M.I.A

I can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks since I last posted. Sorry for the absence but honestly, I just haven't had much to post about. Our day to day lives just aren't that interesting. But worry not, new posts are forth coming. So stay tuned...

Christmas with Lynsey's Family

We arrived back in Winston around 3:00pm on Christmas Day. After making a short stop at our house, we headed over to my parents house to celebrate Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. This was the first time in 5 years that Ashley and Tony were able to join us for Christmas and it was so good to see them and watch Lily open all her gifts. Unfortunately my cousin, Tiger and his wife, Kisa, weren't able to join us. Missed you guys! We had a great time with everyone and it truly felt like the good ole' Christmas of days past.

The star of the show... Lily

My adorable Nan and Papaw

The Martinez's

Nan and Papaw with Aunt Grace and Uncle Vaughn

4 Generations

Lily and Uncle Tom

My Family (apparently mom didn't get the memo on outfit coordination)

Christmas with Brian's Family

We left on the 23rd and headed up to Tennessee to celebrate Christmas with Brian's family. On our way, we stopped in Asheville to visit with the Smart family. Asheville had tons of snow and Sarah and Bradley's house is at the top of a hill. Needless to say, we had to park at the bottom and hike up their driveway. But it was well worth it to get to see them. I-40 is still closed past Asheville due to rock slides we we had to take a new route. It was an adventure to say the least but after 5 hours on the road, we arrived in Morristown late that evening. We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with Brian's family and then celebrated with the extended family later that evening. Brian made his mom a jewelry box (which she loved) and made his dad a wooden puzzle, that kept him occupied for hours. I made Traci and Robert a book that contained their wedding pictures and portrait shots. They really seemed to enjoy it and I had a fun time making it. We received so many nice gifts and we are certainly blessed to have such a wonderful family. One of my favorites were all the personalized Christmas ornaments Doris gave us. It was so nice to see everyone again. After breakfast and a game of Rook on Christmas morning, we hit the road back to North Carolina to continue celebrating Christmas.

Petree Family Christmas

Since Brian and I were going to be gone until Christmas day, my immediate family decided to do our Christmas on Sunday, the 20th, after Lovefeast. For a family that said we weren't exchanging gifts this year, we certainly didn't follow the rules. Brian made my Papaw a wooden puzzle that I believe he is still trying to solve to this day. We gave my Nan a "Grandkids" Framed Collage. For Zach and Taylor, I made them a photo book that contained all the pictures of their wedding events. And.. I managed to surprise Brian with a new DeWalt Miter Saw! He was speechless but I knew it was the perfect gift for him! We had a great time spending the evening with my family. Christmas is always a fun but busy time!

Happy New Year!

image source

Happy 2010 Everyone!

We had a wild New Years Eve of watching bowl games, looking at our wedding pictures and cuddling with the pups on the couches. Wild, huh! We didn't even make it to midnight but I will say this was one of the best New Years Eve celebrations ever! Simply being with Brian and the pups was enough for me.

We hope 2010 brings you all the happiness and success that life has to offer.