December Update

December is such a busy month for us ... doesn't leave much time for blogging! Here's your summary of what life's been like for us this past month.

Nicole turned 16 and had a Sweet 16 party just her style... Nightmare Before Christmas theme. We decked out the garage in Halloween gear and they (girls AND boys) snacked all night while playing with balloons, had a DDR contest, watched a movie and danced on the bubble wrap dance floor. What a fun ..and very loud! ... night :)

Heath started his new job with Twang which means lots of travel. We sure miss him when he's gone, but were so glad when his travel plans changed and he was able to be home on his birthday. We celebrated with a crock pot meal and a cookie cake (our 2nd of the month!). He was very excited to open his new movie - The Hangover - and enjoyed watching it the rest of the week in his hotel room. Luke helped Daddy blow out the candles.

Then, there's Christmas! We decorated our new and very large tree the week after Thanksgiving. Luke and the kitty even helped out.

We spent Christmas Eve at the Chapman's in Georgetown with way too much yummy food, a fun game of White Elephant and quality time with extended family. Luke was too cute in his maroons sweater .. until a little incident with spit up. Thus wardrobe #2 in the pics below.

Christmas morning started with the girls bringing stockings to our room. We tore through presents down by the tree and managed to get a few pics amidst the madness. Luke was very interested in the presents .. more than I expected him to be. He loved the colorful paper just as much as the toys he found inside!

After presents, it was all hands on deck as we cooked a gigando ham dinner for my family. I'm not sure how many people I thought we were having, but I made enough to feed a small army. Crystal and Kalie came up and so did my mom and Buddy. My poor dad was home sick with the flu :(

That night, we made our way back to the Bill and PD's for Christmas with the grandkids. It's a rare treat when all 7 siblings are there for the holidays. Kelli and Kyle, the recent newlyweds, just moved to San Diego so we were not expecting them to be here with us this year. Surprise! A last minute flight found them home to join us. Presents all around with plenty of jolly laughter. no lie. This family laughs alot .. great fun to be a part of the holidays with the Chapmans!

New Year's Eve started out at the ranch. Our night was cut short, when after getting vaccinations and trying a new food for the second day, Luke wasn't feeling well. He was fussy for most of the evening, but after his nighttime bottle, he proceeded to scream for 30 minutes. We've determined that it must have been gas pains since the bumpy car ride (and many toots) put him to sleep and he was all smiles and squeals at home. Before we made our hasty exit, though, we did get to see Ryan's traditional fireworks tree!

This year's show did not disappoint ...

As this month and this year come to a close, we are grateful for all that we have and that we survived a rather tough year. 2009 brought us our sweet baby Luke, some challenges along with some new opportunities. Here's to 2010!! We're excited to see what this year will bring!

For a full look at our December pics, click here. Yep, believe it or not, this isn't all of them!

New Year's Resolutions? I think I may make a few this year ...

• Take time to blog & catch up on scrapbooking
• Spend more time with my family
• Create my "Life After D*ll" business plan
• Knit some socks! (I got double pointed needles for Christmas)
• Write my will