Christmas Eve 2008

We went to a beautiful candle light service with Chris's family on Christmas Eve. After that, we went home to open our Christmas PJ's. Chris and I read Boston The Night Before Christmas before putting him to bed. It was a wonderful night.

The Joy of Christmas Morning

Oh, to be a child again on Christmas morning! Boston had a blast opening his presents from Santa. Santa hooked Boston up with the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, books, DVD's and what he wanted most of all - CANDY!

Christmas with the VanderHorst Family

After opening presents from Santa, we went to my parents house. My mom always prepares a yummy a spread for breakfast. It's a tradition that I'm glad has lasted through the years. Boston had fun handing out the gifts to everyone. (and helping them unwrap) My grandparents gave me a T-shirt from my favorite ice cream joint- Ethel's Dew Drop Inn in upstate New York. LOVE IT! Notice the picture of my poor mother. She had a black eye for Christmas this year as a result from surgery. She had bad case of skin cancer that's been growing for at least 2 years. (of course, we didn't know about it until it grew out from the inside and finally made it to the surface) So scary! It just made me want to cry to see her like that, but we're are lucky they caught it when they did. After a 4 hour procedure, the doctors were able to remove all the cancer. We have A LOT to be grateful for this Christmas.

Christmas with the Marco Family

After celebrating Christmas with my family, we went to celebrate with Chris's family. What a FULL day of fun. As usual, Chris got a lot of Red Skins stuff. We all chipped in and got Rhonda her first Coach purse. She was thrilled but I forgot to take a picture. We hooked dad up with some sweet Harley Davidson gear. Brent got Guitar Hero III and we jammed the rest of the night. Lots of fun.

New Years 2008 into 2009

We spent new years with great friends in our own private VIP room at Tap in downtown Atlanta. Shelley is the manager there and hooked us up big time. We had a great view overlooking Peachtree Street and 14th Street. (thanks Shelley!) We had a great time. Happy New Year to all! Let's make this one the best we've ever had!

Christmas Party

Chris and I threw a small holiday party for some of our close friends. It was so great to be with such amazing friends around the holidays. Of course, Chris and I wore our tacky Christmas sweaters. I felt like an old lady, but it was still funny. We played a white elephant gift exchange game that generated some good laughs. With good friends and good company, you really can’t go wrong. We are so lucky and extremely grateful to have such wonderful friends.

Thanksgiving with the Fox & Marco Family

Thanksgiving dinner (Round 2) with Chris's family was held at our home this year. Notice the candle/flower center piece on the table. We all lit a candle in memory of Chris's late grandfather who passed away in the spring. We miss you Pawpaw.

Chris's dad makes the BEST turkey in the deep fryer. This year, he cooked 2 of them to make sure there would be enough left overs. Chris had the honor of carving the birds and enjoyed every minute of it. As usual, Chris's mom prepared a yummy fest and also made 3 pumpkin pies! Brent gets his own. No joke, she makes a pie just for Brent. Chris's birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year. He's one year older and hopefully wiser. Next year he'll hit the big 3-0!! I made Chris a beautiful Boston Cream Cake that NOBODY got around to eating. We were all too full for cake by the end of the day.

Thanksgiving (Round 1) at the VanderHorst Home

Thanksgiving dinner (lunch really) with my family was awesome. My mom made a delectable spread of thanksgiving food. We ate so much that it ruined our appetite for our evening dinner with Chris's family. What can I say, my mom rocks the kitchen!

My brother, Barry brought his awesome 4-wheeler over. We had so much fun riding it through the woods. If I had some land, I would definitely own my own 4-wheeler to play on. We also worked up an appetite by jumping on the tramp-o-lean and playing some basketball. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun together. I just LOVE the holidays!

Fun with the Cox's

After the GA game, we had a great time together eating some yummy grub, and playing fun games, like Apples to Apples. The Cox's are a great family and we are very lucky to call them our friends.

GA vs. FL football party

Chris and I had some friends over for the annual GA/FL college football game. We played some hard core wiffle ball before the game started. It was a beautiful day for competitive sports, played in our back yard and viewed on the TV in the back yard. Luckily we have patient neighbors. We had some friends there that are FL fans and they didn't give us too much grief when GA lost.

Christine, Chris and Michelle in their GA blacks. Too bad it didn't end up a "black out" game.
John devouring Chris's yummy BBQ chicken legs

High Five!

Happy Halloween!

Our friends from Alabama came up to celebrate this weekend's festivities with us. Brian is a Polar Bear and his wife, Melissa is Sarah Palin. Brennan is a redneck groom and Asha is his pregnant redneck bride. (notice the black eye! too funny) They were kind enough to hand out candy for us while we went trick-or-treating with Boston. Last year, Boston was too young to walk around the neighborhood, so we just pulled him in the wagon. This was his first year to walk door to door and say "trick or treat!". He roared at everyone in his cute dragon costume.

We were rockers, but some people thought that Chris was dressed up as Chris Angel. Chris even let me put some eye liner on him. He looked so HOT!

Paula and her family went trick-or-treating with us. He son, Harrison was Spider Man - Boston's hero! It was the best day of Boston's life to be able to walk around with Spider Man himself!

The rockin' and fire breathing Fox family Rrrrraaaaaarrrrrrr!

Courtney's visit home

My sister, Courtney and her youngest daughter Lucy, flew in from Utah for a few days to celebrate my mothers 60th birthday. Boston and Lucy are just 5 weeks apart in age. It's too bad they don't live closer, they'd be best friends for sure. It was great to see my sister, but it was hard to say good-bye. LOVE YOU COURT!! Miss you and the kids so much.

Beanie buddies

Playin' in the back yard.

Boston and Lucy cruisin' in the F-150

Boston's 2nd Birthday!

So Boston is now TWO! We had a family party at our house for him to celebrate. And yes, that is me in this picture. I've chopped my hair off and I feel 10 pounds lighter!

My parents gave Boston a sweet Lightning McQueen tricycle.

And for the grand finale..... Drum roll...... What could it be?

Wow! What fun balloons on your new ride.

Cruisin' in style with his new F-150. It even has a working FM radio! The instructions indicate that it is for children 3 years and up, but Chris and I just couldn't wait that long. Happy Birthday, Boston. We LOVE you!!!

Fun at Jillians

We took Boston to play games at Jillians. I think daddy had more fun than Boston did. Maybe we'll wait a few years before we go back.