Happy Birthday

to me. Today has been a great birthday so far. In fact it was a great birthday weekend too. I got to have a night out with my girls on Friday, spent Saturday with my parents and James and James and I went out to a graduation party on Saturday night (Congrats Bekah!!). Then Sunday Erin and I baked more cookies than should be legally allowed and had our Christmas with Erin (love you!). James ventured out to the mall Sunday (brave boy!) and got some shopping done and Livi took a nap till her uncles showed up. The weekend was busy and filled with fun. Livi got her first Christmas present...I will post a picture of it later. A huge thanks to Gigi and Grandpa..she loves it so much. Here is a shot of her dressed to play with it....


Last night James, Alivia, Uncle Will and I made this beautiful gingerbread house. It was a hilarious experience...mainly because I didn't read the instructions (quite laughing Dad) and so the roof didn't dry and was constantly slipping off. We finally got the contractor (James) to rig up some supports and all is well.

Today has been a great birthday so far. We had April , Samual and Grace over to decorate sugar cookies then all went to lunch at Olive Garden with Leslie, Eden and Aksel. I think the server had a heart attack when she saw 2 high chairs, 3 booster seats and 3 normal chairs. But the kids did great and left the floor with no food on it. We really wanted to not be a headache for the server (especially since the 3 adults had all worked in food service before and know how hard it is when parents leave a table a mess). Tonight James is taking Alivia and I out to dinner. Should be a great evening.
I started doing my next favorite thing for Christmas...wrapping presents. Oh I love it. There are a ton under our tree already. I am putting all the gifts that we got for others under the tree and then we'll hand them out as we get closer to Christmas. Then the night before our Christmas we'll put out all the ones for our family. We will have Christmas with the Haughery's Thursday, our Christmas Saturday and then with my family on Monday. That is a lot of Christmas.

On a sad note...I was the saddest thing today. We were going out to lunch and saw a van broken down in the middle of the road. A man was trying to push it out of the way. Instead of helping him out people were rushing to pass him and cut him off. I just wished I could have helped in some way. When did we all stop thinking of others? When did we forget what Christmas is really about? Why is everyone so focused on themselves and so unawared of those around them? I pray I can teach Alivia to see others and care enough to help out. We are blessed with so much and there are so many that have so little. Don't forget to look around this year and be thankful for all you have.

Thanks to all the people who have sent Christmas cards. I have them all hanging in our doorway. Thanks to my aunts and uncles for the way to generous gifts...you all overwhelm me with your love and I am so thankful to be a part of this family! Thanks to Leslie and April (and the kids) for a great birthday morning. Thanks to all my girls for singing your hearts out the other night. I love you guys so much.