The Magic of Christmas

These are my two favorite pictures out of the MANY we captured Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I love the excitement in the boys' faces, and especially with gifts that these days would be considered simple. Seeing these just makes my heart smile. I am in the midst of compiling all of the pictures onto a slideshow that I will post on the blog as soon as it is finished. We were truly blessed this Christmas and hope all of you were, too!

Thanksgiving in Nashville

We traveled to Nashville, TN, this year to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Hollenbeck's! Aside from horrendous traffic in Atlanta and Chattanooga we had a smooth trip and a wonderful time being with family. We had amazing accomodations at a Wyndam resort where the cousins all had a great time playing on a very nice playground, and even had craft time courtesy of Grandma Sonya and Aunt Anne! Actually, our condo endured the big flood this past year and was completely under water...so everything was brand new! Our Thanksgiving meal was beyond delicious and our hosts Uncle Adam and Aunt Amanda were incredibly gracious not only for hosting the big meal, but also for our pizza night and the yummy breakfast they made. Our weekend wasn't complete without the boys very first movie in the theater! We saw "Tangled," which was adorable. Besides Dane being a bit nervous, they both did great and were ready for another movie when it was finished. We hope all of you had a wonderful, memorable Thanksgiving this year, too...May the Christmas chaos begin!

Trick or Treat!

Halloween was very fun this year! Blake was so excited that at the first house he ran full speed to the door, rang the bell, yelled "treat!" then proceeded to step inside and just make himself comfortable! Dane, on the other hand, was on guard for any scary creature that might have crossed his path and stayed close to our sides. This was our 3rd year to have the Barden home as our "home base" for trick or treating (Ben is a 3rd year resident with Matt). We always enjoy walking their neighborhood and having dinner together after the kiddos gather their loot. Thanks to them for another great night!

Mimi & Papa Come to Town and Dane turns 3!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Another busy and fun weekend for the Hollenbeck's! My Mom and Dad came for a visit and to celebrate Dane's 3rd birthday. I enjoyed a day with my Mom doing "girlie" things like breakfast, shopping, and a lovely lunch outside in the garden at Twigs here in Greenville. We spent the rest of the weekend party prepping, playing outside and even picking up Christmas gifts from Mimi & Papa that are now hidden in our garage! My parents are obviously super organized! The weather was perfect and the party was a hit, especially with the "shipped in" leaves that my friends so graciously bagged and picked up for me. I had asked her if I could come through her neighborhood since it has huge trees (and our new, boring neighborhood does not!) because I had an idea to have a big pile for the kids to play in during the party. Unknown to me she did all of it and all I had to do was haul it home...thank you Jessi! Dane was very excited to have a day that was all about him! He loved everything from the balloons to just being able to run with his friends! Thanks Mom and Dad for making the trip and to all of our friends and family for making Dane's birthday special!

Our Full Fall Weekend!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What a weekend! My in-laws came for a visit and we all enjoyed...a night out for sushi and a trolley ride on Friday night, Skytop Orchard and Fall for Greenville festival on Saturday, and the Buddy Walk on Sunday! We had a GREAT time and hope you enjoy the photos! It is a long slideshow, but it is difficult to edit over 400 great pics!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

At least in my opinion. As you can see my house is turning into a Halloween wonderland as we prep for our annual Halloween party for all of the ortho residents and their families...

Happy Birthday to a....

great husband, father, son, brother, son-in-law, friend, and surgeon! Today we celebrated Matt, enjoyed ice cream cake (that luckily turned out yummy!) and spent the day together as a family!