A Christmas Eve in Pictures

More about it later. Best Day EVER. Love my family and Ashley (our adoptee for Christmas) is adorable. I made a cheeseball for the first time this year and I had to wing it since I had only three of the ingredients. But it turned out great. I actually like my version better than any other I've had before. And despite an ear infection (Drew) and a trip to the Hospital to get it fixed, our day was relaxed and so much fun, full of laughter and love!

My Man

David is an amazing Husband and my best friend! I love him so much and have never been More proud. He joined the Honor Guard and today is his first detail(a funeral). He really loves being in the Honor Guard and it has it's benefits. They told him he doesn't have to work before or after his detail today. So we got to sleep in and he might be home early! I love a man in uniform!

Here are some pictures of the Black Drum that he caught last night. Did I mention lately how much I love winter here. Yesterday we played outside all morning in T-shirts. I even had to turn the a/c on. I am loving it! I don't miss snow in anyway. I'm totally okay with a green Christmas.

Brotherly Love

I did not pose them like this. They watched an entire episode of Dora like this. Actually Drew had his head on Tristan's shoulder but moved when I got the camera out. They are such good boys and they sure love each other.

Shopping, concerts and plain old fun!

We've been having so much fun this week. I love spending time with my family. They are seriously so much fun! We've gone Christmas shopping, ate out, played games, and on Thursday night David and I went to our very first Trans-Siberian Concert. It was amazing. I forgot the camera, of course, so I have no pictures. I loved every second of it. It was in New Orleans which is about an hour and a half from here, so we got a nice long eight hour date! Best night I've had in a long long time! The show was crazy, fun, and beyond anything I had imagined. We are hoping to make it a yearly tradition. The only downside to all of our fun is the boys have both gotten croup! I LOATHE croup. They get it every year and it is five days of fevers, hacking coughs and wheezy breathing. I have to sleep with the monitor turned way up so I can hear if their breathing gets too strained. Tristan woke up coughing so hard one night it was making him throw up. Poor kid. I feel so helpless at times like that. But he never lets it get him too down. He still smiles, cracks jokes and is his same old sweet loving self! He truly amazes me. I am a very lucky Mom!

Merry Christmas to Me!!

Today I found the first cockroach! Not technically in my house, it was in my screen door but still they have arrived. As my friend here said, I have been welcomed by the locals! Sad, sad day. I was so upset I cried a little. I can handle earwigs, kind of, but earwigs and cockroaches....I'm not so sure I'm up for that. Oh well. I have no choice. I will endure it. It's worth it. I am so madly in love with Biloxi now. I am getting to know the wonderful ladies in my neighborhood, my ward is amazing, and I find the most wonderful people every where I go. I love the weather. I adore fog and man does it ever get foggy here. My boys are making friends and David is finally getting the hang of things and is less stressed. All in all life is good.
Another happy thing is today we got reimbursed some of the money for moving and it was more than three times what we thought it would be. So after paying bills and putting some in savings I bought myself a shirt and skirt to make me feel better. And then three books, and then...okay that was all. But it made me feel much better. (My dear Ki I thought of you when I bought these for some reason. Maybe because I knew you'd approve of the color.)

My new clothes

Pictures of Christmas Past

I was backing up all my pictures from our computer today and saw some of these pictures from Christmas last year and the year before. I just couldn't resist.

I am so very excited for Christmas this year! Both the boys are old enough to get into it, and David and I are having so much fun. I am also excited to have our very own Christmas for the first time in our marriage. We are going to incorporate traditions from both of our families and start some of our own. Next Thursday David and I are going to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in New Orleans. That is our Christmas present for each other. I can't wait. This will be our first real date since we moved here. I get David all to myself for 7 whole hours!! I seriously cannot wait!!!

Santa, Friends and Bowling

****Warning Picture Overload****

Life is finally returning to normal and this weekend was wonderful!! It started Thursday night at my Church's Relief Society Christmas Dinner. I had a great time sans kids and met so many wonderful women! I am truly beginning to love my ward here.
Friday night after we put the kiddos to bed David and I enjoyed a movie night. It's been at least a month since we actually sat down together and watched a movie. We watched Blood Diamond. It was a very intense movie and a little hard for me at times but I am glad that I watched it.
Saturday was wonderful. It started out perfectly for the first time in a long time we all slept in till 9am!!! Bliss!!

David's work had a Christmas party for the children and it was so cute. They had all sorts of games, pizza, cookies, and cupcakes, and the kids met Santa(who gave them a present). The boys LOVED the games, they were all different sports type games and they were good at them!!! Every time they played the elves running the games told us to put them in sports! Drew is left handed (despite the fact that every one keep saying he'll grow out of it. He's 2 I think it's stinking around folks!) so apparently he'll make a good pitcher. Tristan made 9 out of 10 bean bags in the smallest 2 holes!

Tristan loved meeting Santa and thought he was so nice and cool, and he even knew his best friends name was India! You should have seen the shock on his face when Santa asked him if he missed her. Andrew on the other hand did NOT like Santa. He didn't cry but he was very insistent that Daddy hold him. You can see the death grip he has on David's shoulder.
After naps we went to our new friends the Smith's for a wonderful BBQ dinner. We had a great time getting to know them and meeting their rather large dogs (not sure what they were but they were bigger than Tristan). The food was delicious. Ribs, brisket, rolls, baked beans, and so much more. Yum! After we'd had our fill we met up with those crazies that David works with for bowling. They really are crazy but I love them. They are always fun to hang out with and since we are the only ones with kids the boys are very popular! The boys thought bowling was the coolest thing ever and had a hard time waiting for their turns. In the end they scored only 20 points less than me! I really am no good.
Sundays are a normally a bit rough, church is right in the middle of nap time and as you can see Drew normally crashes sometime around 4. This Sunday I was talking with another new military wife only to discover we knew each other...sort of. We both worked at the good ole BRC (Bountiful Rec Center a.k.a. Bubble). We don't really remember each other but had a good time swapping memories about our favorite workers/managers. And if you are reading this Harry R. you are by far our favorite and Slugger says hi! We enjoyed it so much that she invited us over for dinner to continue the fun. She and her Husband are great people and we are excited to have them here if only for 4 months. Biloxi is such a wonderful place and I am loving it more every week. Although I could do without all the rain!!!

Giveaway

Here is a great giveaway right in time for Christmas. Over at Because Babies Grow Up. A wonderful site for Mommies. Check it out here.

My Funny Kid

Tristan has only been awake for only an hour and already he's made me laugh like 5 times! He is seriously a funny kid. Right after he woke up we were cuddling on the couch and he saw the kitty playing/chewing on a diaper box and he turned to me and says "Mommy that kitty must be hungry cuz he just took a bite out of that box!". After breakfast he said he was still hungry so I asked him what he wanted and he replied, "Well let me see your food maker book so I can see my choices". I love this guy. He is my best friend!