No Friends Like Old Friends

Last night I got to get together with several of my friends from high school. We had our annual Christmas party, and it was lots of fun. Here are some pics from the event. Props to Brian for letting me have the night off to relax!

Christmas Pics

Christmas Pics

Christmas 2006

We had a great Christmas this year! We got to spend lots of time with lots of family. Ty had a lot of fun with his cousins. I'm not feeling very wordy tonight, but I'll share lots of pics! I hope everyone's holidays were great! Happy New Year!

Santa is a Hairy Man

Well, we made our first attempt to visit Santa today. Not surprisingly, Ty was terrified of him. All that hair on his face seemed to really freak him out. I tried sitting him in Mrs. Claus' lap next to Santa, but he screamed frantically. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of that because my camera wasn't cooperating, but I did get some pics of my holding him next to Santa. Maybe next year (but I doubt it). I am also adding some recent pics I took of Ty in his Santa suit. One of them is on our Chrsitmas card, but I wanted to share the others too. Just to make you laugh, you should know that I had to cut a slit in the back of the hat about 1 or 2 inches long in order to get it on this child's head! Having little ones at Christmas brings out the child in your heart doesn't it? Oh yeah, could that last picture look any more like Brian Petty?!

PaPa

We said goodbye last Sunday to PaPa. He was born on September 5, 1935 and passed away on December 10, 2006. I miss him so much already, but I know that he would want us to remember him with smiles and not tears. I have been so blessed to have him in my life for 25 years. Grandparents are such a blessing. Thank you PaPa for a life well lived and so much love through the years. You will live on in us.

A Country Christmas

Last weekend we joined our friends the Akins and went to Opryland hotel to see the lights. It was us and about a million other people! It was lots of fun though. The picture where Ty is clapping and smiling is when we showed him the huge, lit up tree. He was pretty excited. We enjoyed all the sights and the company! It is a bit of a family tradition to do this I guess. Our first big outing with Ty last year was to Opryland to see the lights. It's hard to believe he was so tiny just a year ago. I hope everyone is enjoying the season!

Ode to Duane

Today we salute you Duane Dixon.

While lesser men sit around and watch TV, you faithfully try to defeat Bowser once and for all in the presence of your son.

You don't have to go out in the sun to get a tan.

You just wake up and it is there.

Only whoosies cover their mouths when they burp.

You make sure a tri-county area can hear your rumble.

You make Ty Pennington look like Tony Danza with your modern home stylings.

You tirelessly work to convert the masses.

Who's Max Lucado?

I don't know, but have you heard that Duane Dixon speak?

So here's to you Duane Dixon.

Keep up the good work of making the rest of us look bad.

Petty Family Thanksgiving/Christmas

We spent the weekend out in Kingston Springs at Brian's parents' house. Brian's sister Kim, her husband Mitch and their 4 daughters were in from Dallas, TX. They will not be back for Christmas so we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas this weekend. We even exchanged gifts already! It was great. We had a nice "Christmas dinner" on Saturday night and then exchanged gifts. The kids were so cute and fun. The 4 girls were absolutely precious. We miss them so much because we don't get to see them very often. We treasure these times when they are here. Unfortunately, Ty's cousin Malcolm got sick and had to miss the party. We missed that sweet boy and his daddy. Ty was a little fussy too because of these ear infections that he can't seem to kick, but he did okay. We enjoyed celebrating the holidays with family. We are so incredibly blessed with both of our large families.

Forrest Family Thanksgiving

On Thursday we got to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Forrest family at my parents house. It was a lot of fun. We missed my grandfather who was too sick to come and some others who were under the weather, but we still had a big crowd. The lunch was incredible and the company was even better! I thought I would share some photos. The two guys are my brother and my cousin (yes, they are that big). The two girls are my cousins, and the pretty lady in pink is my grandmother. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I am constantly amazed by how much I have to be thankful for. Praise God for His many blessings!

Ty's First Haircut

Last Wednesday, on the day before Thanksgiving, Ty got his first haircut. I had been putting it off because I didn't want him to be old enough to get a haircut, but Brian finally talked me into it! It looks adorable, although he looks like a little boy now! He hated every minute of it as you can see in the pictures. He screamed bloody murder the whole time (I tipped the lady well don't worry). The whole ordeal only took about 5 minutes and he eventually calmed down. I can't believe how fast he is growing up!

New York City!!!

This past weekend Mom, Jenny, Aunt Karen, Sarah and I went to New York City!!! It was a blast. We had 3 straight days of girl time. I missed my boys a lot, but it was good to get away for a few days. We squeezed in everything we could. We went to Central Park, the Empire State building, St. Patrick's Cathedral, an awesome play called "The Drowsy Chaperone", dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the city, Rockefellar Center, a famous Deli, and more!!! We even bought some knock off Prada purses on the street. Now those of you who see me with it will know that I have not indeed started selling drugs or embezzeling from Tennessee Contractors! We got some good shopping in (all maternity for me). It was just a wonderful weekend. Thanks Mom and Dad!!! I enjoyed getting to spend time with my family. I feel so blessed to have so much wonderful family surrounding me. A special thanks to my dear, sweet husband who rode herd on the little Turkey all weekend! I think they enjoyed each other's company. And when we got back and Ty saw me he burst into angry tears, every mother's dream! Oh well, I think he likes me again today. Hopefully no permanent damage was done. I hope everyone is doing well! Thanksgiving is next week!!! Turn up the Christmas music!!!