Baby Love

Matt and Amy were so gracious to help Justin and me clean the porch and vacuum the rug. They thought it was a fair trade since they kept us out playing in the snow for so long! Well, THEY didn’t necessarily keep US, but we were all having too much fun to go back early. Nevertheless, we were so appreciative of their help.

Just before 3:00, guests began to arrive for a baby shower honoring this little lady.

Elizabeth Morgan Haskell

And her mommy.

Roni Holland Haskell
Roni and I have been friends since middle school. I sure miss her now that she lives in Charleston!

I made this diaper cake for the centerpiece.

We had some pretty good eats, and baby Elizabeth got some really cute things. We were very pleased at the turnout considering the morning snow!

Birmingham or Aspen?

Saturday morning was an off day. Rare that I get one on a Saturday, but I was hosting a baby shower for my close friend Roni, who had a precious baby girl back in December. There was talk of snow, but in Birmingham, the chances are always slim. When Justin and I woke up, he asked me if it had snowed, and I leaned over to look through the shudders. Just brown grass, so I rolled back over for another cuddle. We got up shortly afterwards because the dogs were restless, and we saw that there was actually a little snow collecting in the crevices of the rooftops all around us. Not long after, real snowflakes began falling and blanketed the ground with the white stuff!Justin and I went outside where we got together with our fun neighbors, Matt and Amy, and we all put our heads together about making homemade sleds. We tried cookie sheets, lids to storage boxes and large dog food sacks, but what seemed to work best of all was plain old cardboard wrapped in a black garbage sack.

After wearing out the hill between our house and our neighbor's, we decided to search for a more challenging sledding spot. We borrowed my work golf cart and set out on our journey with Matt and Amy in tow. We stopped at a pocket park just around the corner where several of our neighbors were having a snowball fight. One of the dad's (hi David Hines) was making either the snowball of the century or the base of a snowman... either way it became the snowball of the century when he threw it toward our moving-ever-so-slowly-up-the-hill golf cart. The snowball was broken up by a tree before it reached us, but we stopped for a full blown war between us and the kids and dads and moms that were in the park.

After our war, we resumed our adventure for the perfect sledding spot. At this point we had decided there were too many houses to find a good hill, so we decided to break all the neighborhood covenants and restrictions and hit the golf course. We took the cart between two houses close to the cart path and quickly found a good spot.

Before we left Amy bundled up in her ski gear (including goggles, gloves, boots, ski pants and jacket). She looked cute AND warm! My jacket was warm, but my jeans and running shoes were quick to get wet. Look at the course behind us, isn't it just beautiful!

Matt (left) and Justin (right) had races to see who could sled the farthest... furthest. Is it farthest or furthest??? Amy and I enjoyed laughing at both of them!

Matt with his feet in the air after a pretty long run!

Justin experimenting the side slide. We determined this was NOT the best sledding move.

We headed back to the house after being "reprimanded" by a golf course worker, but I have to admit that he was very kind to us. He let us slide a few more times where we were, but asked that we limit the sledding to holes 2 and 3 so they could monitor everyone (apparently others had our same idea). He said he understands that it doesn't snow often in Alabama and told us to have fun and be safe. We asked if we could drive around on the cart path and just look at the snow on the course, and he said okay. We thought that was very kind of him!

So, what a fun day to be off work (my other partners had to go in despite the snow). I'm so glad we finally had snow. The snow melted after about 1:00 and the roads were fine by the time I hosted the baby shower at 3:00. I'll post pictures of the party soon!

Pray for the Burgess family...

Hello Blog friends. I know I haven't posted in a while, and believe me, I have some fun stuff to post, but I wanted to post a quick prayer request. Every morning, I listen to a radio show based out of Birmingham called Rick and Bubba. Some of you may get them in your hometown, too. They have crossed all kinds of boundaries bringing Christian teachings and values to secular radio. They are not ashamed to speak of their beliefs on air, and different from many radio show hosts, are REAL people... like your uncles or cousins or something. They relate to so many.

Yesterday, Rick's son, Bronner Burgess drowned in the pool at their home. I don't know the details other than that a precious little boy's life was lost. On Rick and Bubba's website, it says "The Burgess's want to give all Honor and Glory to GOD for the many blessings He has given us, especially the life of Bronner Burgess. And while we do not understand, we know who is in charge and His will be done in life and in death. "

Please pray for Rick, Sherri and the entire Burgess family.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Mom's birthday is New Years Day. On one hand it's a good day for a birthday because everyone is always off work, but on the other hand, it's a terrible day. For one, you give you best gift at Christmas. Second of all, you spend so much emotional energy getting ready for Christmas and then all of a sudden it's New Year's Eve, and you haven't thought of a gift. I know it's not all about the gift, but when it's YOUR day, it's nice to be pampered.

This year, Mom and Dad, Matthew and Amanda, and Justin and I got together at Sumo - Japanese Steakhouse for a fun birthday dinner. We had the best chef. He was absolutely hilarious, and really put on a how for Mom... who was mortified at all the attention. He even threw a shrimp or something for her to catch in her mouth... which she missed. I'm pretty sure it was the most embarassing birthday ever. She hates all that attention. I am obviously NOT like my mother in that respect. My birthday lasts for the entire month of September! :-)

My cute dad and mom.

My silly brother, Matthew and his silly wife, Amanda. Love you guys!

A downright horrible picture of Justin and me... but I wanted to document our presence, and this is the only shot of us I have! Justin grew a mustache for the holidays. I'm SO glad he finally shaved it off. It was disgusting. Ew.

My embarassed mother as we sing Happy Birthday to Yoooooou!

Happy Birthday, Mom! I hope 2008 is the greatest year yet!