What a fabulous day.........December 11, 1956.........Dallas TX 9:06AM.......My birthday!

I've always had fantastic birthday celebrations as far back as I can remember.....two weeks before christmas and still lots of presents and hoopla!

Today is no exception. My day started off with Lyn pretending that he had forgotten (even though I knew he hadn't), I got a very cute card and $100 gift card to go shopping! woo hoo -can't wait for that! Then got into work and my office is all decorated with red, green and white streamers, balloons all over the place, Julie made me a chocolate Kahlua cake (yum- you can't beat Kahlua at work), Noemi brought in breakfast from Chic-fil-a and Brooke got me apple cider from starbucks! I also got a very beautiful cross from Noemi AND a bottle of wine and a cross ornament from my Secret Santa! Not to mention tons of calls from family and friends....Am I loved or What?

Thanks everyone for making my day special. I love birthdays! This one will go in my memory book as being just as special as the others!

The Spirit of Giving...the Harley Way

Every year around Christmas time, ordinary, everyday people get all dressed up in their favorite leather gear and boots, strap toys to the back of the motorcycle and take off on a very fun and fulfilling adventure. Otherwise known as The Toy Run. Lyn and I have participated with friends of ours in several of these over the years; this year it was the Lewisville Toy Run held this past weekend.

Harley Mama!

It was so cold as we headed out about 9am to downtown Lewisville to register for the event.

(Please note in the pic above: the dark spot on the ground in front of me is the dog poop I managed to step in and track all over the place before I figured out that I had stepped in it and that I was the one who was actually stinking!)

Anyway......after we registered and signed the accident waivers, we headed over to Main street to check out all the vendors that were set up and hopefully find something good to eat before the ride.

Mission accomplished.....We followed our noses and found some fabulous tamales - yum. I know, not the typical breakfast food, but still very good on a cold December morning. Lyn also bought me a beautiful wooden cross very similar to this one. I have the perfect spot for it in my entry way!

Motorcycle roll time was set for Noon, so about 11:30 we headed over to the bikes to get ready. I don't know how many bikes were there, but I would say in the hundreds. It was so cool and so much fun and SO Loud. We rode from Lewisville over to Flower Mound and back all through the streets and neighborhoods. It was a blast! The best part was seeing all the faces of kids lined up on the streets waving and smiling. Once back to downtown, we dropped off our toys and were treated to a live band and Hooters wings to finish off the day.

All of the toys collected will go to Toys for Tots.

It was so cool to see so many people turn out for such a great cause.

Can't wait for next year! ............Ride on baby!

ICE, ICE Baby!

Every year for the past 4 years, our family has attended the ICE display at Gaylord Texan. This year was no exception, except that we had more people this year - 19 to be exact! Everyone was so excited as we met each other in the lobby before we headed upstairs to stand in line to get in, but much to our surprise, there was no line! How awesome is that? we walked right in - donned our bright blue parkas and got all bundled up ready to experience the 9 degree temperature. First stop, the picture area - this year in front of a green screen, what a great surprise when we picked up the picture to find out we were standing in front of the ice bridge!

We all had so much fun, the kids especially as they touched the ice, caught snowflakes on their tongues (kinda yucky, actually) and raced to the next room to see what was next. Shelby was so cute all bundled up with eyes big and bright taking in all the sights. She couldn't quite figure out what we were all doing with these big blue hoods on.

We took romantic pictures under the icy tree canopy,

Posed for pictures in the candy train,

And the kids even got to sit on Santa's icy lap!

Whoa - that'll freeze your hiney!

The highlight of the night had to be the reindeer slides. Rudolf and his gang lead the way as the kids slid down over and over again.

Little Kids ...

And the big kids too!

We finally got everyone off the slides.....next stop...over to get our free glow necklaces. I think the lady just about flipped when she had to pull out 19 of them! We also saw the "real" Santa. Deegan wasn't even afraid to talk to him. He wouldn't sit on his lap, but he made sure to tell him he wanted a kitchen for Christmas.

We left the hotel about 9pm and all headed over to El Fenix for the famous Wednesday night Mexican special. Yummy! It was kinda nice too because since we got there so late, we had the whole restaurant to ourselves. Finally about 10 pm (way past our bedtimes!) we decided we better head home. It was a such a fantastic night filled with lots of family fun. Can't wait till next year!

O' Christmas Tree

I love tradition. Ever since I can remember as a child we always put our Christmas tree up during the first week of December usually around the 5th and always, always before my birthday on the 11th. I am a little early this year, but if you read my post from yesterday you will see that I have a million things to do this year so I didn't really think a couple of days early would break the tradition. Anyway - putting up the tree has always been a major affair. As a child, we always got a live tree, so the day would start with us all going with Dad to pick out the tree. We would all gather in the living room as Dad brought the tree in to put it in the stand with Mom all the while telling him how crooked it was. Once he finally got the tree up, the decorating would begin. We would always start with the lights and the garland then proceed to hang up our favorite ornaments one by one while of course listening to Elvis Christmas records on the "stereo". What a wonderful tradition.


I have tried my best to keep that tradition alive. It worked well when the kids were little, they really got into the idea of picking out the tree and hanging their own ornaments and even listening to the music. But as they've grown older, tree prices have increased and there is less time to get everything done, some things have changed. We now have a pre-lit artificial tree and unfortunately sometimes it seems decorating it is just another chore to be done and usually ends up with Ashley finishing up everything. Well this year we tried something different. Deegan came over and helped us decorate the tree. He was so anxious to get the ornaments out and asked about every one as he meticulously placed each one at eye level (the eye level of a 2 year old that is). He had so much fun and so did we. As I look at our tree and see how beautiful it is, I think I've decided to start a new tradition. A tradition that will continue as more grandchildren are born and hopefully be passed on to their children as well.

Time

December already? Where does the time go? We spend our days wishing for days end, wishing for the weekend, wishing for next week, next month, next payday, yet we always wonder in December how it got here so fast. It's that time of year again.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day spending time with my family and two of my little grandbabies and of course plenty of food to eat for sure. There are so many things to be thankful for - I think that's why we have holidays. Time that we can spend with our families as a reminder of the good things we really have in our lives and how much we really have to be thankful for each year. Dad was not feeling very good on Turkey day but he was determined he was not going to miss another holiday like he did last year and he made the best of it anyway. All in all it was a wonderful day!
Now it's on to Christmas - I managed to survive Black Friday shopping coming home with several great bargains! My holiday shopping is now well underway and really close to finished- yee ha! We are hosting the Davis extended family this year, so my to-do list is a mile long just getting ready...so much to do....cookies to bake, candy to make, decorations to hang, outside, inside, parties, potlucks, secret santa, gifts to buy, gifts to wrap, not to mention 18 stockings to fill and 16 of my own kids and grandkids to buy for. It will all get done in time......Time.....So little time, not enough time, time to relax, time to reflect on the past, time to be thankful for the present.