Holiday Fun

The past week has been busy and so much fun! Chris and I were in Destin with my family for a week and while there, we celebrated our first anniversary as well as Christmas with my family. The weather in Destin was warm, but unfortunately the fog was so bad we were only able to enjoy the beach twice (once in sweatshirts and the next in bathing suits!) We enjoyed being able to relax, eat and sleep all week long. Saturday morning we all left Destin and stayed at our house in Sharpsburg for the weekend. Saturday night we celebrated Christmas with my grandfather and his wife, Sunday morning was Christmas with my grandmother and Sunday night was Christmas with my mom's side of the family. All of the cousins from GA/FL were there as well as significant others. There were 23 total, I believe. It is always so much fun when all of us are able to get together- I'm afraid those times are going to be few and far between the older we get.

Christmas with my family

Christopher got a Wii from my parents!

Making our first gingerbread house ever

The entire family (minus Jessi- the photographer! and Nana, David and Papa) at Nana's Christmas Cantata

Family photo before opening gifts.

All the girls... I don't know what I would do without them!

My cousin Jessi and her sweet baby boy, Eliah

We were also able to see the Campbells and the Humbles for a short time while in PTC. We miss you guys so much!

We are now at Ed and Cheryl's in Douglasville and will be celebrating Christmas with their family on Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning the six of us and Piper (the puppy) will drive up to Baltimore, MD to spend the weekend with Chris' grandparents, Nanna and Poppop. His cousins will drive up from DC on Saturday. It's going to be a fun weekend!

Merry Christmas and we love you all!

One Year Anniversary!

Today, Chris and I are celebrating our first anniversary! We cannot believe how fast this year went. There have been many firsts throughout this year such as; first home, first mission trip as a married couple, my first job and so much more. We have been so blessed during our first year of marriage and have had such a wonderful time experiencing marriage.

Last week we went to Helen, GA to celebrate our anniversary and though the weather was not bright and sunny, we still had a great time walking around the town and enjoying our time together. The rain finally stopped on Thursday afternoon and we were able to go on a hike that led to a waterfall. The two nights we spent in Helen was relaxing and a great way to celebrate our anniversary.

We are now in Destin, Fl spending the week with my parents and sister. Tonight Chris and I are going to dinner at Commanders Palace for our anniversary. We are really looking forward to a night of remembering our wedding day. Again, we would like to thank all of you who were a part of our wedding. You all mean so much to us and we love you!

A busy few weeks.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for us. Some of my co-workers took Chris and I out for dinner as a going away party on November 24th. We went to a Mexican restaurant (our favorite!) and had a wonderful time just eating and hanging out with everyone. Thank you all for everything you have done for me!

That following Wednesday, Chris and I drove the long 8 hour drive to Destin, Florida for Thanksgiving with my family and the Bowers. We got there around 1am on Thanksgiving day and after saying a quick hello to those who were still awake we finally were able to get some sleep. Our Thanksgiving meal was absolutely delicious - thanks mom and Aunt Sheri! They always work so hard for the family. The girls always have a tradition of being at the stores at 4am on Friday morning to start the shopping, but things were a little different this year. We learned that the outlet mall was opening at 10pm on the night of Thanksgiving and so we decided to shop from 10pm till 3am then go home and sleep till 7am and shop again till noon on black Friday. Yes, I know you think we are crazy, but it is such a fun tradition for all of the girls to spend time together and shop! :) We also celebrated Christmas with the Bowers and enjoyed about 8 hours of football on Saturday. We left on Sunday to go back to Augusta and what should have taken us 8 hours took us 10. Chris and I had such a great time and hated to leave, but knew that the next week was going to be just as busy- if not more.

This past weekend Chris and I finally moved from Augusta to Douglasville. Any free time that we had throughout the last week was spent packing boxes and let me tell ya: it is amazing the amount of "stuff" you can accumulate in such a small living space! Chris' parents drove to Augusta Friday afternoon with Justin and Adriane's dog, Piper, to help us move. We loaded most of the boxes into their van and all of our hang up clothes in Chris' 4-runner. That night a group of about 20 of us went to Vallarta's Mexican restaurant for dinner since that would be the last time most of Chris' classmates will be in Augusta until graduation. Saturday morning a group of friends came over to help us load the u-haul and it was a huge help. The house was empty within 50 minutes! Thank you all for you help!

It has been a bitter-sweet past few weeks but know that the things ahead are very exciting as well!