Christmas 08 a little late!

I wanted to put a few pics from Christmas and our trip up to NY to see Andrew's family. We had a great Christmas here in Knoxville and then traveled to see everyone in NY. Here are a few pics from the trip!

Andrew with Emmett, MaryClaire, and Michaela

Our flower girls are growing up! Anne and Johannah

Our B&B for the week...Bill and Joanne's beautiful home

Our new backyard!

We got a fence this past week and we feel like we got a whole new backyard. We LOVE it and feel like we have more privacy now. Jack loves it too and he is already going through his doggy door, that Andrew installed, on his own. He love roaming around back there and it make us feel better since there is no way he could get out. Andrew took some pictures of the stages of the fence going up so you can see the transformation. We hope to stain the fence this summer to match the deck!

salUTe to excellence!

On Friday night, Andrew and I went to the 21st annual Salute to Excellence. It is the major fundraiser for the Lady Vols and all the money raised goes to their scholarship fund. Pat Summitt auctioned off a dinner at her hosue and it went for $50,000! She sold 2 of them! Ginny and Diana also came...they looked beautiful...we had a great time!! Thanks for the tux Dad!

Our Water Dog!

Last Sunday, Andrew and I took a trip up to Norris Dam State Park with my cousins Griffin and Emily and our dogs, Jack and Molly (Griffin's 3 year old yellow lab). We had a great time going on a hike and letting Jack teach himself how to swim. I can't really say we taught him how, but cause as soon as he got in the water, he started swimming. At first, he wasn't too sure of himself or getting into the water, but after a couple of times, he seemed to love it. He loved being outdoors and not on a leash and enjoyed his time with his new friend Molly.

Our visit to the Gianniny House!

After Christmas, Andrew and I took the long haul up to Buffalo, NY to visit his extended family...(more on that later). After our visit, we headed east to Rochester to see Mark, Cindy, Jack, Danny and Charlie. We hadn't seen them since our wedding and were eager to arrive and have a few days to catch up!

Andrew and I had a blast playing basketball (Andrew and Danny beat Jack and I) and wiffle ball (umm..Jack and SB creamed the others!) with the boys. We also played in the snow...yes...almost 1 foot of fresh snow fell...it was awesome....we capped of the trip with a Ping-Pong Tournament where Andrew contintued his dominance in the sport.

It was great catching up with Mark and Cindy (and Lauren!). We are so lucky to have such dear friends!

We already miss everyone and are planning on heading back up there over the summer to go to Lake George!

Mark and Cindy emailed us these pics from the trip!

SB and Danny at his birthday dinner!

Future Vols!

Danny turns 10 years old!! Yummy Cake!

Relaxing on the couch with my 2 favorite men!

Our car's first snow!

Andrew playing in the snow

One last picture before our goodbye..:(.

A new discovery...Etsy.com

As you may have noticed (or not) on the side of our blog I have a link to Etsy.com. It is a website created for people to sell their handmade products...everything from jewelry (my fav) to cupcakes to art. A person could spend hours on here looking at everything....and I did on Saturday morning when I had to give the ACT at school. I was bored out of my mind thinking about all those poor kids who were actually thinking...and thinking hard....and their I was...surfing Etsy. I registered so I can keep track of all of my favorite sellers. Here are a few you might want to check out:
Sticksandstonesga
ERMoriginals
SAEE

The best part about it is that everything on there (that I have liked) is VERY reasonably priced and it seems like a great place to get Christmas gifts...especially for someone who has everything. You should check it out!

Introducing the newest member of our family....Jack Pratt!

Yes, we took the plunge and got a dog!! We've really been wanting one for a long time and Saturday night we drove to White Pine to see two puppies that were left from a litter. When we called the lady said she had a white male and yellow male left from a litter. I instantly thought I would prefer the white one...but as soon as we saw his cute yellow face with his crooked smile and deformed tail, we knew!! We had to have the yellow lab puppy! He's so sweet and he is slowly getting use to his new home.

We left the house and Andrew was ready to get him right then! Me, being the voice of reason, said, "No, let's wait and see how we feel tomorrow morning". The first thing I though about when I woke up on Sunday was Jack. I told Andrew this and was bothering him all day long about going to get it. He played it off and told me that we couldn't get him yet. I thought this was strange since, just the day before, he wanted it. Andrew told me he was going to play poker up at Holston Hills and he would be back in a couple of hours. I went to workout and thought about the dog the entire time. I thought, in the back of my mind, I hope he is really going to get the dog. Well, when he got home, no dog. I was disappointed when he walked in and was empty handed.

The Lady Vols were coming over for their Christmas party that evening, so I was busy getting food ready and cleaning up. The doorbell rang at 5:30 and I told Andrew to go and answer it. I assumed one of the girls had arrived early. Andrew called me to the door and said, "You will never believe who is here!" It never crossed my mind that it was Jack! There he was, with Luis, Judy, Lexy, and Maya, waiting for me! Andrew did suprise me!! The dog was in the garage the whole time!!

Needless to say, he has kept us very busy these last few days and nights! He is just a puppy - 8 weeks old- born October 5! He loves his toy that Joanne bought him and he loves old t-shirts he can chew on. He also loves to play out in the yard and we are looking forward to training him to fetch a ball.

I will keep you posted on all his progress...and ours!!