Holiday and Memories

Wanted to send a quick post wishing everyone a Happy Holiday! I will work hard on getting the last two week's blogs together when we are in Seattle relaxing and over eating.

Looking forward to a nice break from work. And reading a lot of books. And opening presents. And (just a little) trying snowboarding again. And snuggling with Cricket. And my sister (like she'd ever let me do that).

It's nice to have a place to visit for the holidays because traveling makes a vacation (from work especially) a real vacation. I have to admit I think it would be pretty boring to visit family in the same town as you every holiday. Thankfully we will never have that problem as our families live on both sides of the country. It's a good thing!

So Merry Christmas and please await many fun and exciting posts.

Clemson in Florida

For some reason, Clemson ended up playing Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship. Don't really know how they got there (they were getting better mind you, just wasn't really expecting it), but we were over joyed to be able to celebrate with friends and fans.

And boy did we!

Ended up driving over to Tampa to the Bucs Stadium to watch the game.

It was crazy!

Clemson Side. Can you see anything BUT orange?



Our view - $5.oo tickets. Oh yeah!

Our seats were one from the back on the top deck. Row BB. It was great. We were expecting to be able to sit down and relax, but ended up standing up the whole time because the fans were just unbelievable. They wanted to cheer and watch a football game.

We had a great time, though we almost froze. It was cold.

And then the best part: I got to see some old friends. (They weren't old, I've just know them a long time.)

Cheryl, Cheryl's friend (don't know how to spell her name), and Cassie!!

Well Clemson ended up losing. But it was a great game. A fantastic game actually.

Until next year!

Our Favorite Visitor

Ms. Maggie Mo

Just wanted to post a cute picture of Maggie. We love her. She was visiting (her Dad, Russell, was on a much needed vacation during Thanksgiving) Jake, Darin, and me. She hadn't been over in a long time (though we have seen her, but it isn't the same) because her two cousins Daisy and Piper were at her Dad's (with their parents - Russell's son and daughter-in-law) and didn't need to be dog sat.

Anyway...

We love her.

And miss her already.

But Jake gets to visit at Christmas time (while we're in Seattle) and go swimming as she has a swimming pool. He's very excited.

She's definitely our favorite visitor.

Friends and Space

We went over (finally) to our friends Jim and Jill's the other night. Just a fun night, spending time together. (Actually, we were supposed to be eating s'mores, but it rained outside so we were inside.)

Ended up getting the movie St@r Trek.

It's fantastic I tell you. Watch it.

Went to try to find a video store to buy it, but there were none about. So we went to our grocery store... and ended up getting the movie for free because it was priced wrong. Darin and I couldn't believe it! How great!

Had just a great time watching the movie.

And Darin was attacked by these monsters:

S., K., and R.

They actually watched the movie with us! Trekkers in the making - kidding. Definitely the athletic type of kids compared to the nerdy type of kids (which Darin was). I was the naturally athletic type.

:)

We love hanging out with this family and might try something at our house next... if we're brave enough!

A Simple Day of Jake

I was in a cleaning frenzy on Sunday. Had to clean. Clean. Clean!

Jake would just follow me around the house, probably thinking that I should just sit down so that he could relax and take a nap.

He was a sleepy boy.

I was doing a lot of laundry and happened to put the dry and warm towels on the couch to fold.

And it was a bit chilly this weekend.

So up Jake went.

They were very warm and toasty, I have to admit. I think he would have been happier if I would have put a few of them on top of him...

Then I picked him up off the couch to fold the towels, went to do something else.

And came back to this:

The one brown towel was separated because it's a guest towel (the greens and white are Darin and my towels).

And Jake got his way, once again.

Birthday Wishes

Wanted to take a quick second to wish my new sister-in-law and new brother-in-law (they're twins, in case you didn't know this) a very happy birthday!

We really have a great time doing everything under the sun with these two. It's amazing to have them so close by to watch movies, build fences, go swimming, eat, and all the other stuff we do together!

So Happy XX Birthday Diana and Kevin!

Hurray for turning one year older and wiser...

Love you two (and the others in the photos as well)!

O' Christmas Tree

A fun tradition at Darin's parent's house was putting the Christmas tree up together. Well, since everyone's getting older and busier, we went over the weekend after Thanksgiving to keep the tradition alive. Though in a slighter way.

It was just us - Darin and I.

Others, Diana and Goestov, will also add ornaments at another time. They were busy, but were represented by Lady (their dog). The rest of the clan will come before Christmas when we open presents.

The naked tree.

Putting up the star.

And then came the ornaments. There were tons of them. Some broken, some unusual, some of the kids when they were little, some from the youngest (B., C., and S.).

My favorite of the bunch.

We put a gazillion of them on the tree.

And then we had to go home because Darin was playing his beloved golf.

Finished product.

Last, but not least. Lady. Supervising.

Christmas is almost here! Man, time flies.