Merry Christmas!!!

Hello everyone out in blogger land!! I hope everyone is having an amazing holiday break with their families and friends. Today at my house has been spent knitting, cooking, and preparing for the big luminary/light show tonight. In our new neighborhood putting out luminaries and Christmas lights is a big freakin deal, so we have been opening the bags and getting them ready for the past hour or so. However, it has been raining pretty steadily for the past few days and is really wet outside, so we are not really sure if we will be able to put them out. Even if the luminaries are a bust, there will be a ton of people driving by to look at Christmas lights, so it's all good. Tis also the season for every fattening treat imaginable, which my mom has been slaving away in the kitchen making today. There is fudge and chocolate chip cookies and gingerbread cookies and pecan sandies and sherry tea cake cherry coconut bars, not to mention all of the regular food for dinner tonight. Today is probably my favorite day of the year because we get to have a ham. We do not do both at Thanksgiving, and I look forward to the Christmas ham every year. I know I could go get a ham any time I wanted to, but then it wouldn't be special, now would it?!? I have spent the past few day wrapping presents, which I consider my specialty, and it is nice as my sister and I have gotten older that we now have smaller, more expensive things instead of lots of large cheap toys and such.

Sooo, this is my mom's new dog Duncan's first Christmas, and he and DJ were very festive this year. See pics below for the Santa-type fun!! The only bad thing about this Christmas is the fact that my dad is in Iraq. We are very lucky because he has been able to call about three times since I have been home, and we all got to talk to him for a really long time today. He is really sad he has to be over there, but he told me they all finished their work today and will get to rest and eat all day tomorrow, barring a huge disaster. He said there will be a huge amount of food all day, and then tomorrow night his boss Gen. Odierno is throwing all of his senior officers a private dinner that he gets to go to, which will be really nice for him. Below are some pics he sent me from their Christmas celebration in the palace he works in...




My dad and General Odierno

And I forgot I don't have the pics of the dogs being festive, so they will come later. Sorry!!

In other news Jennie came to visit us yesterday and we had a blast!! we went out to lunch with David and Ryan then came back and goofed around for a while before everyone had to go home Oh! I have a movie recommendation. Mom and I inadvertantly watched "Just Friends" with Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart last night, and it was hilarious!! I highly recommend it. Well, mom is making the sweet potato cassarole right now which I am very excited about. We are about to deliver tins full of homemade goodies to our neighbors, so they will be excited about that!! I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas, and I wil be sure to update you with the haul I get tomorrow morning!! ~MB

And for your viewing pleasure, pics of me an my sis earlier today being REALLY ugly! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!