Happy Anniversary, Baby!

Ten years ago today, we started on a wonderful adventure that has taken us to places that we never thought we'd see and led us to things we never thought we'd do. It has been an awesome decade, and each day has been better than the last. We've hit some curves and bumpy patches along the way, but our relationship just gets stronger on our journey. We are so blessed to be best friends and to have laughed together and loved each other more & more every step of the way. Here's to the next 10 years.......may they be as amazing as the last!

Christmas Eve

Traveling on Christmas Eve was an adventure to say the least! The weather was terrible, and we had a couple of laugh-worthy experiences changing Hampton (note to self--bring a cellphone with you when you change him)!

We finally made it to Tennessee, though, and after dropping Hampton off with his excited Grandparents, we went to Nashville to meet Sarah Neil & Sam. We met them at this cute little place in Franklin called the Cool Springs Brewery. They had great pizza, and we had fun listening to the musician sing holiday songs and several Adam Sandler selections.

We had a great time catching up with Sarah Neil & Sam, and we're already planning a get-together sometime in the spring.

From Our Home to Yours.....

Merry Christmas from Bo, Tanner, Hampton, Josie, and Ike (who refused to pose for pictures...you know how teenaged cats can be!). Have a wonderfully festive day celebrating Jesus's birthday!

On the Road Again

Today we're headed to TN for our quick Christmas trip. It's supposed to rain all the way there, so we're getting an early start of it by heading out right after meeting Tanner''s parents for breakfast. We hope to spend some time with Bo's parents, Tanner's extended family, and our friends the Webbs before heading back on Saturday. We've got to hurry back home, since all of Bo's family start arriving on Sunday for our big get-together!

Here's to safe travels for everyone!

getting cold weather inspiration in our outfit from Grandma & Grandpa

Christmas Brunch

Sunday, we had Christmas brunch with Grandi & Grandaddy. Since they also head north to TN for the holiday, we wanted to make sure that we were able to celebrate with them minus the madness that is Christmas Day in Tennessee!

Brunch was delicious, and included all of our favorites like hash brown casserole and biscuits with gravy. Of course, we couldn't do without the traditional monkey bread, so we had it, too!

We had a great time opening gifts, playing with Hampton, and dancing to "Step into Christmas" (don't ask!). Christmas celebrations may have changed a bit since we were kids, but if you ask us, they couldn't be better!

the family

frolicking among the Santas

Bo's bow

enjoying the dance routine

2 good-looking guys!

Christmas Traditions

Since we go to TN for Christmas day, we do our little family Christmas early. So Saturday night, we celebrated our first Christmas with Hampton. We have a lot of holiday traditions that we're continuing, including getting an ornament each year, pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve, and reading the Christmas story from the Bible first thing Christmas morning.

We also have some new traditions that we're starting. Since we do go out of town for the big day, we want our early Christmas celebration to be a special "just us" time. So, each year we're going to order pizza and watch a Christmas movie together. This year, we attempted "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", since neither of us have ever seen it. However, we fell asleep before it even got interesting!

We've also decided to only give our children 3 gifts from us, to represent the gifts the 3 Wise Men brought Jesus. Santa will come on Christmas morning with small trinkets, but we don't want the focus of the holiday to be on material things. We'd much rather impart the importance of spending time with family and friends, counting our blessings, and making memories that will last way after all the toys are outgrown.

Hampton posing with his gifts

in our pjs ready to watch the movie

Christmas Fun at The Wharf

On Saturday, we headed down to The Wharf for their annual Christmas parade. We got there early, so we had our pictures taken with Santa outside in front of the yachts, which was really fun. We wandered around the shops, grabbed a yummy chicken salad wrap at the new Nibbles market, and just enjoyed ourselves until the parade started. The parade was very low-key and fun, with the floats not only throwing candy, but also t-shirts, stuffed animals, cups, beads, koozies, and the cutest rubber duckies. It was a great way to spend the afternoon and get in the holiday spirit!

View from Main Street at The Wharf

Family Photo with Santa

Happy Hampton Watching the Parade

(it was getting chilly, which explains the burp cloth over his head!)