread to feed the ducks - but there were so many birds - they were huge and white. They looked like sea gulls, but I don't know if they were. Anyway, we fed them instead. James picked out his favorite one that he fed. This particular bird was pretty awesome. It would catch anything in mid air that James threw to him.

After our picnic, we played at the park for a good while - playing a couple of games of follow the leader. This is one of Kaitlyn's favorites.

Saturday night we had dinner over at our neighbors house. Kaitlyn loves playing with Kelly, their 3 year old daughter. They got a trampoline for Christmas, so Kaitlyn was in heaven jumping on that thing! We had a good time cooking out hamburgers and getting to know them better.

It was good to be back at Highland on Sunday! We still aren't having classes until next Sunday - I'm ready for those to start back up! After church 30 of us went to Olive Garden for lunch. Yes - 30 people! It was one of the girls in our class birthday - and her husband made reservations for our whole class to go. We had a really fun time, but Kaitlyn was so hyper and would NOT stay in her chair. This gets annoying VERY fast! She played with her friend Emma most of the time though - so I can't complain too much!

Sunday night I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more!! I got the bathrooms shiny and organized, floors swept and mopped, dishes done, and furniture dusted. That's always a good feeling when you finish.

I was then so excited because there was a new Gray's Anatomy on TV, but then it turned out to be an hour clip show. Disappointing. Next week looks good though!!

Have a good Monday! (I'll post some pictures of the weekend tonight or tomorrow)

Back to School & Goals for the New Year

Well, the end of my first week back at work after the holidays is almost over! I love Fridays. Work has been really busy this week - tons of emails, and lots of phone calls - I'm ready for another break!

Kaitlyn got to go back to school today for the first time in over 2 weeks. (Why they start back on a Friday, I have no idea). I was curious as to how she would handle going back, but she was SO excited. James called me and said he has never had to get her dressed and ready so fast before. He said she literally ran into her classroom, and when he left her, she was just sitting at the table laughing. I guess she was getting a little bored of hanging out at home with mom and dad. I mean, we're fun - right? It does make me feel good to know that she is going to a place that she likes and that she misses when she is not there.

I also thought I would take this opportunity to record my goals for the New Year. Not just because everyone else is doing it, but so that in a year I have something I can literally look back on and see if I held up to them or not. So.. here goes:

1. Stop biting my fingernails. I got some stuff I'm supposed to rub on my cuticles for Christmas - maybe that will help.

2. Read my bible WAY more than I do now. I can read "Christian" books all day long, but I really just need to spend my time in the Word itself. I would love to memorize the book of James.

3. Become a more patient mom and a more self-less wife. One of my struggles is after being at work all day long, I just long for time by myself to do what I want. I really need to quit being selfish and spend more quality time with James and Kaitlyn during the week.

4. Eat healthier. I think I have finally got the exercise part down - but what good is that doing me if I just eat junk all day long?

5. Add on to our family. I realize I'm not the one in control of this, but I would really like it if Kaitlyn could have a brother or sister!

I'm sure I could make a much longer list, but those are the main ones.

Here is to Fridays and to 2006!!!

Here's to 2005...

Part 2 of my holiday posting. Another year bites the dust. Let's see what all has happened this year..... (in no particular order)

1. Made a huge move in jobs and cities! After 3 years in the DFW area, we moved further west to Abilene. One of the best decisions we have made, I think. (Hopefully James will agree)



3. Celebrated Kaitlyns 2nd birthday, right after we got to Abilene.

4. James started working for Sysco Foods and I am back at ACU working in Admissions.

5. I got to see my best friend get married at a beautiful wedding in Nashville, TN. (Also the first time I got to meet her husband, Ashley. Love him!!!)

6. James' 5 year college reunion. Got to see some WAY fun people. I'm so glad I married someone from that class... they are awesome.

7. 2 of my roommates from college had babies!! I'm so thankful for the weekend that we had to hang out together! You girls need to move back to Abilene!

8. James and I went through a miscarriage. I debated on whether or not to add this one in... but it was a big part of our year. It made us even more thankful for Kaitlyn (if that was possible) and more aware of what a miracle babies are!

9. I went to my first ever ZOE conference with one of my very dearest friends, Julie. This was an amazing spiritual experience. I can't wait to go back.

10. I watched/am watching the greatest TV show, Alias - come to an end. Horrible. I would be fine if it didn't even finish the season. I also gained a new favorite show, Gray's Anatomy.

Anyway... those are some of the highlights. James and I spent the New Year holiday in Lubbock with my family. We took in a few movies, ate lots of good food, enjoyed the weather (except for Sunday when the wind blew like 175 miles per hour), and took it some good basketball games. My high school girls bball team was playing in a tournament and they made it to the championship game, which they won! I'm glad James was supportive and went with me! Go Mustangs! My brother and I had got my parents a chiminea (sp?) for Christmas, so we enjoyed sitting by the fire at night. Kaitlyn really liked helping my dad throw the wood in, and we even roasted marshmallows. She wasn't too sure about the taste of those.

I'll end this post with a few of Kaitlyn's favorite things/things that she does right now:

1. She no longer has her paci!! I meant to write about this a long time ago, but never did. She's been without it for about a month and a half now. Yay!

2. She still comes in our bed every single night. I can't wait for the day that I wake up naturally and not to someone trying to poke my eyes out.

3. Her two favorite shows right now are Little Einsteins and Charlotte's Web.

4. She has only seen Little Mermaid once, but she likes to sing the "Ah, Ah, Ah's" while I dance around. And then I sing, and she dances. We're dorks.

5. Some of her favorite foods/drinks are: chicken nuggets, spaghetti, capri suns, apple juice, orange juice, m&m's, (really anything chocolate), pecans that we pick from our trees, green beans, corn, chicken nuggets, spaggettios, and did I say chicken nuggets? We have a real healthy eater.

6. She would wear her plastic, pink, Hello Kitty rainboots everyday if we would let her.

7. She is on the verge of being potty trained. She has stayed dry for very long periods of time, but we just can't seem to get it all together.

8. She has been saying "Don't be hateful" a LOT. This really bothers us, but we figure if we ignore it, maybe she'll just stop?

9. She can say the Lord's prayer. So sweet.

10. She is so smart, beautiful, a little messy a lot of the time, funny, observant, greatest gift I have ever been given.

Okay, enough of this long, long post.

On to 2006!!!!

Christmas!

Goodness... where to even start? My last post was like 12 days ago! I feel completely overwhelmed! We had a wonderful Christmas/holiday/New Year. As I read on someone else's blog, I won't bore you with every detail of what we did and every gift received, but just hit on some highlights. Also let me say, with deep sadness, that my camera was totally messed up off and on throughout the week, so I didn't get all the pictures that I wanted. :(
Anyway.. here is a BRIEF rundown of the Mayo family Christmas 2005:

Our first stop was my grandmothers house in Ft. Worth. Kaitlyn loved getting to see and play with her cousins. (Second cousins actually, but cousins none-the-less) We gave my grandmother a video that I had put together of pictures of all 13 of her grandkids. It turned out really good, and it was fun watching her watch it. James and I also got a quilt that my grandmother and aunt made out of our old college Tshirts! We love it!!
















Our next stop was in McKinney to see James' dad and Jan. It was really good to see them - it had been awhile! They had a BEAUTIFUL white Christmas tree up. Kaitlyn had a blast over there chasing their cats and running up the stairs to the top of the balcony and shouting down at us. We had a good time opening presents, and were also blessed with a beautiful concert by Kaitlyn on her new keyboard with microphone. It was hilarious. Quite the rock star she is!

















Destination #3 was to Parker to visit James' mom and Ron. Kaitlyn got to play with more cousins over here too! It was so fun watching her and Lofton and Graham play together. We hardly ever get to see them! One of the highlights here was listening to James read The Night Before Christmas to the kids. I'm afraid this will have to become a tradition. All three of the kids slept on pallets in Nana and Papaw's room on Christmas Eve. They loved doing that! We played a few games that night, and then had fun putting out the "Santa gifts." Christmas morning was really fun - Santa wasn't supposed to come for Kaitlyn until we got back to Abilene, but he remembered to leave a few things for her here! How nice of him. She got lots of fun toys, games, and a princess vanity set. We also got a DVD player for the car which made our trip home so much easier!! June always makes such good food when we are there - I'm sure I gained like 10 pounds at this house alone!







Our fourth house was back to Ft. Worth to see some of my dad's side of the family. Quick story: my grandfather was in the Korean War, and my dad had purchased a brick with his name on it that will be put on a memorial wall in Lubbock that is being built to honor veterans. My dad thought it would be neat if Neil (my brother) and I were both there to give him his gift. This was one of those times where my camera wasn't working - but I'll include the picture anyway. We had fun over there playing ping pong, eating more good food, and seeing some amazing Christmas lights. I swear, this house was just like the Griswalds....
















Final Destination: HOME!! We made it back to Abilene about 9:30 or so on Sunday night. We were tired!! My parents and brother came back with us, so that we could have our Christmas with them on Monday morning. We put Kaitlyn to bed, put her dollhouse together, filled our stockings... got everything ready. It is a tradition with my family to open one present on Christmas Eve. Since this was our Xmas eve together we went ahead and did that. We all thought that was so much fun, so we just kept opening! So we had Christmas with my family at midnight on Sunday night! It was really fun! I was so excited to get my own printer for my camera. It's so easy to do and prints really great pictures! When you are really tired, everything is funny... needless to say, we laughed a LOT. Sadly, I have no pictures. And even more sadly, I only have ONE from our Christmas morning with Kaitlyn. ONE. And it's horrible. Are you ready? Wait for it..............
















Is that amazing or what? I mean - just look at the quality of the picture. DANG CAMERA!!! And check out those boots! They go really well with her pull-up. Oh well.... we have video. Oh wait, no we don't!! We didn't even have the video camera out. Sorry Kaitlyn - your parents have failed this year. Christmas morning was fun for Kaitlyn. However, by this time she had been so many places, seen so many people, opened SO many presents... the girl was worn out.

We are such a blessed family. However tiring it may have been, we were so lucky to have 4 houses to go to and love on family. I wouldn't have changed anything about it.

Stay tuned for Part 2! We went to Lubbock for a long New Years weekend. More stories and pics to come.

It's good to be back!

The Christmas postings are coming soon

Ok, Leslie is going through withdrawls because it has been a whole couple of days since anything has been written.

I assure you tomorrow will be the longest post ever or broken up into a week of posts. Ho Ho Ho who would know.

In the meantime, I have come across some comedy genious to keep you busy for abouot 2 minutes. Many of you have seen it but others of you only wish could write this stuff.

I didn't want to see the chronicles of Narnia until after this video.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=IggTu7kV7No