I'm still here

I'm blogging from the iPad on an insanely turbulent flight home (thanks, Delta for the free wifi!), and there is so much to say! We've had a very... full past week, and it has been mostly wonderful. I have lots of posts in the works (2010 year in review, goals, books) and LOTS to post about that hasn't even been started yet (all of our Christmas festivities, a few projects and our nearly-over post-Christmas trip). So, even though we only have 2.5 days until it's back to the grind... and even though those 2+days have VERY full agendas (mostly with lots more visits with friends, house cleaning, projects and laundry)... Get ready for some blogging! Oh, and about a zillion pictures (we've taken 351 pictures since Tuesday!)

cutest kids ever

We're so sad you're going to be gone... for SO long!! One of God's greatest blessings is the gift of this family in our lives. Merry Christmas, Rochas! Elmy and Daybed loooooove you!

The Chenerys

Part Two of our Indianapolis trip was Sara and Raef's wedding celebration!

They each read a letter to their parents. There was not a dry eye in the place!

While we were anticipating our weekend plans, David told me he was most excited about getting to see Hannah at the wedding! Hannah was in the wedding party, so we spent a lot of time with her sweet parents. I am so thankful that one of the (many) perks of marrying David has been getting to know families like the Pechans. They are wonderful!

The Chenerys

love her.

Hannah has a Top 5 list of guys she most trusts in the world, and David made her list. Now, that warms the cockles of my heart.

She's the kind of person I am hesitant to take pictures with because she is so gorgeous, I know I'll never look half way decent next to her.

Though it was a quick trip, we were so glad we decided to go to Indy for the weekend! We squeezed in visits with lots of wonderful people, and we wouldn't have missed it for the world.

840 miles in 36 hours

After Andrea's party, David and I tried to get a bit of sleep before we hit the road. We were up and at 'em at 3:30AM, and before we knew it we arrived in Indianapolis! Well, before I knew it... David was well aware, since he was driving :). 

This exit was appropriately named! I couldn't believe how much snow was on the ground!

Half of the reason for our trip was to meet the Earley's new baby girl, Savannah Beth. She was born December 8 and is, obviously, just precious. Stevie LOVES being a big sister, and everyone is adjusting so well. 

painted baby toenails!!

Yes, she really has this much hair. 

Stevie loves messing with Uncle Dave! They really do love each other :)

Sweet family! We love, love these friends and are so happy for their growing family.

After hanging out for a while on Saturday morning we headed on to the other half of our trip, but we met up with the Earley bunch again on Sunday morning before we left town. We can't wait until they come back to Chattanooga in the Spring for our next visit!

surprise partay

Our weekend started with a bang at Andrea's surprise (belated) 30th birthday party!

It was supposed to be 80s themed... but only Saskia dressed up :)

SURPRISE!

They provided an Andrea with an... awesome... outfit! We had a blast! Love these VW friends!

Kate's Christmas gifts

For Christmas, I made Kate some of these. Well, actually Hayden and David helped. A LOT.

We started last Saturday by cutting out the patterns, and David and I have spent the evenings since then cutting, pinning, sewing and trimming. David did SO much of this project I can hardly take credit for it. I love how they turned out!

And so does she :)

(She also opened KJ's gift- a couple of these.)

pasghetti

Is there anything cuter than a spaghetti-covered baby face?

I submit that there is not.

snowy, icy days

Sunday: snow begins

Monday: more snow, 2 hour delay at UTC

Tuesday: snow didn't melt, freezing cold

Wednesday: winter weather advisory, UTC closes 2 hours early

Thursday: wake up to icy roads, 2 hour delay at UTC

perfect cold-weather meal: chili/soup in a bread bowl, grilled cheese and salad (for D)

Thank goodness for winter weather! I'm loving this abbreviated week :)

Hayden time

Saturday night we had a slumber party with Hayden, just for fun! 

We let her in on a secret project- their family's Christmas present! And yes, it is still a secret. I'm not worried about them finding out because they rarely read my blog (Claire- no telling!!).

My parents gave David a corn hole set for his birthday last year, and we have loved it. We decided it would be best utilized at the lake house, so that's where it has lived this whole time. When thinking about a gift that the entire Bryant family would enjoy, we nearly gave up because it was impossible.

Until... we thought about a personalized corn hole set! Lynn is a die-hard University of Tennessee alum and fan and Kevin is the same way with the University of Alabama. The boys side with their dad and Alabama, and the girls (most of the time) claim to be UT fans. So, I found a good deal on a pre-made set online (we considered making them ourselves, but decided that time is money :)) and ordered them right away! We bought a plain white set so we could personalize them to fit their family.

I started working on them first thing Saturday morning. We were going to leave one board white (for UT) and paint the other one grey (with leftover paint from the bonus room) (for Alabama).

When we got home with Hayden later that night, she helped cut out and assemble the stencils (this awesome website made that process super easy), and we got to work!

our cute helper/buddy

tada!

It really was a simple project that was SO worth the extra bit of work. We aren't doing many gifts this year (none for my family, none for each other, a few for David's fam and close friends), but this one is my absolute favorite of the year. I hope they LOVE it too!

Later that night we watched Heavy Weights (which Hayden had never seen... I felt so old) and started on another Christmas craft project. Whenever the Bryant kids are with us we do craft projects, and Hayden always has the most fun with it. I'll show more picture of this one if when it is finished... it's a doozy.

Sunday morning we were scheduled to volunteer with Creating Christmas Memories, so we skipped church. David and Hayden, however, were up bright and early studying for HayHay's math exam this week (the only caveat for her to be able to spend the night). I love this picture! A of all) David and Hayden have a precious relationship, B of all) we have hardly used our heater since it got cold because our fireplace ROCKS. If we are home and awake, it is on.

After attempting to volunteer (short story: the volunteer line was a 2-hour wait... after enduring about 45 minutes of it, we calculated that we wouldn't have time to get all the way through and get Hayden to soccer practice on time, so we left...), we ran some errands and took H to practice- in the snow! Don't worry, her practice was indoors. We loved our time with just Hay. We rarely get this girl alone, and it's so fun to have her around.