Christmas in Coppell...

We spent Christmas afternoon and evening in Coppell at my brother and sister-in-law's house....it was so much fun being with them on Christmas day. Here are some great shots from the day....


Precious...


The one I love...


Our "stockings" from Mom...she goes all out on these. We always save our stockings for last...they're the best!


Cole and Kalie digging in...


Cole inside his stocking...too cute!


Mom loved this gift from Jimmy and Jill...


Jimmy and Jill...


Mom gave Jill and I Uggs....definitely a huge surprise for us both...we had no clue! I haven't taken mine off since we've been in Colorado...I love them!


Chloe and Kaci loved their new toys that Kalie and Cole gave them!


I surprised mom with Celine Dion tickets!!!! We can't wait for January 5th to get here!!!


Santa brought Kalie and Cole a go-kart....they were really good this year!


Proud Aunt...


Kalie loves her Uncle Josh...


Jimmy fried a turkey for the first time...It was SO delicious! Josh did a great job playing fire marshall...

What a day...Christmas was so much fun this year! On Christmas night we packed for Colorado and hit the road at 5am the next morning. We made it to the cabin at 6pm that evening....dad and Corinne were so happy to have us all in Colorado for a few days to celebrate Christmas! Pictures from our time in Colorado to come tomorrow....

Until then....goodnight and sleep tight!

Christmas in Houston...

We spent the 23rd-25th in Houston with Josh's entire family. On the 23rd, we had the annual white elephant gift exchange at Jimmy and Leisa's (Josh's aunt and uncle)...it was so much fun, as always. I came home with fake scars and stretching body parts....just what I wanted! :) Here are a few pics from that evening....


Me and my handsome hubby...


Granny, me and Julie...


Maci, Judi, Leisa, Granny and Janet....


Lexie and I...

On Christmas eve all of the girls went shopping and to lunch before the Christmas eve service at Granny's church, Tallowood Baptist, and dinner with the entire family (a tradition each year). After dinner, we went back to Granny and Grandad's to open all of our presents. Here are a few pictures from Christmas eve....one of my favorite days of the year!


Each year we take family pics before we leave for the Christmas Eve service. The Wray Rives family (Wray, Julie, Me, Josh, Wes and Jacob)....I'm SO lucky to have such wonderful in-laws!


The Josh Rives family...our girls are so precious! :)


The Burkett family....Blake, Greg, Janet and Brett.


The Post-Cawley family....Conner, Jeff, Brandon, Judi, Lexie and Dan.


The Winters family....Jimmy, Leisa, MacKenzie and Maci.


Granny and Grandad with their kiddos....Janet, Julie, Judi and Jimmy.


All of the girls...


We "cut back" this year....


Josh and his new MacBook....he is so spoiled.


Grandad gave this to me....too funny and so true!


Kaci and Chloe loved playing with all the wrapping paper and ribbon...

On Christmas morning, we opened our gifts from Santa and then headed to Dallas to spend Christmas day with my family....those pictures to come tomorrow.

Colorado update: Today we went snow shoeing for the first time....it was actually a lot of fun and not as hard as I thought it would be...I definitely got my workout for the day though! I finished the book 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper...it's a great read...I would definitely recommend it. Now I'm reading The Shack...a book I've been wanting to read for some time now. I've heard mixed reviews about it, so I'm anxious to get through it.

Have a great night!
Mindy

Aggie Christmas...

First, I'll give a Colorado update....We had a great time on the slopes today. The sun was shinning bright (usually not the case during winter skiing), making the 20 degree weather surprisingly bearable. I got to ski with my 6 year old niece, Kalie, for the first time....she did a great job on all the runs, even the blues...I was very impressed! Today was my first time to ski in 2 years, so I'm sure I'll be very sore tomorrow morning when I wake up. Now we're grazing on all sorts of yummy food and watching the Cowboy game...we recorded it since we were skiing when it started. Wow...it's not looking good. Come on boys....get it in gear!

Now on to more Christmas blogging....Last Saturday was the annual Aggie Christmas gathering at Mel and Justin's house in Lake Highlands. Here are a few pics from the evening....


Michael, Josh and Brent enjoying their hot toddies...


Friends since our freshman year at A&M (2000)....I love these girls!


Elizabeth and Marina....I love these girls too! :)


Mr. and Mrs. Rector.....thanks for showing up.


A close-up of Caroline and I....we have a lot of these face-to-face shots!


Cece, Kyle, Ben and Ang...


Mr. and Mrs. Brazeal...


The boys watching the Cowboy game...

Tis the Season...

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone....I wish time would slow down a bit...especially during the holidays....it's my favorite time of the year! The past week has been jammed pack with Christmas parties and family gatherings....we've really had a great time celebrating the season and the birth of our Savior. Now we're at our cabin in Buena Vista, CO relaxing and enjoying the snow...we got here yesterday and will stay through the 2nd or 3rd. I have a lot to blog about and thanks to our extremely slow pace at the cabin (it's wonderful and definitely needed), I should have plenty of time for some new posts during our stay.

Last Friday, Josh and I hosted the 2nd annual Christmas dinner and gift exchange with are dear friends...Marina and Chris Simmons, Elizabeth and Jordan Brazel and Karen and BJ Rector. Here are a few pics from the party...


My dinning room table decorated for dinner....I cooked pork tenderloin, green beans, mashed potatoes and bread pudding...


We drew names and had a $20 limit. Marina had Josh...she gave him a book he really wanted.


Josh had Karen....he gave her A Charlie Brown Christmas.


Karen had me....she gave me this adorable scarf that I've worn 3 times already...I love it!


I had Liz...I gave her a make-up bag and really cute leggings.


Liz had BJ...she gave him new socks that he was strangely excited about....socks was what he wanted. Strange. :)


BJ had Chris....he gave him cigars and a cigar cutter.


Chris had Jordan....he gave him coffee, a coffee mug and gummy bears....a few of his favorite things!


Jordan had Marina....he gave her a precious prayer box.


The girls...


The whole gang....thanks to the timer on my new camera!

Josh and I are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends in our lives...we love y'all!

Glory in the Highest!

On Dec. 13th we celebrated Christmas with our IBC small group....we went to dinner at Fireside Pies at the Shops at Legacy and to the Shane and Shane Christmas concert, Glory in the Highest. Dinner was excellent and I was in heaven at the concert....I love Shane and Shane! Bethany Dillon and Phil Wickham opened for Shane and Shane....they all put on a great show and it definitely got us all in the Christmas spirit!

Our small group...


Me & Josh with Elyse & Scott Hollrah...and baby Hollrah on the way! :)


Liz & Joey Goodwin (left) and Lindsay & Matt Terry (right)