Christmas and the days after...

Hello everyone! I hope all of you in the cyberworld & beyond had a wonderful Christmas with your families! Ours was a very quiet one which started WAY too early on Christmas morning...
We spent the first part of Christmas Eve with Ted and I on the ROOF of our new sunroom - laying shingles! YES - I (who is terrified of heights unless we're on a fast moving roller coaster) got on the ROOF and was actually HELPFUL! We were so pleased to get all of the shingles up before the snow - WHEW! The scariest part was getting up & down the extension ladder!

We were invited to talk about what Peace means to our family at our church's early "Children's service" on Christmas eve... we've decided that that service best suits our family. After that, we went for dinner at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants... China Palace in Durham. After contemplating whether to go to a movie at the theater, we settled on heading home to watch the Polar Express - what a nice way to end our Christmas Eve.

The girls were up ridiculously early on Christmas morning - just way too excited to see what Santa had brought them! So, Ted and I got up at 4:00 (YES 4:00 a.m.!) so the girls could get Santa time out of their systems... then Ted (first) followed by Colby & me decided to take a little siesta so we could function the rest of the day. Jessica, on the other hand, stayed up... happily logging in her new wolf Webkinz and having some alone time.

When we got up for the 2nd time, Ted made a very yummy Turkey Gumbo! Later in the day, my Dad & Jan came by to share some of that Gumbo & check out Ted's progress on the sunroom. We celebrated Christmas with my Dad, Jan, my brother, Nathan & girlfriend, Katie, and step-brother John & friend Carlin on Sunday night with a tasty dinner at Peony Asian Bistro followed by a gift exchange at Dad's & Jan's including some very rummy figgy pudding!

The original plan was for me to head to Virginia on Sunday to spend time with cousins who were visiting from Charlottesville (Virginia), Wyoming, and Tennessee, but the weatherman was correct for a second time this season and Mother Nature brought us some CHRISTMAS SNOW! Lots of it! It started falling sometime Christmas night and continued on heavily for a good part of the day on Sunday. It was absolutely beautiful! We got a good 5-6" I would say. We were able to go down the road (off Old NC-10) to a nice sledding hill that we found with the last big snow and have a BLAST sledding!
Today (Monday) has been a day of semi-relaxation for me, more hard work for Ted on the addition, and playdates for the girls... here's to hoping that you all are finding some down time as well...

Happy Holidays 2010

WOW... it's been a long time since I've written... a really long time - like close to 2 years! I will begin with last Christmas and bring you up to speed!

We abbreviated Christmas here in North Carolina last year so we could go to New Orleans for the holidays... our journey started with a stop-over in Atlanta at the American Girl Store. Colby received a look-alike American Girl and Jessica's AG doll, Kit was in need of a trip to the doll hospital to repair her loose limbs. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and spent a good bit of their Christmas money at the store! Next stop was Covington , Louisiana where Ted's Mom, sister & kids live. The big event of the season was Ted's cousin Matt's wedding on January 2nd where I was asked to be the photographer. It was a nice, fun-filled wedding enjoyed by all.

Let's see... from there, we'll touch on some highlights from throughout the year!

In MARCH, Jessica and I took a trip to Washington D.C. for her 5th grade field trip. That was an interesting experience! Her class was the first ever from her school to ever have the opportunity to visit the White House (all 5 rooms that they let us see!).

In MAY, celebrated Ted's 40th birthday with a HUGE surprise crawfish boil party that I managed to pull off INCLUDING a surprise appearance by a good number of Ted's relatives from Louisiana! He was THRILLED beyond words that his Mom and crew were able to make the trip for the occasion!

Also in MAY, our wonderful youngest, Miss Colby, turned NINE!

In JUNE, Ted and I celebrated 18 years of marital bliss! I honestly can't believe it's been that long!

Also in JUNE, our fabulous oldest, Miss Jessica, GRADUATED from Elementary School! Time has really flown!

The girls attended many camps over the summer including Horseback riding for Jess, Girl Scout Resident camp, 2 Vacation Bible Schools, Chestnut Ridge for Colby, as well as Camp New Hope...

In AUGUST we had the pleasure of going on our 2nd family cruise to the Bahamas, Grand Turk, and Half Moon Cay (the cruise ship private island). Carnival started sailing out of Charleston, which is less than a 5 hour drive from our house! While on our cruise, Colby met her "twin" Avery (you know they say that everyone has a twin!).

Ted learned how to scuba dive and the girls and I snorkeled. We all enjoyed a fabulous meet & greet with our dolphin friends!


7 days of BLISS! Ted & I have decided that as much as we enjoy traveling with our girls, it's about time we take a trip on our own!

Jess even enjoyed a birthday celebration while onboard the ship since her birthday fell just a couple of days after we returned!


When we returned from the cruise, it was time for school to begin again - this time with Jessica starting MIDDLE SCHOOL! 6th GRADE - how did that happen?! How can I possibly have a middle schooler?? There have been quite a few bumps along the way, but I think she's going to be okay! She LOVES band and even tried out and made PERCUSSION (making her percussionist Uncle Nathan a VERY happy camper!)!

Colby started 4th grade and her one of her best friends, Olivia, finally got in the same class! So far, so good... Colby LOVES school! She also started playing SOCCER in the Fall and fell in love with it! She plans to play again in the Spring.

Ted's Balloon and Magic Business (www.tedstwistedballoons.com) keeps him very busy! He performed a terrific magic show at Colby's Elementary School at the beginning of the school year... we hope we can convince him to do another one before the school year is out! He continues to work at Capital Associates as his "day job". And as if he didn't already have enough to do, he decided to take on a HUGE building project in November... adding on a SUNROOM to the back of our house! It's been very exciting to watch his progress... we currently have walls, windows, doors, and a roof! It amazes me how much Ted and his brother Tim know... they have designed and built it all themselves with very little consultation from anyone else! We'll have to have a big celebration when it's finished!

6 1/2 years later I'm still at Duke, working as a staff assistant for the Director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center in the department of Pathology. Duke's benefits are very hard to pass on... one day, if I can hang on long enough, we're hoping that they will help us out with college tuition for the girls!

I think that about sums it up for the year - I'm sure I've left out details and I hope to keep my blog more updated from now on! Maybe I can try for once a month at least?!

I hope this holiday season brings you Love, Joy, Hope and Peace...

Love, Heather