Twas the Day Before Christmas...

Twas the Day before Christmas

And I've slacked on my blog

So I'm posting pictures from the season

And one of my dog.

I had never been to the Christmas Eve Barn Service until Chris and I got married. That is one of the traditions he has brought into the marriage and it has turned out to be my FAVORITE one. I love the service. There is one at 4:00 and one at 10:00. Growing up, Chris and his family always went to the 10:00 service so that is what we do. People gather in Vernon's barn and there is a live nativity. Chris' Dad usually plays a Wiseman. There is a message and singing, all serving as a reminder to the true meaning of Christmas. They have hay bales to sit on but we usually end up standing (because of the huge crowd and to keep warmer too.). I love this barn. I love this service. I can't wait until tonight. After the service, Chris and I will come home and have some hot chocolate to warm up and some wine and open our presents to each other. In the morning, we will go to my mom's, then Chris' Dads and this year we are very excited to spend Christmas evening with Chris' mom.

This year is Kailey's second Christmas. Sometime last year, my friend Carrie Courtney told me about a tradition that her aunt did for her and her brother. Her aunt would buy her an ornament each year to symbolize something that took place in their lives that year. If Carrie took a trip to New York, her aunt would get her an ornament of the Empire State Building or a NY Cab or something like that. I loved the idea and started doing it with my neice Kailey. Last year I got her a little pig on a present (because it was her first Christmas and she was such a chunky thing). Man, I love BABY CHUBBY ROLLS!

This year, Maranda and I were looking at ornaments and when Maranda pointed out this one, we knew it was the one. It is a Cheerios ornament to symbolize learning to eat REAL food and she has little Cheerios snacks packed in that diaper bag at all times.

I can't wait for years to come to see how she grows and changes and what kind of personality she will have and who she will become. I wonder sometimes what kind of ornaments will I be buying for her. Will she be into soccer, basketball, princesses, Disney? Hmmm...

Here is the Jolly Old Man himself making an appearance in the Rural Retreat Christmas parade. Man that was a cold parade!

And here I am with my girls at the Bank's Christmas party at Holston Hills Country Club.

And as promised, a picture of Brady. He is hanging in there. He's a fighter. He isn't himself but he doesn't seem to be in pain and is very cuddly these days. We are so thankful to have him here for Christmas and I'm pretty sure he has more presents under the tree than anyone.

A simple Christmas treat for you.

Ingredients:

Square pretzels. I found these at Wal-Mart and they are made by Snyder's. I think they are called Snaps. I am sure you can use mini pretzels if you can't find these though.

Wilton Candy Melts. These are in the cake decorating section at Wal-Mart. They have milk chocolate and white chocolate.

Red and Green M&M's.

Place a layer of pretzels on a cookie sheet and top each one with a Wilton Candy Melt. Place in the oven on 325 for 5 minutes. (just enough to soften the candy melts) Remove them from the oven and while the candy is still soft, place an M&M on each.

I have the best Mom!

I came home to the most wonderful surprise yesterday. Mom had stoppped by the house and left an advent calendar on my kitchen table. I have been wanting one for a long time and she made a special trip to the house to make sure it arrived on December 1st. It is complete with surprises every day except the 15th but she left strict orders for Chris to add something for that day. I can't wait to see what is behind each door but I promised not to peek. I have the best Mommy! I love you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I got up at 7:00 and made sausage balls, 2 potato casseroles, 1 broccoli casserole and corn flake candies. I had help in the kitchen from sweet Brady. He was quick to clean up any food I dropped on the floor.

This year, I am thankful for a wonderful husband who is supportive and funny and genuine. Of course, I am thankful that Brady is still with us. We don't know how long we will be blessed with him but we are grateful every day that we have with him. We have strived to give him the best life we possibly can and I hope we've achieved that. I'm thankful for my family and friends and the relationships we have built and continue to work on. I am thankful that Chris and I still have jobs at this time when so many people have lost theirs. I'm thankful we have the money to pay our bills, have food on the table and a roof over our heads.

I know this is a sad time for so many people who don't have enough to eat and who are missing family members at this time of year more than any other time throughout the year. My grandfather on my mom's side died on Thanksgiving day many years ago but I think about him so often and especially on today. We was the best grandpa. Seriously, the best.

Sharon, I hate that you aren't here to celebrate with us this year but I'm glad you are celebrating with Mike and the kids. Good luck with that turkey. I'll eat an extra piece of mom's chocolate pie for you.

Britney, I'm sorry that you are spending Thanksgiving in the hospital. I hope you are better real soon and that your mom makes you an extra big dish of yams. :)

Sarah, I hope you are enjoying Thanksgiving in your new home. I'm so proud of you. I can't wait to come up and see your new pad.

Doris, Thank you for understanding how busy it is for me and Chris on the holidays. I hope you and Sidney have a great day together and we look forward to seeing you all this weekend.

Now, I'm off to mom's for dinner. Two years ago on Thanksgiving is when Levi and Maranda told us they were pregnant with Kailey. I'm off to play with her. What a doll she is.

Love you all,

Heidi

I'm fully aware...

that every update for two weeks has been about Brady. I'm sorry but that is all that is on my mind right now. We didn't get good news today. The cultures for infection came back negative. We were hoping Brady had an infection that could be treated with antibiotics. We are still waiting on the lymphoma tests but we probably won't get them until Friday.

Brady...

Chris is taking Brady back to the vet this afternoon. We talked with Seth on Saturday and it looks like based on the preliminary testing Seth will continue the antibiotic and try to taper off the prednisone. That is good news but Seth said he wouldn't rule out lymphoma until all the testing is done. We are taking it one day at a time and consider every day we have with him a blessing. Thank you for all the phone calls, e-mails, text messages, and blog comments.

Brady baby...

Yesterday when Chris went home for lunch, Brady met him at the door. It made Chris so happy. Last night we were able to get him to eat a couple of chocolate chip vitamins that he has, he drank a little bit of chicken broth. We were also able to get him to eat a couple of bites of salmon and about 1/4 of a grilled chicken breast. We were so happy to see him eating a little bit. We are still awaiting test results. Hopefully we will get them tomorrow or Friday. Please keep our dog in your prayers. We love him so much.

Brady...

Dr. Taylor (Seth) opened Brady up yesterday and took some biopsies and cultures. He is sending them off. Seth suspects lymphoma or a really bad infection in the lymph nodes. We should have results back on Thursday. Please pray for our dog.

Update on Brady.

If you have been reading my blog you know Brady is having a hard time right now. After Chris took him to the vet last Saturday, he did great Sunday-Wednesday. He started going down hill Thursday and Saturday and Sunday were awful for him. Chris has him back at the vet this morning because he is not doing well at all. His lymphnodes are swollen and he is very sick to his stomach. Dr. Taylor is keeping him a couple of hours to do some tests and to observe him. I will update you when I know more.

Update on Brady.

Thank you for all the calls and e-mails about Brady. He is feeling much better. We have to be very careful of what he eats and we've had to add yogurt to his diet. It seems to be doing the trick. We are keeping a very close eye on him and hope he gets better soon.

Poor puppy. :(

Please take the time to say a quick prayer for our sweet baby, Brady. Chris and I have been noticing for about a week that Brady isn't acting right and doesn't feel right. He hasn't been eating and he has been feeling bad. Chris took him to the vet today and the poor little guy is very, very sick. He has developed liver disease. We have been so upset all day. Dr. Taylor thinks that we can control the symptoms with diet and medication and we have to take him back in three weeks to do more blood work. We are both very worried about him.

Organization!

You may not know the name Ali Edwards unless you are a scrapbooker. She is a scrapbook celebrity. Did you even know there were scrapbook celebrities? :) After reading her blog I was inspired to create my Christmas journal. The purpose for doing this to put your album together early so that during the hustle and bustle of Christmas you only have to do a page per day. By Christmas day, your Christmas album should be done. The album has a page for each day of December leading up to Christmas day. Get inspired. Instant album: just add photos and journaling.

Welcome!

Please give a warm welcomes to my newest blog reader, Aunt Angela!

Ha Ha at the corgi-gated cardboard comment.

Love you!

Keep reading.

Please VOTE!

I was number 128 to vote in Rural Retreat today. Me, Levi, and Maranda waited in line about 20 minutes. Exercise your right to vote. It's our responsibility as Americans. :)

Carving punkins with a sweet little punkin.

Last Sunday we had Maranda, Levi, Kailey, Mom and Dad over to carve pumpkins. What fun and what a mess!

Kailey was so good. She helped scoop the goop out of the pumpkins and then she made her own "design" with her little pumpkin and markers.

Chris had to show us all up by bringing out the power tools to carve his VT pumpkin. Show off!

But then he came around to our way of thinking and used the $1 tool from Wal-Mart to do the intricate work. I use the term intricate loosely as it took up about an hour for me and Maranda to carve ours and Chris spent about 10 minutes on his. And that is including the cleaning out of the pumpkin. But it turned out great, I must say.

And here's my masterpiece. I hope you all had a great Halloween and are ready to start the hustle and bustle of the HOLIDAY SEASON.

Halloween 2008

I know what you are thinking. Poor little dog. But you are so wrong. This dog LOVES to dress up and I'm not kidding. I think he loves the attention he gets when he has on clothes. Brady was the cutest little hot dog this year. I could just eat him up. Of course, I could eat him up when he doesn't have on a costume.
I had to get a picture of Jill's girls. They were so cute. Madison was rodeo clown and Emily was a cowgirl. They went to at Wild West Fest at church but Jill and Justin brought them by here first. So sweet!

And here is Brady after one too many treats. I think he's glad Halloween is over!