New Year's Update

We had a lovely and relaxing Christmas holiday this year. With Rachel's family in Tennessee, we had just five around the table -- the three of us, plus my father-in-law and Patrick's co-worker Scott. I was pleased to receive TEN books! Here are are few photos.






For our anniversary, we went to the outlets in San Marcos, then had a wonderful seafood dinner at Eddie V's in Austin. We spent the night at a hotel nearby and drove home the next morning.

We accomplished a number of organizational and improvement projects around the house before returning to work this week.

Christmas Cookies

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without cut-out, iced sugar cookies! This year I used Martha Stewart's recipe, and it worked very well.

Christmas Decorations

Here are some photos of our Christmas decorations this year. The photos serve as reminders of what worked and what didn't for future planning. Here's the entryway table.

Here are photos of the living room decorations.


Here is a photo of the dining room sideboard.

And here is the baker's rack in the kitchen.

Early Christmas!

We had an early Christmas this weekend with Rachel's family, as it's their year to go to Rob's family for Christmas. Eleanor and Thomas looked adorable in their Christmas pjs.



Eleanor and Thomas had lots of fun with her snack shop and cash register.



Uncle Patrick was also popular.



Papaw enjoyed watching the children open their gifts.



Here's one more photo that includes a look at the decorated mantel.

Patrick's Jack o' Lantern

Birthday!

We celebrated our birthdays in fine style this year, with a weekend in Destin! We stayed at the Sandestin Hilton, where we've stayed before, and it was great. The weather cooperated (after an arrival in driving rain), and we enjoyed walking on the beach, shopping, and eating some wonderful meals.

One More Summer Photo

I made a Fourth of July dress for Eleanor, with matching shorts for Thomas. Thomas didn't want to pose when this photo was taken!