Only 3 More Weeks!!!

Alyssa and Sam will be getting married in just three more weeks! Things have been a little crazy, and we've all been running around trying to help as much as possible. I got my dress in today, and it's so pretty. Everything is pink...Alyssa's favorite color. It's going to be really pretty and soooo her.

The invitations went out a few weeks ago, but I haven't had time to post them. They turned out just perfect. This is going to be a fun weekend and will be here before we know it!

What a fun Christmas...

Wow, we're back from our Christmas travels! It gets kinda crazy. We did Christmas day with Lee's family this year...our first time... so we had to switch some things around. We went to the Coast to my grandparents' house with my aunt and her family on Friday night. We did Christmas Saturday and went to church together on Sunday. After gathering our things Sunday afternoon, we loaded up and went to Pontotoc. It poured down rain the entire way there, and we got to Lee's grandmother's house at 10:30 that night. We did gifts with all of them and got home at about 2am. We woke up Monday morning to a great breakfast with the whole family. After opening gifts with Lee's family, we went to Lee's other grandmother's house with the whole crew. It was really fun and lively! Lee got up the next morning to go hunting while I slept late! We left that afternoon, and I dropped Lee off in Louisville to go to Lake Forest Ranch for his yearly men's hunting trip and bible study. He loves it! My mom and Lia and Alyssa were here when I got back, so we spent some time together for a few days. My mom and Lia left yesterday afternoon. I mean, it has been crazy! It took me all afternoon and night until 3am to clean up our house. It was a wreck! Traveling around is always really crazy, but we are so lucky to be able to see all of our families. Lee and I decided right after we got married that we would make the sacrifices to make that work as long as it was possible. And we have a good time in the car together. It gives us time to talk and laugh and spend time together amongst all the madness.


One really fun thing that we started doing years ago was Christmas pajamas. My mom started this when I was in junior high or high school, but it was just our family. We would put our pajamas on and take lots of pictures all night long. Now that we're all spread out and meet up at my grandparent's house, we ALL do Christmas pajamas. It's really fun, but a lot of work. My poor mom starts looking for pajamas the day after Christmas for the next year. It's hard to find all the sizes for 15 people! We took over 100 pictures this year...I've only put a few of them in the album below. The funny thing is, we never do anything with them. We'll print off a few, but that's all. Maybe we just love to be in front of the camera!

Christmas 2006

Visiting The Pub

The night before we left to go out of town, my friend April had some of us over for appetizers and desserts. It was a fun little get together before we all went to The Pub to see the Delta Mountain Boys play. Tracy's husband plays in the band. This was our second time to go see them, so you could call us groupies!!! They're a really fun little bluegrass band that we love to cheer on.


April, Tracy, Kara, and me

Sweet Sally got married...

The weekend before Christmas break, Lee and I went to the Coast for Sally Hodges' wedding. Sally is my best friend Abe's little sister whom I've known almost my whole life - Abe's been my best friend since first grade. It was a sweet, sweet wedding. Their other brother, Stan, is Sally's twin, and he played a special part in the wedding. It was just really fun! The whole Hodges clan now lives in Marietta, Georgia, (except Stan - he's in Waco in seminary) so I miss them like crazy.

Lee said the reason for the look on Abe's face is because he knows I'm as crazy as Lee does! It's so great to have friends who go so far back that they really do know you...good or bad...and Abe could tell you both! We're both really lucky to have him as our friend.

Another really exciting thing - Abe has a girlfriend! Her name is Janice and she's so cute and super nice. Just really warm and friendly... I felt like I'd known her forever in a matter of minutes. To quote my friend Abe, "God is good!" Let's just keep this one around, Abe!

Look at Abe's face in this picture! He did that in one that he and I took, too. What's the deal?!

I realize I have no pictures with the bride. I don't know what I was thinking! Probably feeling sorry for her aching feet and sympathizing with her desire to spend some time with her new husband. Remember that girls?

Check these out...

How huge are these fish?! Every year before Thanksgiving, Lee and his dad go on a fishing trip to south Louisiana and stay at Boudreaux's Condeaux in Golden Meadow, Louisiana. Other men always go...a lot of family and close family friends. They have such a great time and always come back with some big fish, but these are enormous. I heard that Mr. Howard, Lee's dad, just let everyone hold all the fish he caught!
Uncle Jackie Hill, Mr. Paul Hall and Lee

Happy Birthday, Jenn!

Today is Jennifer Ray's birthday! Jenn, I hope you have a great day and that you get to do something really fun. Jennifer and her husband Brad are our great friends and are a part of our small group. Jennifer and I actually go way back...all the way to Girls' State. Same city and everything! Yes, we suffered through it together! Happy Birthday, Jennifer!

I've added music...

I've added music to the blog. Lia has it on her MySpace, so I copied her. If you hate it, scroll down to the bottom and turn it off!! You can also change the song and listen to what you like. Enjoy!

Kara's Fun Party

My friend Kara from my graduate school cohort had a Christmas party Saturday night and invited a few of us. There are 5 of us who have become really good friends, and we have so much fun together. This little group of people made going to class 2 nights a week this semester a lot easier. Wesley and his wife couldn't come because they had to do something at his school, but the rest of us were there. Kara was a wonderful hostess. Her house is sooo cute, and I got some cute ideas for Christmas decorations. I also left with a Mississippi magazine (thanks, Kara!). We are halfway finished!!! Only 4 or 5 class meeetings in the spring semester and then class every day for the month of June. It's exciting to see what the future holds for all of us! This is me, April, Kara, and Tracey. They are so fun!