Great gatherings!

This Christmas season has been full of so many wonderful gatherings of some of our favorite people! It has been such a blessing to spend time with family and many dear friends. This weekend, Leslie and Andrea came home for a visit. We had such a wonderful time with them! Friday evening, all the girls went out for dinner in Ft. Worth, which was great! Then, today, we all gathered again at Mom's for lunch and more visiting. This evening, we got the great joy of getting together with some of my best and longtime friends (along with hubbies and kiddos). We do this every year at Christmas and it's always so much fun!

 

Me, Doug, Andrea, Leslie and Allie

 

Megan, Me, Courtney (with Emi) and Jessica...we missed Erin and David so much! They had to get back to Houston today :(

 

Our hubbies...Jonathan, Richie, Doug and Jack

 

We talked to Erin on speaker phone since she and David had to miss the party!

More Christmas!!

Later on Christmas night, we gathered at my mom's house for gift exchanging, movie watching, eating, etc. It was another great Christmas gathering!

 
Brock enjoying a new toy!

 
Donna in the gift opening aftermath!

 
Allie and Ron

 
Uncle Doug and Brock building a castle

Back at our house...

After a wonderful time in Charlotte, we flew back home on Christmas morning to spend time with my family. First, we retreated to our house for a little bit to exchange gifts for the first time as marrieds!

 
Santa is ready to rip in!!

 
Pretty excited about my new nail buffing kit (Yes, one of the mall kiosk people totally suckered me in...so, my husband was sweet enough to go back and get the kit for me!)

 
Doug was way excited about his new Liverpool soccer jersey!

 
The whole "costume" or uniform as he calls it!

Christmas in Charlotte

We had such a wonderful time in Charlotte visiting Cheryl, Brian and the kiddos! We did LOTS of playing, eating, visiting and laughing! It was truly a sweet time with family!

 
Uncle Doug doubles as a boat!

 
Sweet Elea and Aunt Holly

 
My new sister, Cheryl

 
Precious nieces and nephews...TJ(8), Nathan(6), Corinne(4), Elea(18 mos.)

Christmas came early!!

We got to celebrate Christmas with Faye (Doug's mom) a little bit early!! Tomorrow, she'll be leaving for Charlotte, NC to be with Doug's sister Cheryl and her family. We will be joining her there soon, but rather than dragging lots of gifts there only to bring them back here again, we decided to exchange tonight! We had such a fun time!! We gathered at our house and opened presents, and then had hot chocolate and "treats" together. Faye is always so generous to us! She had already given us a BEAUTIFUL fireplace screen and that was SUPPOSED to be our gift! But, she blessed us with many other items ...way more than she needed to do, but so sweet!! We enjoyed surprising her with a few little things that she had been wishing for as well. It was a sweet time that we shared together with our Mum!

 
Doug's new Germany soccer jersey
 
Doug and Hots in front of our first tree!
 
Faye and Doug
 

More of Christmas with Faye

A new tea kettle...
 
 
Faye gave this beautiful "Holly and the Ivy" plate to me...I love it!
 
Yay...an "Easy" button!! What a life-saver!
 

Our home...
 
Mrs. and Mrs. Steffensrud
 
 
 

Nice to meet you....

This is a picture that was taken the very first time I met Brock. He was about 10 days old...
 

Brock is THREE!!!

I can hardly believe that my nephew, Brock , is now THREE YEARS OLD!! I remember the day he was born so vividly. I lived out of state at that time (in North Carolina), so I was not able to be here for his birth. I was, however, on the phone for most of the event and able to hear the play by play via Nana (my mom). Brock has been a precious addition to our family. He is such a sweet boy and so smart too! It has been a true delight to live closer to him now, and to watch him change and grow. He is learning so many new things! I am amazed each time we're together at the things he says and does! Brock is CRAZY about Thomas the Train, so of course, he had a Thomas party! Allie made a wonderful dinner and we all gathered at my mom's house for an evening of fun including watching the Birthday boy rip into his gifts, playing "Pin the nose on the clown" and Birthday cake!! As we all gathered around him to sing "Happy Birthday" last night, I could just feel the love that each person in our family has for this little boy! He is a Godsend to our family, and we are so blessed to have him!! Happy Birthday, Buster Boy!!
 
Uncle Doug LOVES "Pin the nose on the clown"!
 
What kind of crazy game is this?
 
Nana is such a party girl!
 

 
Thomas balloon...Brock's fave!
 
Our big boy!!
 
Brock and Nana blow out the candles together
 

Pop Culture

My dear friends, Jessica and Kristin (sisters), have started a new business called Pop Culture. They make custom lollipops for all occasions and arrange them in these PRECIOUS boquets. They do holidays, birthdays, baby, etc., etc., etc.! They are SO cute and very reasonable! I've also included a picture of Claire enjoying one of the reindeer pops...she says they are "Yummy!" Check out Pop Culture