Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas 2010

BEG and I packed up the car and headed to Abilene for Christmas this year. I was so sad to not be spending Christmas with my family but BEG had to do the same thing last year; oh the compromises of marriage!! I will say, we had a wonderful, relaxing time and I was able to experience a first.....making a gingerbread house!

The Garrett's used to hand make gingerbread houses when they were growing up and they taught me the ropes this past week. It was so much fun but A LOT of work. Here are our step by step pics. I must say it turned out pretty good considering it was my first one ever!! (I did have lots of help though =) ML baked the gingerbread earlier in the day and cut the pieces out so we only had to put it together and decorate it.

Putting the house together
Ready to decorate
Outlining with icing
The roof
Almost finished
All finished
Ta Da
The gingerbread house was an all day project but I am so glad we did it. I only busted 3 bags trying to put the icing on (it's VERY hard) and my hand was aching for a couple of days after but I can't wait to do it again in 2 years when we are back in Abilene for Christmas!!

We had a great time visiting with Blake's family and catching up with everyone. We got some great loot and are so thankful for all of our wonderful friends and family!

We are headed to Shreveport this weekend to spend Christmas with my family, pack up the house, grab the pets and head back West!! (I'll update later on our current whereabouts!)

Hope everyone has a blessed and safe New Years!

CMG

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Christmas Gathering

We had a get together with all of our friends last night which was so fun. We really enjoyed catching up with everyone during the holidays. It started at our house at 6:30 with appetizers and drinks and then we reserved a party bus to pick us up at 7:30 to drive around and look at Christmas lights (which p.s are pretty terrible these days; we will just blame it on the recession!)

Rhett and george did so well with everyone in their domain! Rhett just laid in the dining room by the food hoping someone would drop something and george would randomly sprint through to make sure everything was under control and then retreat back to his room.


The whole group
(Rhett included)

Just the girls!

Again, it was so much fun seeing and catching up with everyone during this busy fun time! We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas with family and friends.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

CMG

Facial Hair

BEG decided it was necessary to grow out a beard for our ski trip to help keep him warm. I however, did not agree and hated this thing since the day he started growing it (about a month ago.) I refused to take any pictures of it because I hated it but couldn't resist sharing things.


So gross.

CMG

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Ski Trip 2010

BEG is an avid snowboarder and was devastated when a ski trip didn't happen last year due to wedding planning, purchasing a house, etc (ie. growing up!) So I promised him that we would continue his yearly tradition this year. He normally goes somewhere different each year but I wanted to go somewhere I had never skied before so we headed to Jackson Hole, WY although this was the last place BEG skied back in 2008.

We headed out Monday morning en route to Jackson Hole. Our flight plans were Shreveport to Memphis, Memphis to Salt Lake, Salt Lake to Jackson Hole. I commented to BEG as we pulled up to the gate in Memphis 20 minutes early how nice it was to actually be running on time for once on a flight. Well, I spoke way too soon!! We were scheduled to have an hour layover in Memphis before boarding our plane to Salt Lake. When we arrived at our gate in Memphis everything was "on time" , according to the board, until the Delta man came on the all call to inform us that there was a maintenance issue that could take "hours" to workout. Having gone through this before, BEG and I headed to the nearest Delta customer service counter to get on a different flight ASAP before everyone else on our plane did the same thing. Good thing we moved quick because as soon as we began walking off the same guy came over the all call to inform everyone that the flight was no longer delayed but instead cancelled!!

Laurie G. at Delta customer service was absolutely wonderful and really hooked us up. Instead of having us stuck in Memphis for the night she sent us to....................................................................

Yes, Las Vegas!! It was an unexpected surprise to our trip. Delta payed for our hotel room and 2 meals each which isn't a bad deal. BEG had never been to Vegas so it was a great way to see if it would be worth a trip in the future and I think we will be heading back one day; BEG loved it!! We had no luggage but we managed alright with our Delta survival kit they provide to people in our situation.

We didn't have much time in Vegas but we made the best of the little time we did have. We arrived at the hotel about 6pm and immediately took the hotel shuttle to the strip (about 6 blocks away.) Our first stop was the Tom Ford store (BEG's request). While looking through a travel book while BEG was browsing I saw where Jersey Boys had a Monday night show that started at 7pm. I called the box office and they had 2 available seats (fate!) so we took off towards the Palazzo. After the fantastic show, BEG requested a stop at the Freemont Street Experience to get a deep fried twinkie (I got deep fried oreos) and both were delicious! By the time we made it back to the hotel it was 11:15pm (1:15am on our bodies time) and we had to be up at 6am to be at the airport for our 8am flight to JH. Not much time but such a fun diversion!! Thank you DELTA =)

Hanging out at the Salt Lake airport...one airport closer to Jackson Hole!!

I have been to many places and this place ranks near the top in beauty. It is absolutely breathtaking!! This is a view from the top of the mountain. The weather has been really good since we've been here, cold but pretty. The average temp has been about 10 degrees during the day!!

BEG boarding
Yes that's me under all of that!!
BEG in action
Grand Teton
highest peak in the area
13,770 feet above sea level
View from the Tram
approx 10,000 feet above sea level
One of the toughest mountains I've ever skied
and here's the sign to prove it!!
And the cherry on top of the sundae.......
We got to see a MOOSE!!
(she and her baby were just hanging outside of our condo)

We have had so much fun!! It's freezing cold and an extremely tough mountain but totally worth it because it is absolutely gorgeous!!

CMG

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The In-Laws Visit

Blake's family came in town last weekend for a visit. Mike and Mary Lou got in late Thursday night and Jill and Jon got in around 7 on Friday night. Mike and ML finally got to meet george and he did not disappoint; he is the strangest cat EVER but oh so fun!!

Here he is drinking ML's water
We hit all the Shreveport hot spots on their visit including:
Southern Trace (Mike played golf with dad Friday)
The Village Washstand (ML got some cute stuff)
Herby K's (Shrimp Buster)
Country Tavern (Ribs)
Superior Grill (Margaritas)
Tony's Egg Nog Daiquiris ..... heaven
Natchitoches Christmas Festival
Grandmother's (for a quick visit)
Olive Street Bistro (delicious)
Monnie's (lunch after church Sunday)

a cute family photo in Natchitoches
We squeezed a lot in in a short amount of time but had so much fun and are so glad they came to see us.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.

CMG