Christmas 2009- Holman Style

We celebrated Christmas a few times with the Holmans. First, on Dec. 20 in Henrietta with Meme and Gramps and the Yeagers. It is always so nice to spend time in Henrietta...it is quiet, peaceful and always warms my heart. We had wonderful meals, got to spend the night at Aunt Nancy's beautiful home, watched Gramps read the Christmas story to the kiddos, open gifts, listened to carolers and share how we have "built bridges" over the year. Meme and Gramps are such GENEROUS people and really show how important family is in all their actions. We love you! Thank you for having us!

Gramps and Mason listening to the carolers at the front door

Meme and Gramps with all their grandkids

Merry Christmas!

Gramps reading the Christmas story to Mason and Aubrey

Less than a week later, we headed down to Waco on Christmas Day for the next celebration- that lasted several days! Blake's family from South Carolina were in town and we had a total of 21 people at Mike and Sherrie's for 4 days! It was a full house-but tons of fun! Not to mention 5 kiddos under the age of 5!

Sweet Mason in his new Baylor Bear hat!

Bonnie and I on Christmas Day

Santa even made an appearance!

and Cooper was beside himself!

all the little bits with Santa (Haley-4, Brooke-7 mths, Mason-22 mths, Reese-2, Cooper-3)

Brooke and her beautiful blue eyes!

I love this one of Mason's smile!

ALL the kids are just mesmerized by Uncle Blake - he is SO good with kids! and what started out as a little wrestling...

...ended as a HUGE dog pile! Watching this made me so excited to have kids with Blake (one day) because I know he is going to be such a hands-on, fun, involved dad!

I am pretty sure someone in the family got a pic of the whole bunch, but it wasn't my camera...so as soon as I get it, I will post it, just to show off this crew! Can't wait to see you all again in Destin this summer!
Whew! What a wonderful Christmas with everyone!!! On a side note: Almost everyone at the Holman house was sick by the end of the trip...just a lot going around. Blake and I thought we had a tough enough immune system, UNTIL I got terribly sick on New Year's Eve/Day and have been home sick ever since! Finally on the mend though :)

A White Christmas- Parker Style - 2009

The Christmas of 2009 was definitely one to remember! It all started with a balmy 75 degrees outside on Dec 23...Blake and I headed out to the lakehouse (in our short sleeves) to start the celebrating with the Parker family. Mom and Dad made a delish fajita spread and we all ate outside with the moon reflecting over Lake Lewisville. Then the games and cookie decorating began! We played several rounds of Apple to Apples - Dad's new favorite game - and it was really fun to watch everyone's personalities come out in the game. After that, we started making cookies! We haven't done this all together in several years... we usually all just bring desserts or make cookies ahead of time. It was really fun to start this tradition again, especially since next Christmas we will have a baby to help and the lakehouse will soon become Gigi and Poppa's house :)

Mom and the girls

Blake working extra hard on his gingerbread man

Blake was trying to eat my cookie while I decorated it


Jen and Mel...Rockin' the Bump! Isn't she a cute prego??

The next morning, Christmas Eve, I woke up like a giddy little school girl! It was SNOWING IN TEXAS ON CHRISTMAS (eve)!!! I LOVED it! I am pretty sure the first words out of Melissa mouth was, "I have never seen you in such a good mood this early in the morning, before your coffee!" Ha! I have to say I am a completely different person before and after coffee - but this was snow and snow trumps everything! Not only did it snow, but it snowed ALL DAY LONG! To the point where we opted out of the Christmas Eve service, but enjoyed at day inside...the guys playing cards, the girls cooking and watching movies. We had a fabulous dinner and then opened all the gifts! Everyone was SO generous! Thank you!

A morning snow!

The guys playing (probably cheating at) cards

Mom and Dad's gorgeous tree! and WAY too many gifts!

Blake and Heather Christmas 2009

The whole family

By nightfall, the snow was still coming down

and I had to post this pic....Blake doing ALL the Christmas dishes, with a happy heart! I love him!

December Catch Up!!

Wow! December was definitely a BUSY month!!! So many fun times and memories made! To make it simple, here is just a brief run down with pictures :)

Dec 9 - Kambry was in town from London, so all the girls got together at La Duni and celebrated Noelle's birthday!!! I cherish my friendships with each one of these girls! We have been best friends since the good ole days of DDD at Baylor and the Delta Mansion :) Can't wait to see what is in store for each of us in 2010 - we already know one baby and one wedding will take place...what else??

Dec 12 - Burdett Tacky Christmas! This an anual tradition that I look forward to months in advance! There is always yummy food, great friends and HILARIOUS costumes. This year the Burdetts decided to start naming winners for the costumes...don't worry, the Holmans won this year with our footie pajamas! Best part: they were SOOOOO comfy!

With the McCords

all the girls

Dec 13 - Dallas White Rock Half Marathon! The very next day, B and I got up extra early, put on an extra layer of clothes and got to the starting line to run a quick 13.1 miles before breakfast :) This was my 9th half marathon! wow- can't wait to hit 10! It wasn't our best run - neither one of us trained very well for this one- but we still finished and are looking forward to the next one in March! No pics from this event - we had nothing on us, except a pair of car keys and ipods.

Dec 15 - Baylor Women's Council Holiday CHEER! - Such a great evening to visit with all the Dallas BU alums! You see friends you haven't seen in awhile, try great food/drinks - get recipes for ALL the treats and even door prizes! What a fun night!

Dec 16 - Patrizio's and the Rockettes! - As our Christmas celebration, Noelle, Regan, Leslie and I all got together to have a fabulous italian dinner with all the lights of HP Village and then off to the show! The Rockettes show was so fun! Those girls have some AMAZING legs and the most gorgeous costumes! I also LOVED the nativity scene they did at the end of the show- really incredible that they actually spoke from scripture and said the name Jesus in such a public setting. I think that is hard to find now-a-days. Most of the time people like to dance around the subject of our Savior's birth and the true meaning of Christmas, so it was a welcomed surprise to see it at the Rockettes show!

Dec 19 - Jen and Amy's BU Graduation! - can you believe it?? all of the Parker girls are finished at Baylor!!!! Mom and Dad were SO excited (to say the least)... they felt like they just got a HUGE raise :) To put 4 girls through Baylor tuition, living expenses, sorority dues, etc etc etc...that is a lot of $$$! Well, they are finally finished! Jen and Amy both graduated and looked gorgeous! We are SO SO SO proud of both of you and cannot wait to see what is in store for your futures! Jen has moved to Dallas and cannot wait to move into an apartment with her best friend, Megan, in Uptown! Watch out! These girls will take Dallas by storm!! Amy is packing up all her ski gear and warmest sweaters to move to Colorado Springs in just a few weeks! She will be attending the Focus on the Family Institute up there for the semester! I am secretly so jealous that she gets to go live in such a gorgeous part of the country - and ski her heart out! We love you! We are so proud of both of you!

Blake and I with Amy

Blake and I with Jen

Dec 22 - Dinner and Dessert with the Holloways!- YAY! The Holloways are some of our most treasured friends! We barely knew each other at Baylor- but we both moved to ATL at the same time and spent so many evenings laughing, drinking and confiding in each other. We watched them have their first little girl, Ellie and now they are about to welcome their son in March! They were back in TX for Christmas holidays and we LOVED getting to have dinner at Fireside Pies and dessert at I Heart Yogurt! We love yall and miss you! Thanks for making time to see us on your visit!


Such a sweet pic of Ellie...with just a little pizza sauce to accessorize

Christmas Parties Round #1

This past weekend, Blake and I attended 3 FABULOUS Christmas parties! It was a whirlwind, but we had a blast! I LOVE to get all dressed up and go out...so this was the perfect weekend :)

Friday night started at my boss' house. The Armstrongs have a gorgeous home and opened it up to all of the reps in our district to celebrate a fantastic year! My boss, Lisa made peppermint martinis...yum yum! I definitely need to learn to make those! and we had some really great food and great fun!

Dru (OKC rep), Lisa (fabulous boss), Rachel (FW rep), me (Dallas rep)
Michelle (Dallas rep), Jessica (Houston rep)

And with spouses....poor Greg (Lisa's hubs) was taking all the pics

After we left the Armstrongs in Keller...we made our way over to Lake Highlands for the annual Gittemeier Christmas Party! Now these people really know how to throw a party! Tons and tons of our friends, beautiful decor, hilarious conversations and yummy drinks and food! Thanks for a great night!! I think we rolled into bed around 2:30-3:00!!!

Here is the beautiful hostess, Tricia

After some much needed sleep, we got ready for the Galderma Casino Night! I really think my company throws one of the BEST Holiday parties, ever! This year it was at the Omni in downtown Fort Worth. There are AMAZING door prizes (we are talking trips, flat screen TVs, etc), blackjack tables, craps tables, loads and loads of food, a photo booth, and one of the best cover bands ever! They go all out and we had a great time!

Happy December!

WOW! We have a seriously busy December... as do most of you...but just thought I would share our schedule :)

1- Decorate for Christmas
3- Birthday Dinner for Tara @ Fernando's
4- Armstrong Christmas Party (6:30)/Gittemeier Christmas Party (8:00)/Melissa's Bday
5- Stratton Baby Shower/ Galderma Company Holiday Party
7- Christmas shopping
8- Baylor Women's Council Holiday Party
9 - Girls Dinner/Noelle's Bday Dinner @ La Duni
10- Business dinner @ Fearing's
11- Christmas date night with hubby
12- Burdett Tacky Christmas Party
13- White Rock Half Marathon
16- Girls Night Out to Patrizio's AND The Rockettes - SO EXCITED!
17- Business dinner @ 560
18- Jen and Amy's Graduation Dinner
19- Jen and Amy's Graduation/Tami's Christmas Party and Ornament Exchange
20 - Christmas in Henrietta with Blake's family
23-25 - Christmas at the lakehouse with the Parkers
25-27 - Christmas in Waco with the Holmans
31 - New Years Eve Party at our House!

WOW - I'm exhausted just looking at that....but it was good to write it out and see it on paper. These are ALL super fun things and I am so excited for this time of year! I love being busy and am so thankful to have so many friends and events to attend. Hope you all are having a fabulous first day of December.

I FINALLY updated the blog - check out the 2 new posts below

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a fantastic Turkey Day with the Parkers this year! Thanksgiving might just be my favorite holiday. Its so great to just relax, eat yummy food, visit with family, and watch football! So much fun! I love that we get to celebrate at my parents beautiful lake house. It is so calming and quiet out there. We watched the Cowboys victory, enjoyed the beautiful weather and went to see the Blind Side- if you haven't seen it..go now!!! It is an amazing movie!

Melissa and Ryan with their little munchkin on the way - I can't wait to be an aunt (again) in April!




My sweet grandparents taking a walk after the BIG meal

Wish I gotten a pic of the whole family - we were just too busy enjoying each other to stop and take a group pic.

A visit to the Wine Country

Back in October, Blake and I were invited to join some friends in Napa for a few days of relaxation and vino. Of course we accepted immediately and had the most wonderful trip! Our good friends from Atlanta, Matt and Paige, set up the entire trip. They had all of the reservations made, dinners set up, a limo for the week, etc! We literally just showed up and enjoyed ourselves! We adore the wine country and we adore the Camps - so it was just a perfect trip!

Enjoy the pics!