We have been blessed this year through thick and thin. Not because of the new "stuff" in our lives...in fact, I want to keep decreasing the amount of "stuff" we have. For instance, we have a new home, but what good use is it if people aren't welcome here? We've been given gifts such as a greater understanding of how God is working in our lives, friends we can call at any hour of the day or night, and a family who loves us unconditionally. My marriage is more intimate than I ever pictured it could be. All of that means more to me than any wrapped gift.

(Above: A few days before Christmas...me with my sister-in-law and 4-year-old niece, who is wearing the new pink cowgirl boots from her Aunt Stine & Uncle Steven.)

Steven with Dalton and Seth, two of his best buddies from high school:

Me & Steven with my brother and Trish:

Dad & our friend Paul, whose family owns the Cherry Laurel in Athens, TX and makes some killer food :). Shortly after this, I found my dad standing in the doorway with a funny look on his face. I asked him what he was doing, and he said "Oh, just holding up the wall..." Perhaps a 'lil too much of that wine, Frankie?!

Cute Mom!

Brad & Mary came in from Waco a few days before Christmas to have dinner with us...here I am with mary at Tillman's Roadhouse, a new AMAZINGLY chic restaurant that just opened in the Bishop Arts District near our house. They serve coffee in thermal glass Bodum mugs on a silver platter, each with its own personal ceramic cow filled with milk! (This picture was taken before we devoured the tableside S'mores with homemade marshmallows!)