merry christmas

another christmas has come and gone!! this was a unique christmas...my first without libs since i was 8 months old...but she survived christmas in mexico :). and i had plenty of reasons to keep from being sad about that! we kicked off christmas eve eve with a new tradition...christmas date night! we had cheap mexican and drove around looking at lights before the craziness began! it was so nice to have some "us" time before a family filled weekend...i hope that tradition sticks around!

on christmas eve we tied up some loose ends and spent some time with ricky's family before jim & pam bram arrived from the snowy midwest! they swapped a very white christmas for the slightly warmer climate down in georgia. bridget, their 6 pound yorkie, also made the journey...she and hunter provided plenty of entertainment! they're besties now...maybe not, but at least they don't mind being in the same room! we spent pretty much all of christmas day at the macdonald's...good thing ricky & i have parents that like each other! it was our first christmas as uncle rico & aunt angie, and it was such a joy to have kids around again at christmastime!

all in all, we had such a great time hanging out, watching football, outlet shopping (j.crew & pottery barn? yes please!), movie watching, and eating! there's nothing like family time! but i'm looking forward to an evening with ricky & the fat man, cheering on those dawgs! sorry mandy, but a&m is going down!!

santa's fave reindeer hopes you had a very merry christmas!

my sister is MARRIED!!

we are back home in georgia after a crazy, perfect, exhausting, wonderful 6 days in the great state of kansas!! such a blessing to celebrate libby and ruffin, see tons of family, and catch up with some of the best friends life could ever offer! libby was absolutely stunning. duh. and milldale farms was the perfect location, simply gorgeous! i don't know if it's all sunk in yet...my sister is a wife!...but i'm NOT okay with that being the last bramlett dance party!! we'll just have to come up with more excuses to celebrate!

here's a sneak peak of the beautiful bride! she's hott, right? and she's spending christmas in mexico! wishing her and ruffin a feliz navidad and a merry christmas to all of you!

christmas cheer!

the macdonald family christmas card:

http://tinyurl.com/yd96hpb

furnace update

we had the furnace repairman come out on saturday...good news is we didn't have to replace the whole thing! bad news was our warranty was up. by exactly one month and one day. isn't that how things seem to go?! but better to replace one part than the whole thing! so we are back up and running! of course it's been 75 and gorgeous here, so a working furnace might be a little more important in kansas where it snowed this week, but we're just glad to have a break from rain! even though i was super jealous about the snow!!

and friendgiving was a HUGE success! seriously the yummiest thanksgiving meal i've ever had. my friends can COOK! fried turkey, sweet potatoes with pecans, corn casserole, salad with maple balsamic vinaigrette, mashed potatoes, yeast rolls, green beans, pumpkin/cheesecake pie, autumn sangria...it was seriously amazing. and so fun to spend that time with good friends. and watch the dawgs win! hunter spent the entire next day sleeping because he was overserved fried turkey...nobody could resist making the fat kid happy!

friendgiving!

friendgiving is an arizona tradition that was too good to pass up, so we're hosting georgia's first annual friendgiving at our house tomorrow!! fried turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, football, and friends...the perfect saturday! and our living/dining room project that we've been working on since september will hopefully be complete by the time friends arrive tomorrow!!

we've got the wainscoting & chair rail up and caulked, with all the nail holes filled, and last night we primed all the wood and the first coat of paint on the walls, i can't wait to see the finished product! we were extra motivated last night, not only because of our deadline, but because it was freezing in our house so we wanted to be up and moving around! ricky tried all the tricks up his sleeve, but we've got a guy coming to check out our furnace tomorrow...i hope it's a quick, cheap fix...wishful thinking?? still worth it to be homeowners!