enjoying the holidays with a little cheer!

our friends tony and debra hosted a smashing good holiday party last weekend. kudos to the both for totally being the hostesses with the mostesses. the house looked amazing, it was decorated to the nth. devine wine! plenty of bubbly. recipes for suggested cocktails written in chalk on slate tiles, personalized wine glass charms for all in attendance, CHOCOLATE FONDU!!! And I could go on...

But most importantly the amazing comradery shared amongst friends - good friends.

So here's to a very happy and healthy holiday season to all of our friends and loved ones.

winter recital~

kate and her best bud caitlin ham it up...
kate and jennings waiting patiently for their turn on stage

'da fam!

and this is how the little man passed the time...

year 3 for our FAT ALBERT

kate and a her buddie bea...i know that i am partial but are they not precious?
still loving the horse swing. thanks mika and opa. lots of good fun!

we planted this evergreen when we moved in and have decorated every year since. i am thinking that a ladder will be required by year 5.

this year bea was over for a play date and joined in the funtah-DAH

fat albert 2009~

ahhh...

what more can i say?

time to decorate!

and now the real fun begins...

someone lost his britches!

the peebles tree farm in magestic madison county

happy family...
snow - yum!

the gang: owen, kate, miles, trey & alex

kate thinks this is the one!

pete being cute!

MUDDY MITTENS!!! owen took a spill but it didn't bother him at all.

these two had fun hiding from us- as seen in the next picture

now this is the one!

hauling it away

and lookie there - heather found theirs!

the entire gast family stands and admires their tree-too-be

mission accomplished!

still eating snow...

alex climbing a muddy cliff

so much to do!

our gingerbread house

i was able to join trey at school recently for the great gingerbread extravaganza. it only took about two minutes for the kiddos to start popping the sweet treats in their mouths instead of sticking them on their houses. i had a really great time watching trey create his masterpiece and i genuinely think he enjoyed himself as well. that is until a teacher paid him a compliment. then he took shelter under the table. ahhh - trey. our sweet little boy.

Christmas Shoes~

yep - these are katers new sneaks and they make me so darn happy.

you lucked out - no sappy song.

birds of a feather flock together...

these two have now been living under the same roof for almost a year and last weekend for the first time they snuggled up in front of the fire together.
& this was priceless!
tanner was sounds asleep and this one ear
of his was standing straight up.
not sure the picture really does it justice...

i soooooooooooo wish this would have come out better!

pete and i nearly cried we laughed so hard at this photo...
do you see anything out of the ordinary?
do you recall that electric company ditty "one of these things is not like the other..."
more pantless decorating photos to come!

trey and his thanksgiving program~

trey making his big debut. he was the native american that got to drive the car over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house!

OK - ok... i know i've said it before and with this one i am sure i will say it again but WOW! what a difference a year can make. not only did our little star make it through the entire performance without leaving the stands to join me in the crowd but he sang... LOUD. loud enough that both his aunt beth and i could hear him and we weren't even sitting in the front row. good show little man. momma is your biggest fan!

does it get much better than this?

not according to these two!

in quest of the holiday pic...

this is what we ended up with.

TAKE 2 tomorrow!