Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas from the Shurtleff House!!!

We had a White Christmas for the first time since 1926! and NO I was not around then, even though my kids think I am pretty old. To my knowledge, I have never had a white Christmas, so this was a first, and we had a great time playing in the snow this morning. Gabriel made many snowballs to throw at me and his siblings. Elena did not want to wear gloves, but she cried when her hands got cold. Hannah and Graham came outside for about 5 minutes before returning to the warm house for a little more Mario Cart fun.

We tried to balance the gifts between media fun(Wii game and a few new vidios) and outdoor activities(a new basket ball goal for the culdesac out front and new street hockey goals)

On Christmas Eve the family attended the usual Christmas pagent at the First United Methodist with Mimi, then on to the service at our church where Clara, Gabriel, and Paul sang with the kids choir. A new twist on the evening was dinner out at AMIGO'S in Richardson. if you haven't tried them out, the food is excellent, and the prices are very reasonable.

After dinner and bedtime for the littles, there was a small amount of last minute wrapping and preparing(no trampolines to assemble this year-Haleluia!) off to bed by midnight-WOW
Christmas morning included the traditional Cranberry Holiday Cake-Yummy, poptarts, and candy from the stockings(gummy worms, yogurt covered pretzels, and jelly belly beans) I think I have a stomach ache just writing about it. the candy, NOT the yummy cake.
Present opening was followed by SnowPlay, Wii Play, a feast of Ham, potatoes, and veggies, a walk at Breckenridge Park, naps, and more play time. all in all, it was a Great Christmas Day. We talked on the phone to the missing family members--Alex in CA, Jessica and Roy snowed in in Vernon, TX and Grandparents in Missouri. we love to sing "we wish you a merry Christmas" on the phone ;) we had a blessed day, hope yours was the same.

Wedding!!!!!

There was a wedding in our family last Saturday. It was a great event, and lots of fun was had by all! Jessica and Roy were married at our church, and had a very fun reception with dinner and dancing at a nearby location. 5 of her 6 brothers were in the wedding, and the youngest one just wore a tux and looked cute!!!(see pictures) 2 of our daughters were bridesmaids, and again, the youngest had a matching dress and, of course, looked cute. Everyone looked so nice -- I have added a picture of our whole family so you can all see!!!

after the wedding on Saturday, they stayed in town at a nice hotel, then drove back to school on Sunday. Roy is in Med school and Jessica is finishing up her doctorate in physical therapy. we are so blessed to have Roy in our family, and we wish many happy years of marriage to the 2 of them.

Blog Trauma--FIXED!!

All of my posts have dissapeared. the pictures are still here, but all my words are gone!!!!(I have never been without words before) I don't know what happened :0( I will try to find my words....

I have found my words!!! When you accidentaly make your text color the same as the background color...poof! words gone! change it back...and Poof! words are back :0)

Spring is here in Texas

Spring always brings great variety in weather, and we love that about Texas. Our trees are all leafing out (is that a word?) There are flowers everywhere!! We are looking for a new variety of living places as well.

We have recently decided to put our house on the market, and I will post pictures soon of the changes we have made to enhance it's appearance. stay tuned for pictures of the house we want to move into as well. it is a great house on a cul de sac with a 1.4 acre yard. we are excited about all of that.