Warm House, Great Friends

:::tap, tap, tap::: Anybody still there? I know I've neglected this blog for over a month. I may be speaking only to myself now. I'm going to try to update and keep it updated. A lot has happened in the last month.

One of the most FUN things that happened was our Housewarming! Our wonderful friend, Ashley....

and her sweet husband, Josh...

asked if they could throw us a housewarming party! How could we say no? We had SUCH a wonderful time and were blown away by the terrific party Ashley and Josh put together for us.

Ashley had some great special touches...she had come here to our blog and downloaded a bunch of pictures of us building the house and from our first few months in the house. She mounted these on little standing "frames" and put them all around. She also gave me the great cookbook stand in the back holding the housewarming party invitation. Ashley has a beautiful cookbook stand in her house and I always comment on it.

Because Ashley is a fellow scrapbooker (and that is actually how we met some 5? 6? years ago), she made this great scrapbook page for all the guests to sign and leave notes of good wishes and house blessings. When the party was over, she popped it into a frame. Steve couldn't wait to hang it up and it is in a spot where everyone can see it when they come into our home.

She also cross stitched this bread basket cloth and a tea towel with our name and the year of our marriage. All this in addition to the food. OH, the food! My, oh, my! Delicious beyond all delicious-ness!

There was a yummy pasta salad, an antipasto tray, hummus and artichoke dip for the bruschetta.

And tulips! She bought my favorite flower to decorate the tables! Lovely white tulips that she mixed with sliced lemons in the vases for the neatest looking arrangements! How clever!

My mother-in-law made chicken salad sandwiches and at the last minute decided to just "whip up" a small batch of jambalaya. LOL! It was delicious, though, and it is for sure that between Faye and Ashley, NO ONE left hungry! If they did, it was their own fault!

I felt helpless, so I asked Ashley if I could make something - dessert perhaps. She acquiesced. I think to hush me up. So I made some mini cream puffs, little brownie cups, and a lemon blueberry trifle. Joy and Jenna are discussing whether the cream puffs or the brownie bites are healthier. Joy picked the brownies since they had fruit on top. A good choice, Joy!

Although the lemon berry trifle was pretty good, too! Not that the cream puffs had to be thrown out or anything, mind you.

Here's Paige and Morgan. The FRIENDS were just as wonderful as the food at my party!



And family is pretty wonderful, too. Here's Joshua and his adorable girlfriend, Isabelle.

And not only did we have great food and great company, we even got PRESENTS! That was just the cherry on top. But the best gift was just gathering together with all our friends and relatives and neighbors. Love is always the best gift of all!

Thank you, Ashley, for showing your love for us in such a wonderful way! You and Josh are such a blessing to us and we are so grateful for your friendship! Thanks for the party!

(And they even cleaned up afterwards!)

What is it about BOXES?

Kids and cats just love them! My kids are now too old to want to play in the boxes, but my cats are very glad I get regular shipments for them to play in. And they think the crinkly paper and packing peanuts are pretty cool, too.




Is it just me or is Stewart smiling in his box?

How Old is the Groom?

No, we're not marrying Morgan off at 12. She has been bugging me to try on my wedding dress for a while now. She thinks she'd be interested in using the dress for her wedding, but she says, "These sleeves have GOT to go!"




Kallie will help with the train!




If you want to use that dress, Morgan, you best not grow much. It almost fits! I can't believe I weighed only 88# when I got married! I'll never see THAT weight again!

Happy Valentine's Day, Punkin!

A few weeks ago, we received a call from a lady who owned Morgan's horse, Punkin, when she was a young girl.




She wanted to come and visit. She owned Punkin when she was a 2-year-old horse and helped train her. Her family sold Punkin when she went away to college and she hadn't seen her since.




She came from Alabama to see her old Punkin. There were a few tears and lots of smiles.

After visiting with them at the barn, we all went to eat sushi. It was a great visit. Morgan enjoyed meeting her and hearing about Punkin's youth. I hope she visits again soon!

On Their Way to Mardi Gras

The Budweiser Clydesdales stopped in our small town on their way to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. This was a big event, being listed in our little newspaper and everything. So my mother-in-law came to get the girls for them to see.

When we arrived, the line to have a picture with the horses was wrapped around the parking lot. Hmm...we thought NOT. We just snapped a picture from across the crowd, marveled at the beauty and size of the horses, and promptly left. We get to pet horses every day. The girls did not want to stand in that line just to pat them and for me to get their photo.

Still, a neat thing. We're not beer fans, but we are horse fans. And a Clydesdale is a LOT of horse!

Brooke + Horse Show + No Mother Present =

The First Sunburn of the Year.

This is What We Think of the Groundhog....

....and his six more weeks of winter.