Christmas in the Country

We saw these guys on our way to church Christmas Eve. I love them. I think it's a great idea to put Santa hats on your animals, whatever they may be!


They headed right over to see me.





Merry Christmas!

Christmas at our Crib

Decorating is a lot of work. I take pictures so it'll last longer ;)

I made this ornament wreath a few years back and it's still not broken!


Poinsettias in the kitchen.


Trees in the bathroom.






The cats have their own Christmas tree but they have been too lazy to put lights on it this year.


The village.







I love mercury glass.


Citrus is Christmas.






Merry Christmas Everyone!

5 Years

This weekend Husband and I celebrated our 5 year Anniversary. Time has gone by so fast!
He went all out for our special day. I love you so much Husband!



We spent the weekend in Fort Lauderdale with my family but this time we stayed in a condo on the beach in Lighthouse Point.




The weather was perfect.


And who knew I would find shells on this side?! I grew up here and never thought there were too many finds on the beaches but I was able to find some good stuff near the lighthouse.

A limpet in the sand, just for me.

I found lots of coral.




The closer we got to the lighthouse the more shells I found.
It was so pretty to see the lighthouse from our condo at night.

Here is just a sample of what I found - 2 cowries, turkey wings in fabulous shape and plenty of coral.


It was a great weekend. Thank you for a wonderful Anniversary Husband. Love you!

Banana Walnut Bread. Yum.

My mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law came to visit us last weekend. They brought us bananas and lots of citrus from their trees. I have really been enjoying the grapefruit - they are perfect.

And we have been eating the bananas but yesterday I had 3 left and they were looking a little ripe for me. So I looked up a recipe and boy did I pick a good one. It is from food network and you can find it here.

First you need to toast your walnuts. Fabulous!


Mash up your bananas.


Mix your wet ingredients and slowly add your dry ones.


Fold in your walnuts. I almost added chocolate chips but I'm really glad I didn't.


Brush your loaf pan with melted butter and pour that sweet goodness in.


Bake it at 350 for 55min. I took mine out 7 minutes early because my oven is crazy and that's when it was done.

The whole house smelled amazing. The bread tasted amazing. Super moist and of course I added a little butter to my piece.


This recipe was so easy and so delicious. I was going to bring some to my family this weekend but I don't think it's gonna make it. Sorry guys! I will have to make you another ;)

Thanks for the bananas Grandmom!

Happy Birthday Brittany!!!

Today my baby sister is 24! Happy Birthday Bride!! I hope you have the best day today. I wish I could be there to celebrate. I know it will be difficult but try to have fun without us. Love you!

Thanksgiving in NC

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the cabin in North Carolina this year. We spent the whole week enjoying the views, the cool weather and delicious food.

First we celebrated Husband's 30th Birthday!
His heath bar cake didn't hold up as well this year but it still tasted awesome.



Then we planned our hike.


I believe our hike was around 7 miles but I will have to clarify this with husband.
All the shelters were closed due to aggressive bear activity.
We didn't see any, thank God!

It was a pretty cold and wet day.


We couldn't see much until we got to the very top.


And then the views were spectacular.

This is the view from our cabin. No leaves on trees any more but no snow yet either.

The next day we did some clay shooting.

I was awesome.

Brittany was super worried. It was her first time.


Teresa had a great time!


Then we prepared Thanksgiving Dinner.

Tiny was a BIG helper!





And the boys relaxed.






The day before, Brittany and Husband spent hours cracking these pecans from Grandmom's tree in Florida.



When we had enough, Tiny and Mom went to work on the pecan pie.



It was the best pecan pie I've ever had. Seriously. It was from the Food Network magazine. But I think the fresh pecans are really what made it just right.

And then Husband thought it was his job to finish it.

We had lots of campfires.
These are the types of photos you get with an 8 year old boy.



Parker is getting very good with the BB gun.



Now on to Christmas!