Christmas in Georgia

As I've said many, many times before, I love this time of year! I so so so love time spent with family and friends. I truly believe that they are the true treasures of life. Christmas this year was spent with both the Hunters and the Hayes'. Around the Holidays, it's always a struggle to decide where we are going to spend what Holiday. One of the wonderful things about our families living in two different states! This year, we compromised. The first part of our Christmas break was spent with my family. My grandparents drove up from Florida, and we got to spend some really great quality time with them. The day after Christmas, the Hunters drove in. Overall, lots of laughs, fun, and memories! Here are some pictures- backwards of course because I still don't know how to upload correctly...

The Family

The Hunters trip to Georgia

Christmas Day at the Hayes'. Gram made everyone PJ's :)
Christmas Day at Mom and Dad's

Christmas morning. It wouldn't be a stocking without Jelly Bellies!

The week before Christmas, Branden had his annual tacky Christmas party. It was... fun, to say the least. I will officially ALWAYS look forward to that party. He and Ashton were such great party planners! Everyone had a blast!!

Early tomorrow morning, Will and I leave for our ski trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico. Besides having to leave Bear for 5 days, we are super excited about ithe trip! I am praying that I make it back in one piece. Yes, I grew up in Buffalo and skied all of the time, but I haven't skied in years... about 6 to be exact. And even when I did ski, most of Jackie and I's "ski trips" were skipped to sneak onto the boy's varsity basketball bus (Jackie, I know you are laughing right now!). So, I hope the slopes are nice to me! We are going with 4 friends from Baylor- Jon, Alicia, Katie and Cullen. We can't wait! You will of course see pictures when I get back!

Happy New Year! Looking forward to another year of memories!

Thanksgiving

As most of you know, my husband is an avid hunter (literally!). This is a complete change in lifestyle for me. People just don’t hunt in New York like they do in the South!! Will’s love for hunting means that every Thanksgiving, we truck it to Louisiana. For Will, the week is spent hunting, cleaning deer, and doing other “manly” things. For me, it’s spent shopping, shopping, and shopping. We love Thanksgiving in Ruston —we get to spend a lot of quality time with his parents, brother, grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins… the whole gang! After being away from my family for 4 years while I was at Baylor, I know it is hard for Will to be away from his family like he is, so time spent with them is precious. I have inherited the most loving and welcoming family in Will. Everyone in his family is wonderful, and we are blessed.

The trip to Lousiana this year was wonderful. Although a 9 hour drive seems a bit draining, once we are there, it is all worth it. On the first morning in Ruston , will shot an 8-point! He was so excited. I… was not. Another deer shot means another deer on our game room wall. As I said before, I spent the week with the gals… Will’s mom, aunts, grandmother, and cousins. I was able to spend a lot of time with his grandmother, “Momma Sue”. She is one of the sweetest women I have ever met. She is one of those people that you just want to sit there and listen to. She lives so simply and is so in love with life. I love her dearly and feel blessed to have gotten to know her as well as I do. Here are some pictures from our trip!

Will drug me out ONE day to hunt... I think he got annoyed with my nonstop talking. What else is there to do in a deerstand for hours!?

Family picture. I had to... we matched too well!
Will's buck.
Will and his proud, proud father.

Out of order-- This is on the way to Ruston. The Hunter gals.

We got home from Louisiana at midnight on Saturday, just in time for my Birthday on Sunday! It was a very laid back, relaxing birthday. We slept in, unpacked, and spent the rest of the day putting up our Christmas tree and watching football. I love days like that. It was the perfect birthday spent with my perfect little husband (sorry that was cheesy :)). The weekend before Thanksgiving, Will, myself and 6 of our friends went out to celebrate. We had dinner at Cheesecake Factory and then went out for drinks. Love our Georgia friends :) :)

CHEERS TO ME!

Kelby, Ashton, Britt, and I

That about sums up the past couple of weeks! Looking forward to Christmas in Georgia and our New Mexico ski trip for New Years!!! :)