On the 11th Day till Christmas...

We celebrated with the Harbor Town Christmas Parade!  Due to last weekends rain/ice, it was postponed till Sunday night.  The crowd and parade were both much smaller than last year, but we enjoyed a festive time with family, neighbors and great friends.  I did a horrible job of taking pictures, but I was having a great time and photos were not at the top of my mind...
A neighbor sent me this picture and I love it, because it captures the true feeling of the parade and has my some of favorite people in the background!

Emily got us these Christmas Vacation shirts to wear, but

Unfortunately, Molly, Logan and Mullen had prior plans and couldn't make the postponed date.  We missed them so and I know they missed us.  As you can see Molly had Mullen a "Cousin Eddie" Outfit!  We will have to wear these again soon!

Layne was in the best mood and was just full of Christmas cheer!
Lily was all about the red noses I had gotten for the kids.  She wanted her picture with everyone who would allow it!

 Layne didn't wait long to break into his parade candy!

 They were both so into the horses!

 Since the parade was so short a few friends missed it, but they still came for the fun and good food!

 Layne and Gabriella were more into making sure all of the noses worked!

 Nonna and Lily the red noise reindeer...

 Uncle Ray and Lily the red noise reindeer...

 Daddy and Lily the red noise reindeer..

The 12th day till Christmas was named...

Junior League of Memphis Day!  Such an awesome day at Lester! Started with making The Polar Express and ended with the Mayor naming Saturday, December 14th Junior League of Memphis Day!


Everyone was so into this craft...











The Mayor spoke for a good bit about how he wishes the cameras were rolling here today. Everyone judges Memphis on the 1st 10 minutes of the nightly news, but if they could see a 1/4th of what he sees they would find the most caring, compassionate and loving community! He's so right...we do what we do to make a better Memphis! I love my GROW family!





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Just another day on the job...

After a world wind tour of the AutoZones in DC, Maryland and VA and doing a Rockstar job of leading a regional round table, we enjoyed a sunset drive to see the sites and an amazing dinner at Tosco's. #gottafitinsomefun

Down time

Due to the ice storm prediction most of our weekend plans got postponed, so we had some much needed downtime! Lucky for us, Memphis really never got iced in. Nonetheless, We finally got our warped tree trunk straight, the decorations out and a Pinterest project with old Christmas cards completed. Success got quite a bit of ice and snow and luckily Molly, Logan and Mullen came to WM before it hit. I know Nonna and Poppa have been happy having them there! Mullen loved Santa! He is such a cutie!

The Jones came to join the fun on Saturday night. Lily and Layne stayed with us while Emily and Caleb went to celebrate Adam's birthday. Then they all spent the night. We had a fun morning with lots of snuggle time...


A snowman breakfast...


And the first showing of Christmas Vacation!


I finished Sunday off with a fun Christmas party with some Junior League friends. It was a great weekend all around. Here's to the next winter storm actually bringing some snow our way!

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Someone slept through...

Their first wing night!!

Continuing with traditions...

We enjoyed our time in Asheville with Ray's parents...did a little shopping (Where I got to go to Trader Joes...if you are keeping track I'm on a role...3 in 3 weeks!), a lot of eating (thank goodness for the long walk we went on) and some visiting!

We celebrated shop local Saturday by supporting Diamond Brand sports, McCaffey Tree Farms and Gus's Good Times Deli!

We got to choose from a new batch of trees at McCaffey's Tree Farm and there were so many to pick from! With Ray's broken foot and the snow/ice on the ground we didn't go deep. We got a beautiful 9 ft tree and luckily that is what is now in the back of the truck! A family realized as they were leaving they had the wrong tree tied to the top of their mini van and their daughter figured it all out and they came looking for us!





We got in quite the traffic jam caused by some road work on a bridge, so we were super happy to get to Gus's and see it was open, there was a parking place and no line! The quiet restaurant didn't last long as within minutes there was at least 20 people waiting to order.


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Continuing with the traditions...

A game of Michigan Rummy anyone?

Traditions...

Ray and Mike enjoying their Thanksgiving Day Waffle House tradition!

Meet me in St Louis...

This past weekend Mom, Emily, Molly & Mullen and Donna all met in St Louis for a girls Christmas shopping weekend! We had the best time and all got people checked off our list.
The Nonna's fueling up for a day of shopping at the Drury's hot breakfast buffet.


My favorite little shopper was so good! Love this little 2 month old so much!


I think you can say we were most excited about the Nordstroms, the outlets and REI...


Mullen leading us in out Sunday morning prayers...so sweet with his hands folded!


And before we headed home we made a Trader Joe's stop (or 3). I so wish Memphis would get one!


I really didn't take many pictures...I guess I was too busy shopping and trying to stay warm! Man was it cold in St. Louis this weekend!

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Fun, but quick trip...

To Atlanta to see Torrey, Dan and Savannah and to meet Calvin! We had a blast shopping, eating and playing!

Getting my Trader Joes fix...

In Atlanta with Torrey and Savannah!

Rocky the racon...

We have a crawl space under our house and earlier this year we caught a possum. Well lately we have been hearing something trying to claw through the downstairs bathroom...talk about being scared to death! Anyway, he has been caught and will not be back! Now let's hope he didn't have any friends!

The perfect combination...

This weekend was the perfect combination of fun, family and productivity! First, had the best Thursday night at More Than A Meal. While I love going to GROW, sometimes (especially when it is cold) I feel an urge to stop at Idlewild and to serve at More Than A Meal, because as my friend LaShaun wrote..."It could have been me." I love calling everyone by name and hearing their prayers. Before heading to wing night, I stopped at Miss Cordelia's for their Holiday Open House. I really kinda wish I would have never tried the #cake as I have wanted one ever since!
On Friday, I had the very best time with Karen, Jeri and many other JL friends at Girl's Night Out followed by a late night snack at Huey's before calling it a night!
Then Saturday morning mom and I went to the local church's crafts fair while dad went and got Lily and Layne! We had the very best time feeding the ducks, making rice krispy treats, touring the playgrounds and playing!












Oh and I went to church, ran 8 miles, went to the grocery, did a little shopping, made a delicious meal for a new momma friend, cleaned out the downstairs closet, watched TN loose and hung out with Ray! Just another weekend really!

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6 weeks old

This little turkey's momma has a dr's appointment tomorrow, so they came to spend the night with Nonna and Poppa! I'm glad I was able to go hang out with them for a bit. Such a cutie!

Proudly wearing orange on Sunday...

It was a beautiful weekend drive to Columbia for the TN/Mizzou game. Tailgating at an opponents field in the RV lot is the way to go. People were videoing our breakouts of Rocky Top and wanted photos with our crazy large head cutouts. We made a lot of new friends and enjoyed catching up with old ones. The RV owner, Dan, declared this the best tailgate of the past few seasons (plus Allison and I know how to cook!). I always enjoy catching up with Allison. We pick up like we never missed a beat. Plus it is always a treat hanging out with Chris, Sammy and Andrew.















The game was hard to watch and freezing, but Sammy got us all seat together so we made the most of it!











As we were hanging out around the bonfire for a post tailgate with some choice words flying out of these diehard fans, one guy said...but we still wear our orange on Sunday just as proudly as we did on Saturday! That my friends is a Vol For Life. #vfl

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