Christmas Pics

These are a little overdue, but I figure we're still in the Christmas season so I can still put them up! Here are some pictures from our Christmas tree expidition a couple of weeks ago. We had a day with nothing planned, so we drove to the same place we bought our last real Christmas tree. Brad didn't really want to cut down one, he wanted to pick a pre-cut tree...but he's sweet and knew that I wanted to cut it down like my family always does, so out we went to cut one down. He actually really enjoyed it once we were out there, and we found a beautiful tree to take home with us. It was a lot of fun and a great memory :)

The tree took the place of Sadie's bench which she sits on to look out the window. Lately she has been a bit stir crazy because she can't look outside. So Brad lets her sit on his lap and look out. It's really funny!

I have been really struck this year by how unimportant all of this traditional Christmas stuff really is...I mean, I enjoy the tree and the presents and the music, but this year I have just been thinking a lot about the real story of Christmas, and how amazing it is that God sent His Son, Jesus, to earth for us. All the other stuff is just frills...so my prayer this Christmas is that I would keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, and remember that He really IS the reason we celebrate.

Merry Christmas!

Visit with the Macfadyens

Last weekend I was so excited to have my family come and stay, even if it was for just one short night. They arrived on Friday night at about 10pm and had to leave by 7pm on Saturday, and the time just flew by as it always does when we're together. It was so nice to see them again though and to get to celebrate Dad's birthday. I think the family picture is the first one since our weddings of all of us together! We always forget to take one. But this time we remembered and it only took about 20 minutes to get a good one!

Dad with the cake Jo made him.

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters...

The Macfadyen/Hunt/Bolton Clan!

A Night Out

Wednesday evening seemed like it was going to be perfect weather for a trip with friends out to a local church to do some "Trunk or Treating"...at least, we hoped it wasn't like last year when we froze our toes off! In all fairness, it was much nicer this year, even though it did rain towards the end of the night. At least it wasn't frigid!

We had a lovely time with our friends Josh and Tamara and their three adorable girls. After dinner, we all sat around watching Josh get his make-up on for the evening...it was so funny, Josh and Tamara both wore shirts that said "CEILING" on them, and they had pom poms and went around cheering, "Yay, ceilings!"...get it? They were CEILING FANS! I think the best part was when people totally didn't get it and they would just give them this really funny look!

Emma, Josie and Addie had some great costumes. Emma was a cowgirl, Josie was a rooster (although every time someone asked her what she was, she shouted "cock-a-doodle-doo" which was really funny) and Addie was a goldfish.

Good times were had by all...and when we got home, we got to dip into the candy stash! A perfect way to end the night :)

Josh getting his face done...he scared a few children!

I realized that this is the first picture I had ever taken of me and Tamara together! That's crazy!

Josie was pretty worn out by the time we got back.

Brad and I right before we got to enjoy some hot chocolate and donuts...look how happy we are!

Addie

Happy Birthday, Emma!

I can't believe it has been a year since Emma was born! Today our little niece is celebrating her first birthday. We are looking forward to going to a birthday party for her on Saturday. It seems like just yesterday that she was so teeny tiny, and now she is crawling everywhere and exploring everything in sight! It was hard to get some updated pictures of her because she is so quick! But the last two pictures are from the other night when my sister-in-law Amanda brought her over for a little visit. What a cutie!

Okay, did anyone see the sky last night? It was amazing! I looked out the front window and my jaw dropped. I went outside and saw the pink/blue colored sky, and started taking pictures. Then I turned around, and behind me the sky was orange! It was incredible!












This verse just kept running through my head:
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1

On another note altogether...I was getting the pictures off my camera last night and found these funny ones that I took a few days ago. Brad was taking Sadie out to his parents because we were having the youth group over to our house and she would have just barked the whole time. So I helped Brad load her in the car, and as he pulled out, she just looked at me out the front window, and looked so forlorn (well, she is a basset hound, so she always looks pretty sad!)

Beauty Everywhere

After living in Colorado for a year (a while ago), I must admit that I have become a little bit of a scenery snob. I often think that unless there are towering mountains with beautiful rivers running through valleys surrounded by snowcapped peaks, it is not truly beautiful. Obviously, this is crazy, and there is beauty throughout all of God's creation...I sometimes just fail to see it.

The other morning, I arrived at work at about 8:20am. As I turned down the street that the church was on, all I could see was fog! It was weird because it hadn't been foggy at all the rest of the way to work. When I got out of the truck, I turned to close the door, and across the parking lot I saw the most beautiful scene...the sun was shining through the trees and because of the fog it was just amazing. Fortunately, I had the new church camera with me, and was able to snap a few pictures. It does not do it justice though, and I can't seem to quite put it into words.

Flavor Fruit Farms

I look forward to this time of year so much! As soon as the end of summer draws near, I start checking the trees (to see if the leaves are changing) and sniffing the air (to see if I can smell Fall yet). Now, this is a hotly debated issue - does Fall have a smell? I welcome your input on this controversial subject! Also, I had to change my layout to reflect this fabulous season!

Well, as soon as I smell Fall (which I did!), I anxious await our first trip to Flavor Fruit Farms and any other Harvest type things. I love the colors, and the crisp air, and the donuts and cider...I just love it! Last weekend, we were finally able to make our trip with our good friends, the Greens. We love to go and eat tons of sugary donuts and drink fresh cider...it's the best!

An added bonus this year was that I got to see an ELEPHANT! I'm not sure why exactly, but I think elephants are so cool! We pulled up, and saw that there were elephant rides, and the three girls and I gasped SO loud! It was really funny. But it cost $5 a person to ride and mostly kids were going on, so I just watched for a while.

Such a fun day!

Chad and Rachel and their girls (Faith, Grace, and Hope)

This is one of the only pictures of me with my eyes OPEN! I kept squinting too much!

I'll have to work on that for future pictures :)

Visit from Dad and a House Full of Doggies!

This week has been quite an adventure! Dad came to visit on Wednesday as he was passing through on his way to Chicago for business. Jo and Ryan came over as well and we had pizza and hung out for a while. Dad ended up stopping by again today (Friday) for lunch since he forgot something important - Mom's birthday presents! Can't go home without those! It was so nice to see him, even if it was a short visit. Here is a picture of him doing what he does best...making tea!



The other part of the adventure this week is that we are dog sitting. For the next week, in addition to our dog, Sadie, we will have Dakota (Brad's parent's dog) and Sam (Brad's brother's dog). We are happy to have them stay with us and Sadie is so excited to have some buddies over for a week-long party! The first night was kind of rough but last night was much better as we are getting used to each other and figuring out a routine. We also figured out that our dog is actually the little stinker of the bunch...she is such an instigator and gets the other two all riled up! She is also acting like a spoiled little child - heaven forbid that Brad or I actually pet another dog! Oh no, she won't have that at all! It's pretty funny though.

This is Dakota...I don't think she is as sad as she looks here! At least, I hope not! Last time she came to stay, she whined a lot after Brad's parents left, and stood at the door for hours. This time she barely whined at all and has seemed to enjoy being with the other two.

This is Sam. He is a beagle and he is such a sweet little dude! Last night he was sitting on his pillow looking so forlorn, and he kept looking at me with these eyes as though he were saying, "Why do I have to stay here? Why won't they come back for me?" It was so sad! But then I talked to him and played with him and he was fine. His bark is hilarious...I might try to get it on video because it really sounds like someone is trying to kill him!

And here, of course, is her majesty, Sadie. She's having a blast with her friends!

Our next door neighbors have two beagles of their own, so when people walk by our houses now they get an ear full and probably wonder if there is a pack of wild dogs or something nearby!

I hope we will all survive the week!

Celebrating an Anniversary and a Birthday

On Tuesday Brad and I celebrated our third anniversary :) It is sometimes hard to believe it has already been three years...but at other times, it's like, "Wow, it's only been three years? It feels like much longer!" In a good way, of course! I am so blessed to have Brad as my husband and I can't imagine life without him.

We didn't really have any big plans for this anniversary, but we did eat frozen pizza and then go jogging! Sounds very romantic, doesn't it? We followed jogging up with an enormous bowl of ice cream at a new ice cream place in town. I'm pretty sure we undid any of the good effects of jogging, but what can you do? The best part was that I had a gift card, so we only had to pay 82 cents! We sat outside and ate it and it was lovely.

Something that meant a lot to me on our anniversary was that Brad got me a very thoughtful gift. We had been shopping at Kohls a couple of times in the last few months and there was this jacket that I really liked, but it was pretty expensive so I never wanted to buy it. Well, when I got home, it was hanging on my closet door! I think the best part about it was that it showed that he was paying attention and knew what I liked. That meant a lot to me and made me tear up a little. Here's a picture of the jacket:

September 18th is not just a special day because it's our anniversary, but it is also our doggie's birthday! Sadie turned four on Tuesday and so we had to get her a little gift to celebrate. It was so funny, she didn't know what to do with it at first, so she just carried it around from one end of the house to the other. Once she figured out it was an edible treat, though, it was all over! That treat didn't stand a chance!

Fun Times with the Ladies

Last Saturday was a fun day as our church hosted a "ladies day" which included a guest speaker, lots of fellowship, fantastic food, and a funny little skit featuring yours truly. I was kind of nervous about it but it turned out very funny. Basically, I was sitting at a table and another lady from the church, Marilyn, was seated behind me. She put her arms out like they were my arms... you've seen that before, I'm sure. The funny part was that she was doing my make-up while another lady, Joan, was doing a running dialog saying what I was thinking and doing. It turned out so funny because Marilyn couldn't tell where my eyes were so she had to keep feeling my face before putting on the make-up, and I was laughing so hard I was crying (which also didn't make the make-up part so easy!) Marilyn was so afraid she was going to poke my eyes out, but she did a great job and it was a lot of fun. You should have seen my face at the end of the skit!

Random Pictures!

I have some new pictures to post from last weekend of my very fun "Girls Scrapbooking Weekend," but I am just waiting to get a couple of pictures from a friend. So I thought I would still update the blog with some random pictures of my family from a long time ago!

My mom is going to be so excited that I posted this picture! Check out those glasses - I hope they never make a comeback, that's for sure!

This is me and Joanna - I just want to squish her cheeks!

This picture makes it look like we actually got along when we were little. Quite misleading. But even though she may have driven me a little bit crazy sometimes, I can't imagine life without my little sis.

Ah, yes, the track suits. We loved things that matched!

Pictures from the weekend...

Here are some pictures from the party and the weekend...

Notice my new Kurt Busch shirt...Brad got it for me at qualifying on Friday :)

Our good friends...Stan and Sue, Curt and Kristy, Chad and Rachel, and us

Stan was quite stressed out when he saw the questions on the "Expert" quiz he had to take at the party. I think he was wishing he had studied more...!

Yes, that is a big Miller Lite pillow that is the shape of a beer can. I can't tell you how happy I am to have that in my house (special thanks to Rachel G. for giving Brad that gift!) For the past three nights, Brad has fallen asleep hugging it. I wish I was kidding.

The weather for the week was not looking good! Brad and the guys were so happy they were finally able to run the race.

And last, but definitely not least...the jacket. Ah yes, it is a thing of beauty. After we left the party, the guys were going to Meijer to buy food for the race, and Brad was taking off his jacket. I asked him if he was too embarassed to wear it around Meijer. His response: "I just don't want anyone to try to steal it."

Stay tuned...

We just finished a very good but very long weekend! Our friends Stan and Sue came to stay for the weekend, and the plan was for Stan to go to the Nascar race with Brad and Curt and Chad. Sue and I were planning on having some girl time while they were out. The older I get, the more I realize that things NEVER turn out how you plan! Sadly, it rained all weekend, and the boys spent a lot of time driving to and from the track but no time watching cars race. They finally got to run the race today (YEY! Kurt Busch, Brad's favorite driver, won! He is going to be in a very good mood when he gets home!) The sad part is that Sue and Stan had to go home yesterday so Stan didn't get to see the race, which was a real bummer, but at least they found someone to buy his ticket. Hopefully next year will work out a little better. We were still glad they could come and stay with us - it was fun to catch up and at least Sue and I got to go shopping a couple of times!

On Saturday we went to a Nascar-themed party so we all dressed up in our Nascar apparel (obviously, some of us own a lot more than others of us!). Brad finally got to wear his Rusty Wallace coat...usually I only let him get it out of the closet when we need a good laugh! We had a blast at the party but I was pretty dismayed to find out how much I know about Nascar when we took a quiz about it...way more than I ever wanted to know! I guess you can learn things while you are sleeping!

I will post some pictures tomorrow from the weekend...you really have to see the jacket to believe it!

Itty bitty kitties!

I just had to post these super cute pictures of the new kitten my mom, dad and sister recently brought home. The ginger one is a boy named Luke and the black and white one is a girl named Stella. Sadly, I have not been able to go and see them yet, but I am looking forward to it and hoping they will still be little when I finally get to meet them! I have decided something though after looking at these pictures. If Brad and I ever decide to get a kitten...we're getting two!