MERRY CHRISTMAS

Santa 2016

I hope y'all have a blessed Christmas!

The Nutcracker

Last year my mom and I started the tradition of going to see The Nutcracker with Lily.  We went to the Texas Ballet Theater's production at Bass Performance Hall in Ft Worth.

At certain shows you can try on costumes - so fun!!

At the end of the first Act it snows on you - completely magical.

This year we saw their production at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas.

She got to try on costumes again

We get her a fancy new dress and get all dressed up for the show.

This year she brought her doll too.

After the show, we go to a special dinner.  This year we chose Cheesecake Factory where she got a special dessert - she chose the all chocolate cheesecake.  :)

While the performances are the same, we enjoyed the atmosphere of Bass Hall more.  The Winspear is very modern and beautiful and closer, which is a plus, but they didn't have it decorated like Bass Hall.

Lily's dance studio puts on a Nutcracker Ballet each Christmas as part of their Christmas show.  The ballet classes get to participate in some way so this year Lily got to be a Chinese girl as part of the Land of Sweets.  She could not have been more excited to get to be a part of The Nutcracker!

She loves getting flowers after her performances.  Her sweet brother got all dressed up for the show.

So proud of my sweet girl!

All About Luke

Today is all about my sweet little man!

Luke was born January 31, 2008 and has always been my little snuggle bug.

He has always been very curious, has a fierce imagination, and LOVES to learn about science and math.  He could build with LEGOS all day!  He is also very sensitive and can be very shy but he loves to make people laugh, just don't put him on the stage.  He is fiercely loyal to his friends and although his sister drives him crazy a lot of the time, he would do anything to protect her.  His love language is quality time.

Here are a few things he is loving at age 8

Skiing

He started skiing when he was 3 and has loved every minute of it.  He can now ski black diamonds and through the trees with his Daddy.  

Snorkeling/SNUBA

We took our first big beach trip in June (you can look back on all the details of our trip) and Luke got to try SNUBA (SCUBA but the tank is floating above you on a raft instead of you carrying it and you only go about 20 feet down).  He is now looking forward to the day he can get SCUBA certified.  He really enjoyed snorkeling too.  He would dive down to look closer and even went through an underwater tunnel.

Learning to knee board

Poppa has a boat but with the lakes being low for several years, Luke is just now getting a chance to really learn.  He would spend every weekend out on the boat if he could.

Swimming

Right now he is suggesting we sell our playscape in our backyard and build a pool.  haha - if only that would be enough sweet boy.  :)

Riding his Bike

He learned to ride his bike this past year and pretty much thinks he can now drive a car.  lol

We have been spending lots of time riding and are hoping to ride to school some this year.

Photography

This is something he has recently been very interested in learning more about.

He wants to be a scientist when he grows up and got to go to a fun camp that the gifted program in McKinney put on this summer.  Yes, he enjoyed learning about math and science over the summer break.  :)  He loves to read about space and science too.

I asked Luke a few of his favorites

(I stole these from my friend Shay over at mixandmatchmama.com)

Favorite color: yellow

Favorite movie: Star Wars

Favorite food: chicken bowtie pasta

Favorite place to visit: Museums

Favorite activity: skiing

Favorite part of school: math

Favorite part of summer: having lots of time with family

Favorite thing about Lily: she's always happy and plays with me

Favorite thing about Mommy: snuggling together

Favorite thing about Daddy: he builds things with me

What's one word that describes you best: funny  :)

So that's a little about my sweet little man.  He has been such a blessing to our family and I love watching him grow and learn.  I can't wait to see how he grows in 3rd grade!

I was challenged by a friend to do the Facebook "Love Your Spouse" 7 day challenge.  It got me thinking that I am not sure I have done a post really introducing ourselves.  I thought I might share our story.  Sit tight y'all, it's a little complicated.

Brett and I met when we were in middle school.  I am about a year and a half older than he is but only a year ahead of him in school.  We attended the same church and had a mutual friend.  While at church camp over the summer, Brett asked our friend Doug to introduce us and that's when I met this shy, skinny blonde boy who was actually a little shorter than me at the time.  :)  We hung out at church activities but seldom had the opportunity outside of church to see each other at the ages of 12 and 14. He officially asked me out on Sept 20, 1995.  I remember because when my parents were moving a couple years ago they found this calendar.

Oh, middle school love  :)

We dated, and by dated I mean we held hands at church (gasp I know) and only saw each other on Sunday and Wednesday nights, for about a year.  At this point, I was heading to high school and I didn't feel like there would be many opportunities to see each other anymore.  At our church, the middle schoolers went to one service and the high school went to another and we had different Wednesday night activities too.  As much as it hurt me to do it, I stood in a Sunday School room and broke my sweet little blonde boys heart.  I left crying and so wanted to go back in and tell him that I changed my mind.  About 6 months later he moved to McKinney, TX and I thought I would never see him again.

Well, he stayed in touch with our friend Doug and 3 years later he came back for the summer to go to camp.  It was the summer of 1999.  I remember walking to get on the bus and seeing this tall (he had gone from being like 5'2 to 6'0), handsome, blonde boy and having to do a double take because I could not believe it was him.  I was crazy nervous that he hated me for what I had done but we ended up having an amazing conversation one night and I knew I wanted to marry him.  I know, crazy for a 17 year old but I just knew.  We got to spend some time together that summer and when I went with Doug to drop him off at the airport, I did not want to let go of him.

We kept in touch through phone calls, e-mail and AIM, there was no texting or cell phones back then.  We discussed him coming down for my prom and a few other things but he was not allowed to.  We decided to take a break because it was frustrating wanting to be together but not being able to.  Then in August 2000, a few weeks before I left for college, I was followed home from a late party and shot at in an attempt to steal my car.  I escaped but at that point I knew that no matter how far apart we were, I wanted to be with Brett, even if it could only be through phone calls and e-mail.

I went to Sam Houston State my first year to major in Dance but halfway through my first year I got really sick and had to withdraw.  I moved back home and had to reevaluate what I was going to now.  I went up to see Brett in McKinney about 4 times that year.  At this point in our relationship, it didn't feel like family really understood why we wanted to be together.

This was MORP at McKinney High School

I decided to transfer to McLennon Community College in Waco the next year while Brett started his first year at Baylor University.  I was doing theatre and the next year transferred into the theatre program at Baylor.  We spent the next 4 years enjoying our alma mater together.  I joined Kappa Delta Sorority and he work for Apple as a Campus Rep.  I graduated from Baylor in 2006 with a degree in Fashion Merchandising and Brett graduated in 2007 with a degree in Entrepreneurship.  I am so glad that we share a love for Baylor and got to spend our years there together.

Frat Party 2001

Halloween 2001

Kappa Delta formal 2004

(you like that ancient camera I'm holding?!)

One of many Baylor football games together

When Baylor beat the Aggies in 2005, Brett went down and helped tear down the goal post and carried it to campus.  He sawed off a piece for us to keep.

Kappa Delta Crush event in 2005.  We had a ton of water activities - so fun!

Christmas on 5th Street - one of our favorite Baylor events

Baylor ring ceremony together in 2006

Homecoming bonfire 2006

We would have gotten married the second year in Waco together but were told that if we did we would have to get loans to pay for Brett's Baylor tuition.  We were already going to have loans for my tuition so we decided to wait.  It is hard wanting to be together and being told to wait.

Brett's family invited me to go to Taos, NM for a New Year's ski trip in 2005.  Brett carried around my ring the whole trip.  We had gone to dinner at a really nice restaurant to celebrate New Year's and everyone thought he was going to do it there.

If you don't know anything about Brett, I should tell you that he is a super private person.  He wanted the moment to be special between the two of us and not with all his family around.  We left dinner and went back to his room to watch the fireworks on tv.  At midnight, as the fireworks started and we celebrated ...

... he got up and excused himself and left the room.  I was really confused because he had made a big deal about staying up and watching the fireworks together.  He came back seconds later with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him.  I fell to my knees and I'm not sure I actually answered him, lol, I think I just nodded.  :)

Proposal

A couple of our engagement pics

We got married January 6, 2007 and it has been an adventure every day since!

This year we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary and need some ideas of places to go.  We very rarely go somewhere just the 2 of us and would like to make our 10 year special!

The next couple of days I am going dedicate to our 2 beautiful blessings, Luke and Lily.