Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

(and I think this will pretty much get me caught back up with my blogging!!)

This years trip to visit Santa went a LOT more smoothly than last years trip (see below photo from 2010)!


Ethan was very excited this year when he saw that Santa was sporting a Cowboy hat, boots, and spurs. He was pretty much sold on the idea of confiding in this Santa that he wanted a horse and a rope for Christmas!!


Our Christmas Holidays were spread over days and weeks this year, but we were still able to spend time with family and enjoy!

The most exciting thing for us this Christmas was being able to give this gift to our families!!

We are VERY excited that we will be adding to our family and expecting E2 July 30th!

We spent Christmas Eve morning with the Erwins at Zack's Dad's house in Comanche. Ethan was very excited that the biggest gift under the tree was his (Thanks to Aunt Marcy & Uncle Clay)!!


He also enjoyed showing Addison how to play with her new toys.


Christmas Eve we headed back to Granbury so that we could make sure that we were home to leave cookies and milk for Santa by the fireplace, and wake up Christmas morning to find lots of goodies left by Santa!!


After we opened gifts at our house we headed to my Grandma's house for Christmas with my extended family. There are LOTS of us and luckily we are still (for the most part) all able to get together for Christmas.
My Mom is the oldest of 7 kids
(Grandma with her kids and their spouses)


I am the oldest grandchild of 20
(Grandma with most of the grandchildren and spouses)


Ethan is one of 12 Great-grandchildren
(Grandma with 11 of the 12)


So include spouses and girlfriend/boyfriends and there are (give or take) 53 people that gather at my Grandma's house for Christmas.

My Mom, Dad, my brother Jared & his fiancee Lauren, and Grandma came to Granbury on New Year's Eve and we celebrated both Christmas and New Years!


Jared has been working overseas in Africa and because of his work schedule wasn't able to get state-side till Dec. 28th. We were very happy to have everyone at the house and it was great to see Uncle Jared!! Ethan was of course excited that he got to open more Christmas presents!!


New Years Day we made our annual trek down to Gruene Hall for the Hair of the Dog Day Show with Walt Wilkins and the Mystiqueros.

It was another awesome show and a great way to start off 2012!

We had such a blessed Christmas season and we are really looking forward to what 2012 has to bring!!

Give Thanks!

November 2011

The entire month of November was crazy busy.
We literally had something or somewhere to be evey single weekend, but we give thanks for each of these amazing opportunities and loved every minute!!

11.3.11-11.6.11
Puerto Morales, Mexico

Zack and I got to get away for a few days and went to Mexico to enjoy a little rest and relaxation!! We soaked up some sun and enjoyed some poolside cocktails and great food. We also spent some time shopping in Playa Del Carmen and enjoyed a day being pampered at the spa! We definitely gave thanks for the opportunity for the two of us to spend some "adult" time together and appreciate my mom staying with Ethan while we were gone.

11.13.11
Rock N Roll San Antonio Half Marathon

I ran my 6th Half Marathon in San Antonio on Nov. 13th in the Rock N Roll Series. This is a picture of some of the amazing women that I've been blessed to enjoy numerous miles with!!



I was also very thankful to have a great spectator group for this race. Ethan, my Mom, Dad, and Grandma all came out to cheer me on, and their smiling faces were a joy to see at the finish line!

11.18.11-11.20.11
Lubbock, Texas

This was a fun weekend packed with many events for which we are thankful!
Our dear friends Ty & Ashley Hamm are expecting their first baby and we were very excited to be able to attend their "Reveal" party, where they and all of the guest found out that their new babies is going to be a GIRL!



Clay and Marcy hosted our Erwin Thanksgiving this weekend and we enjoyed a wonderful meal and our tradition of each sharing what we are thankful for. We give many thanks for our newest Erwin and her first Thanksgiving with us!!



On Sunday we gave thanks and celebrated Addison's baptism. We were so happy to be apart of this special day and look forward to sharing God's love with this precious little one!

11.24.11 - 11.27.11
"Greater San Antonio Area"

The Thanksgiving weekends was spent in the "Greater San Antonio" area with my family. We shared Thanksgiving day at my Uncle Ralph and Aunt Kim's in Spring Branch. The house was FULL of all my aunt, uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins, family friends, and pets!
Ethan loved playing with all of his "cousins" (my cousin's kids) and they ran and played like wild Indians for most of the afternoon. We finally got them to come inside and calm down to watch a movie on Aunt Kim's big bed.



While the kids were occupied watching the movie and most of the guys were busy watching the last A&M vs Texas game, my mom, aunts, cousins, and myself were strategically planning our Black Friday shopping spree!!



We don't take this lightly!! Mom and I headed out at 10pm on Thursday night and wrapped it up at about 6am Friday morning. What can I say it's a tradition!!

I GIVE THANKS for all of this and MORE!!!