Christmas Post (a little late)!

Merry Christmas from Amos and Andi!!! (Cory and Traci, too!!)

Finally! I am actually going to post some Christmas pictures! Yay! Cory and I had a great Christmas with friends and family this year...and here are a few pictures to prove it!

We started our Christmas celebrations by having Charlie and Brenda over for dinner and gift exchanging on Friday night. Somehow Charlie managed to evade the camera the whole night!!! Here are a few shots of Cory and Brenda and I, followed by one of Orphan Lou from later on that evening.

Cory got a new Fossil watch. It's very handsome!

Charlie and Brenda bought us Guitar Hero II, so I had to show them exactly what they bought. So much fun! Lindsay came over later and played too!

After a fun-filled Friday night, we crashed and prepared for our shopping filled Saturday followed by Christmas Eve!! Sunday afternoon we joined all of Cory's family at Uncle Susie's house for the annual Christmas Celebration. This year brought a new tradition because Grammy printed a song book for each family so that in years to come we can carol each Christmas Eve. It was a really fun time with lots of family, lots of food, and some great singing.

After the gathering at Uncle Susie's, we headed out to Fort Worth to Colleen's house to celebrate Christmas with Linda, Colleen, Johnny, Riley, Reagan, and Baylor. Johnny's mom was also there to celebrate with us. It was fun to watch the kids open all of their presents!

Uncle Susie and Linda "Fall on their knees!"

My nephew, Baylor, was playing his tennis racket guitar!

Baylor opens his Little People Airplane from us!

Riley (my niece) was super excited about a present that came in an Abercrombie box while my younger niece Reagan was super excited about all the neat Littlest Pet Shop toys she received!!!

After a fun Christmas Eve, we headed home to sleep for a few hours before Santa came. We met up with my mom on Christmas morning and Cory, Mom, and I drove out to Frisco to see Brian, Erika, and baby Riley. Brian made a great breakfast casserole and we had a nice and relaxing Christmas time opening presents and watching some football. Riley was a champ and hung around for her presents, but she really loved the tissue paper and all the noise that it made!

Riley got her first Pooh from Santa!

Look how cute...she was content just hanging out and watching us.

We had a very nice, but very busy Christmas weekend. Things are almost back to normal now, so that is actually a welcomed change from the busyness of the holidays! Sorry to all of you who have been patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for this post!

Still to come: a few New Years photos and a few more Riley shots since I spent all day with her today!!!

Hope everyone is having a good start to 2007...we look forward to keeping you updated on our events and hearing all about yours!

Blessings,
Church Lady

Happy New Year!

Happy 2007 everyone! I sure have a lot of blogging to catch up on, but that requires that I sort through pictures and do more typing and get all that ready to go...and right now I just want to chill.

So, what was the first thing you did in 2007????

Me...I played Freebird with my best friend Kristy on Guitar Hero II! Can you top that!??

Here's to a great year,
Church Lady

You say it's your birthday....

Friday was my birthday, and I had a great weekend celebrating with family and friends. I was pretty pooped after two days of 6 hours filled with hyper kids ready for Christmas break, so Friday we invited some friends over (The Wotrings & The Meadors) to hang out, play games, and have a few birthday beverages. We played Battle of the Sexes and the ladies kicked butt!!!

Saturday was a surprise day for me! My mom planned the day for me and I learned Saturday morning that we were off to the Gaylord Texan to see the Ice Exhibit. It was really neat!! I was amazed at the different sculptures, and I loved that it was 9 degrees in the exhibit! After we visited the Ice, we toured around the Gaylord looking at the fun Christmas decor before heading over to Joe's Crab Shack for lunch. It was a great day!!

Me and Mom under some ice trees...

Me and Mom with Mr. and Mrs. Snowball

The Church Family chillin' in the ice sleigh....brrrr!

I made a new friend...Mr. Toy Soldier!

We got a nice man to take this shot so we would have an "all together" picture!

Doesn't Cory make a cute reindeer?

Mom and Me being Santa's Helpers. Aren't we cute!?!

It was a really great weekend...with some really fun memories. I got a really cool game for my Playstation from my sweet hubby, so I spent a big chunk of time playing LEGO Star Wars on my PS2, and I am totally addicted to the game now, so maybe it's a good thing that I have a few weeks off to play and be silly!

Have fun and play lots,

Church Lady

Riley Update!

So today I went to Frisco and hung out with Riley for a little bit while Erika went and ran a few errands in preparation for their trip to Colorado this week. It was really fun, and of course I took a few photos. Riley was a little cranky, but still super cute.

Plus, she loves her SQUAT (Super Quality Aunt Traci) time!!

Told ya she was cranky!!

Here she is making her, "Yeah, I'm cool face."

Ahhh...sleepy and smiley all at the same time!

Thanks for checking in...happy day to everyone!

Aunt Churchie

Yay for Christmas!!

So it's officially Christmas at the Church house! We busted out all the decor beginning on Thanksgiving evening, and by the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the casa was looking all festive and fun. I just love to sit in my house with nothing but the Christmas lights on (and I typically have clothes on...tee hee). It's just so relaxing and pretty...I just really enjoy it.

This year we had some help with the decorating...Orphan Lou came over to help put up the tree and unload all the boxes, and boy was she excited when she found Santa! Here they are in front of the untrimmed tree....so cute!


Monica also came over to watch TV, decorate, and have a holiday beverage or two...somehow our collection of Christmas stuffed friends were very attracted to Monica...and she was festively attacked by all the little friends. Luckily we were able to pull all the little guys away from her and get them to their appropriate locations throughout the house. Good times...


Overall, we had an absolute blast getting all the decorating done, and it sure is fun to share this great season with friends and family. So, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, the Christmas lights and garland have been strung outside, our cool gifts from Uncle Gary can be found inside and outside the house, and the memories made with grandparents and parents can be found hanging about...so all is festive and fun at the Church house. Feel free to stop by an take in some of our holiday cheer!!

Merry Christmas everyone!
Church Lady

Turkey Day!

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving Day at my brother's house in Frisco. Cory, me, and my mom headed over around noon to kick off the festivities, do a little cooking, and enjoy Turkey Day. My friend Atkinson was in town from Chicago and we got to spend some time with her over the Thanksgiving weekend, so that was awesome.

Here are the pics from our feast and a shot of Atkinson with my guitar...she did play it later on for us, and it was nice times.

Here are the pics from Riley's First Turkey Day and our nice family time....

Hope your Turkey Day was as fun as ours...

Aunt Church Lady

Girls Nights!

So last Monday and Tuesday nights I stayed out in Frisco with Erika and Riley so my brother could go hunting. We had some fun times hanging out and chatting, and of course playing with Riley! Good news: Brian got a deer, so there will be venison this season! Yummy!!

Of course, no time with Riley would be complete without a few pictures, so here are some cute ones of her sleeping in her bed and playing in her bouncy seat. I love the dot outfit! She is just so adorable...and it was fun times getting a little extra SQUAT time with her!! (That's Super Quality Aunt Traci time for those of you unfamiliar with SQUAT!)

Enjoy and thanks for reading...I will have many more posts from Thanksgiving and Christmas decorating coming in the next few days, so keep on visiting!!

Blessings,
Aunt Churchie

Fun Saturday Night!

We had a really fun Saturday evening! We started the night off by having Mom P over for dinner just because we don't see her often enough, and because it's fun to have family over for dinner. I cooked us a yummy meal (grilled pork chops (Cory grilled!!), baked sweet potatoes, baby veggies, salad, and rolls) and we enjoyed the good food and good compnay. After dinner we headed over to my Mom's house to take her dinner and to see her special visitor.

Riley had her first visit to Grandma's house last night!!! She was great, of course, and let her mommy and daddy enjoy a nice evening out. I got to feed her and then snuggle with her for a few hours until they got home, and Grandma got to snuggle with her and enjoy her all to herself for a few hours before we got to her house! What fun stuff!

Here are the pictures of Riley's visit....

Me and Riley after she woke up...isn't she adorable???

How fun is it that I got to feed baby Riley!

She was a champ and ate 3.5 ounces for Aunt Traci!!

So cute...stretched out sleepy Riley.

We had a great time with the Moms this weekend...hopefully we'll have another get together soon. Thanks to Mom P for driving over and hanging out with us, and thanks to Grandma for sharing her time with Riley with us!!

Until next time,
Church Lady

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Grandma Makes Her Grand Entrance!!

Today was a very, very special day for our family. My grandma turned 92 and we gathered in Denton to honor the amazing matriarch of our family. It was a really neat time together, just enjoying the day, the laughs, the smiles, and the memory making.

Today my grandma was surrounded by family: my Aunt Janet & Uncle Don, my cousins Brent & Kaycee and their kiddos Amos, Isaac, Hannah, Leah, and Joseph, my cousin Brenda, my mom, my brother & Erika and baby Riley, Kaycee's parents, and a few other friends that stopped by to say hi and offer well wishes.


Grandma loves her "sweeties" so I thought this picture of Aunt Janet showing grandma her cake was just priceless!! The party was rolling along well for a little bit with Grandma opening presents and enjoying cake and punch, but the real present arrived a little later on...Miss Riley.


Grandma was so intent on holding Riley and savoring every minute with the precious little one. Here are the pictures that capture the joy and wonderful heirloom of four generations together in one place...it was really special to see my brother, my mom, my grandma, and Riley all together....








Erika held Riley for grandma to first meet her.





I like this picture with Riley and grandma's sweet hand.
























Brian, Grandma, and Riley.

Below, Four Generations of hands (Great Grandma, Grandma, Dad, and Riley).....I love the hands.

The last four pictures: Aunt Janet, Cousin Brenda, Cousin Kaycee, and Uncle Don all treasure a little time with a very cute, very sleepy Riley!

Today was a blessed day...a day to look back on and just savor.

Thanks for stopping by...

Church Lady

My Little Riley Boo!!!

Happy One Month Little Riley!

So yesterday I was off work and went to Frisco to spend the day with Erika and little Riley. It was so much fun and I loved that I got to spend so much quality time with Riley. Erika took a little break and escaped the house to grocery shop, which left me with some Super Quality Aunt Traci time (we'll call that SQUAT time in future posts)!!!

Here are my pics from yesterday along with a few that my brother took on Halloween.