macie's birthday

3 weeks ago we took macie to american girl for her 4th birthday.  it was much easier on me not having to plan a party!  aunts, grandmas and cousins drove to dallas for dinner, dessert and shopping.  the guys all went out to eat while the girls were partying.  i think macie had a really good time and she came home with a whole new wardrobe for her baby, maggie.  thanks everyone for making her day so special!

preston is one!

such a sweet boy...just not sure how happy he is about turning one!  actually, it was probably the annoying photographer shoving a camera in his face that was making him upset!!!  happy birthday preston...you are growing way too fast!

polka dot rocker

so excited... we had macie's pink glider re-upholstered and it was delivered today.  i love it!  i have 8 weeks to finish putting the rest of the nursery together.  we're getting close!

sweet girls

we were so excited that my cousin, jana, from california was able to visit us over christmas.  macie had a blast meeting her second cousins.  they were just precious playing and giggling together.  i sooo wish they didn't live so far away!

gingerbread houses

macie and i had so much fun shopping for candy, baking, and decorating our gingerbread houses.  this will have to become an annual christmas tradition for us.  blake said that he wanted to see a whole gingerbread village next year!

our thanksgiving

well i survived my first thanksgiving to host at our house.  i'm still not quite sure how the pregnant lady ended up having to host...but it actually was less work than i thought it was going to be.  i had tons of help cooking from blake's mom and nanny.  blake's cousins that came in to town were a huge help putting everything together and cleaning up.  i even have to give it to blake for helping out...see the picture of him washing dishes at the sink!!!  we had three turkeys and finished them all off by the end of the day!  after our huge lunch, most of the adults went to see "lincoln."  marcy and i stayed home with the little kids and played games all evening.  and, of course, we busted out all of the leftovers for round two of thanksgiving food last night.

grell fam

last weekend we went up to blackwell to spend time with my cousins and take some pics.  i really, really wish we lived closer...we have so much fun with annie and jared... and macie loves playing with balen.