Oh, Christmas Tree...

Today was one of my most favorite days of the year-- the day that we pick out and decorate the Christmas tree! I loooove shopping for ornaments every year and then strategically placing them just right on the tree. This year, our tree was significantly bigger than the one we had last year, so it created a fun new challenge. And I realized that just as long as we keep getting bigger and bigger trees, I can continue to buy more and more ornaments!!

So we cranked up the Christmas tunes (my idea and my CDs of course) and got in the christmas spirit. All we were missing was some warm cookies and hot cocoa. But there is still plenty of time for that before Christmas.

Here are some photos of the three of us in action... hmmm someone seems to be below the acceptable level of Christmas cheer. Thought with those big ears he would be more elf-like. Will have to work on that.

After about an hour of decorating... voila! The finished product! Here are a few photos of our decorated living room and dining room.

I can admit that we are lacking a few items, like a tree skirt, tree topper, presents... but that just gives me a shopping goal for the holidays. Plus, my favorite shopping day (even more than Black Friday) is the day after Christmas when all the decorations are 50% off. I already decided I want to head to Kohl's first on that day, as I think they have the BEST price and selection of all the stores I've been to (which is saying a lot). They have the cutest set of place mats that I can't wait to get my hands on... at 50% off the retail price.

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays from a bunch of reindeer! (Yes, we went out in public with antlers on... we actually wore them all day on Black Friday starting at 6:00am at the mall. We like to spread Christmas cheer and what better way to do it than by wearing antlers on your head that jingle?!)

Happy Birthday, Cooper!

Our puppy turned 2 today. That means he's a teenager, in doggy years. Oh, how quickly they grow up! ;)
He loved all the treats we bought him at the nearby doggy boutique. He couldn't keep away from this one long enough for a photo...

We joined the library!

This morning we went to the San Antonio Public Library just after it opened and signed up for library cards! The central library is down town and is the largest of all the branches, but there are more than 10 other locations around the city, which is pretty convenient for returning books, etc. Each of us checked out 5 books. Bet you can't guess which stack belongs to which of us!!?



Book reviews to follow! The books are due back by December 2nd, and since we are such diligent blog posters (yes, that is a passive aggressive jab at the rest of you with blogs who pretty much suck at keeping them updated) we will get our book reviews posted promptly upon completion of reading our respective stacks.

Last Thursday we took of 1/2 day of work and drove down to South Padre to spend a long weekend at the coast and celebrate my parents' 25th wedding anniversary!!

We got there Thursday evening just in time for some BBQ chicken and babyback ribs, potato salad, and baked beans. Yum! Cooper also enjoyed nibbling on some baby back ribs.

My parents' condo is suffering from major plumbing leaks and water damage, so when we arrived we got to see the entire downstairs carpet pulled up, furniture shoved to one side of the room, sheetrock torn out of the walls and ceiling, and you could see all the way upstairs! The next day they had to pull up carpet in the master bedroom and tore up the master bath as well. Luckily, my old room was just fine so we had a place to stay. The owner of our condo development had agreed to let them stay for free in another condo on premise, which was very nice because it gave us a place to hang out and spend time, plus we were very excited to have cable for a few days!!

On Friday, the boys headed to Harlingen to play golf, while the girls ran errands (picking out carpet) and shopped in Brownsville. We met up in the afternoon at the condo and later that afternoon and evening my mom's sisters arrived.

On Saturday morning, Cooper did not seem to be too tired and woke us up at 5:45am needing to go out. Phil and I both woke up and walked him, and decided that since we were already up, we might as well head to the beach and watch the sunrise. It was a great decision because the sunrise was beautiful!


Saturday was the big day-- at 4:00pm, Captain Paul performed a beautiful vow renewal ceremony for my parents to celebrate 25 happy years of marriage. The ceremony included exchanging of traditional wedding vows and rings, plus a sand ceremony in which they poured sand from their individual jars into a 3rd jar symbolizing the combining of their individuality to become one unit. Very pretty ceremony (and I must say that the jar I selected was very stylish).


It was a lovely weekend and a great reason to celebrate. Congratulations to Mom & Dad for their 25th wedding anniverary. We hope you are able to happily celebrate many, many more years together. Love you!