Elfed

I stole this from RyAnn.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9635417075

YEAH FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

The joys of living in the Texas Panhandle

Anyone who has ever visited the Panhandle of Texas will probably tell you that we have crazy weather. Here is an example...Monday I think our high temperature was like 75. I think we even set a record. Tuesday again it was fairly warm. Wednesday a little cooler and very windy. Thursday very chilly. Friday I looked outside to see this...

I am thankful that my man can bake!!

We had Thanksgiving on Thursday with my family. We had a great time. My parents, brothers and grandma all came over to our house. Even though I spent the whole week cleaning and getting things ready it was worth it to have everyone together for the afternoon. Chris pitched in and learned my late Grandma Vivian's secret to the perfect pie crust.

Yes ladies, ALL of the crust were done totally and completely by my husband!! I was very impressed. I made the fillings. We had so much fun baking together. We made 2 pumpkin pies, a pecan and an apple. We also made green bean casserole and Chris made the mashed potatoes. Anyway, here are some more picture of use getting things ready.

Chris carving the turkey due to my dad's recent fear of cutting objects.

Andrew stealing a pickle.

Busy kitchen.

I always forget to take pictures throughout the day. I really should try to get better at that. I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving.

Why My Dad is No Longer Allowed to Use Power Tools

Sunday night I get a call from my dad. He said "Does Chris want a table saw?" I asked him if he got a new one and that is why he wanted to give his old one to Chris. To which he replied, "No, I almost cut my thumb off yesterday and I don't want to ever use it again." WHAT?? No one even called to tell me that they sat at the emergency room for 3 hours while they stitched my dad up!! He is doing ok but he did cut his thumb pretty bad. Lets just pray that we don't have a an incident like that with Chris once we get the table saw moved over here!!!

I know I owe you 2 more posts to complete my list for the week but, they are not ready yet. 5 out of 7 is not bad.

Allie's New Coat and Fall Photo Shoot

I found a really cute coat for Allie at Dillard's of all places. She loves it. Here are some other pictures of her that I have taken over the last few weeks.

I love my new leopard print coat!!

First hay ride.

Playing in the leaves.

Allie's "Blue Steel" Pose. (If you don't know what I am talking about, watch Zoolander)

Allie's "I am too good for you" pose.

Allie is sick of the paparazzi always following her around!!!

How Allie Almost Met Her Maker

Last week Chris and I decided we would try leaving Allie out of her crate while we were at work. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all went great. My parents came over Wednesday after work and Chris and I were bragging about how good she had been. She had not chewed on anything, gone to the bathroom anywhere or done anything that would get her in trouble, that is until Wednesday night. Monday and Tuesday nights some one was home after 5 to play with her until bedtime but Wednesday night when we went to church after only being home from work for an hour apparently made her mad. I forgot to take a before repair shot but you can see in this photo where Chris had to cut carpet out of one of the closets to patch the hole she dug while we were gone. She also scratched about 3 inches of paint off of the door way!!! I was in shock when I saw what she had done. Chris busted her and then put her in her crate and said she had to stay there all night. I started crying cause I did not think that was fair that she had to stay in there because we had been gone all day. Chris caved and let her come out to play until bedtime. Needless to say she has been back in her crate everyday since. Poor Allie!!

Chris' Life Changing Committment to God

Chris has been struggling for months with his career decisions and where his professional life was headed. As many of you know we have become very active in the youth group at our church. I have worked in youth ministry before and felt totally comfortable jumping in head first. Chris on the other hand was a different story. The first Wednesday night we were headed to help with Epicenter (Youth Meeting on Wednesday nights) Chris was literally sick to his stomach. He was so nervous about interacting with the kids he was a walking basket case. After that first Wednesday night you could not keep Chris away from those kids if you tried. He loves those kids and they love him. He was become really close with the youth minister, Brad Ingram, and Brad has really helped Chris grow in his walk. A couple of weeks ago Chris went to his small group, where him and Brad meet with several high school boys, and came back home with tears running down his face. He said that he felt like God had him on a leash trying to take him down a certain path and that he had been pulling and fighting to go another direction and he could not fight anymore. He knew that God was calling him to be a ....YOUTH MINISTER!! Every since that moment Chris has been a changed man. He is so at peace with his life and where God is leading him. You can tell that a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He has been meeting with Brad and they are reading through some books together and Chris is taking some Bible classes at the local junior college next semester. Until he feels he is ready he is going to try to stay at his current job but we are fully devoted to the journey the Lord has for our family. I will keep you posted on any changes but be looking for many more entries about our experiences with the youth at our church and be praying for Chris as he embarks on this new chapter of his life.

Date Night at the Balloon Festival

A couple of weeks ago Chris and I got to have a date night!! I am sure for those of you who have kids you are wondering why we don't have date night more often? I guess we do cause we always do things like go to dinner and go to the movies but we don't call those date nights. We reserve this phrase for a planned outing as a couple not just "Hey do you want to go to Chili's?" Does that make sense?? Anyway, we went to dinner at Carino's, which I love, and then we went to Amarillo's annual hot air balloon festival. The festival has only been in existence for a couple of years and this is the first year that it has really been worth going to. We went to the Balloon Glow which is where they fire up all of the balloon's right after the sun sets over the beautiful panhandle horizon. It was a little cold but we had a great time. Here are a few pictures.

My goal for the weekend...

is to get caught up on blogging!!!! UGH!!! I have been so mad at myself because I have so much to blog about but there are so many things that I have not had a chance to blog about that would provide background information to my new blogs!!! Anyway, blogs coming this weekend to a blog near you are:

1. Date Night at the Hot Air Balloon Festival
2. Chris' Life Changing Commitment to God
3. Allie's New Coat (along with about 800 pictures of the worlds cutest dog)
4. Why my dad is not allowed to use power tools anymore
5. Allie almost met her maker today
6. Date Night with 10th grade girls
7. Hallmark Holiday Open House - A Glimpse at my Psychotic Side

Plus many more. If I do not have all of this updated by the weekend you can all feel free to boycott my blog!!!

Halloween

Most people will post really cute pictures of their kids all dressed up for Halloween but not me, I post pictures of my husband!! Chris and his friend, Kale, dressed up as Double Dare contestants. I loved that show. Anyway, I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween.

Oh before I forget again, I wanted to let everyone know that if you want a blog header like mine, Kelly has set up a website for you to place an order. For a very reasonable price she will make your blog look amazing.