The famous cookie box from Ms. Gay!

As you read a few weeks ago, I partook in COOKIE DAY at the Hanby household. We had a blast and last week I reaped the benefits of being the cookie b.

I am the only recipient of the cookie box that can CHOOSE the cookies that go in my box. I stopped by their house last week to visit with Courtney, Riley and Ms. Gay when she suggested I make my cookie box. As these are the only sweets I bring into my house during the holidays, I accepted her offer and created my box.

Here were just a few of my options:

Here is the finished box..Notice the adorable new ribbon Ms. Gay ordered!

When you open the cookie box you might be confused by what cookies you  have, but do not fret! Ms. Gay makes a cookie key! I just love that woman.

If you want to know my favorites, here you go:

I know you are drooling and are completely jealous. I am sorry to report there are no cookies left. Doug and I killed them in 2 days! They were so delicious.

I love every aspect of this gift.
1. It is all about effort. It takes Ms. Gay hours and hours to bake/cook/make all these cookies. You know she must love you if you get a box.
2. It is personal…not just a gift card or a gift out of the $5.00 bin at Target. She gives you the cookies you love.
3. It is a tradition and I love traditions.
4. Lastly, they are all calorie free as it is Christmas!

I would love to do something like this for my friends in the next few years when Ms. Gay retires from the cookie box business. :) Until then, you can find me baking with the Hanby/Devlin clan on Cookie Day.

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

Christmas Day 2011

We are a lucky and blessed family. Plus it appears we were all REALLY good this year. We all sat together on the super sofa and handed out presents from each other and Santa.

Get Ready:

GO Alex!

Ashley made Alex a Christmas ornament…at first he looks very confused. Then he realized what she made it of… Let’s just say she cut and paper mache-d images from an adult men’s magazine.

GO Dad!

Dad got lots of coke points (his favorite), t shirts, a hat, heavy duty shredder and other fun stuff.

GO Ashley!

I have never seen anyone so excited about a broom, dust pan and yard tools.

Her big gift! A keyboard!

(check out that hot onsie!)

GO Andrew!

Yes..he really is this excited about the iron. He said it was a fancy iron.

GO Doug!

Such excited faces for flip flops, under armor and a bike stand!

GO Lizzie!

Yes, I really am that excited about a case of hand warmers, plastic bins and a travel contour pillow. You know you are getting old when…

GO Mom!

Mom got quite a few hummingbird feeders, food (powder and liquid) and all kinds of flags. The best present is a sign Ashley painted. See it below! We plan to put it on the chicken coop!

We also got to open the gifts from Doug’s family we had been holding since Thanksgiving. They were taunting us for over a month!
Thank you so much DJ, Steve, Jenni, Craig, Tom and Libby! You guys are so stinking awesome!

The main takeaways from this blog:
1. My family makes awesome faces when opening Christmas presents.
2. We are so very lucky and blessed.
3. We were (clearly) very good this year.
4. Expect to hear Ashley jamming on her new keyboard!

Love and Hugs,

Lizzie

Santa came to Hammond!

We had the distinct honor of having Santa visit us two nights before Christmas while my Mom’s family came to visit. We were all just hanging out and eating when Santa came!

Santa mentioned the outdoor lights helped him find out house even with one of his reindeer having glaucoma. Santa arrived with bells and lots of kids screaming. Ashley and I acted as stand in elves to help Santa give out early Christmas presents.

Right – Santa with Lizzie, Collin, Ashley and Elaina
Left – Santa with Collin

5 above: Santa with Ethan, Santa with Elaina, Santa with Karlie, Santa with Evan, Santa with Ethan and Evan
 
Above: Santa with April, Santa with Beabud/Nan Nan/Carolyn

Above: Santa with Stephanie, Santa with Elaina, Santa with Ashley

Above: Santa with Lizzie, Patti and Mike

After Santa left we had some fun with lots of awesome toys! Thank you Santa for stopping by during your busy season! We love you!

Love and Hugs,

Lizzie

Pregame Christmas Day 2011

We had a fantastic Christmas at my parents house. (I have to upload the pictures and share them still. )

A full pictorial description will be shared soon.

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

Doug Making his ring….in action

I keep forgetting to show you how Doug made his ring.  I know he showed you the photo updates, but I took a short video of how he did it. I heard this banging for 2 days straight…

In the video he had just started making it and you can see why it took so long.

Doug Making his ring–in action.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and Merry Christmas!

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

We have a priest! Father Steven Bruno

Two weeks ago, we got a phone call from the priest who was going to marry Doug and I . Due to scheduling, he could no longer could marry us. We were disappointed, but we understood as he had just moved to a new parish and he found out the parish fair was the same weekend as our wedding. So the hunt was on…

Father Steve had actually been at St. Rita the day the RCIA Candidates were presented to the church. He blessed Doug that day. We heard he did a great job at weddings and I realized Dr. Gary (one of my vets) had recommend him to me months ago! We called him and set up a meeting.

This past Thursday we spent some time with Father Steve and we had a great time. We are very excited he will marry us! We hit it off and will meet with him a few more times before the wedding.

I found his headshot on the interweb. Here he is!!

Father Bruno grew up in MidCity and is the Director of the Office of Vocations. He has a great story as he entered the Seminary well after high school and was ordained in 2005. Doug and I both think he is a great match with us. I am now even more excited for the wedding ceremony.

That is the big update for the wedding! :) I will update more later.

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

Laura gets hitched!

One of my good friends (and old roomie) got all married up this past weekend. Doug and I had a great time and Laura looked fabulous!

 

She had 8 bridesmaids and groomsmen so it gave me a visual to how mine wedding will look!

I also loved how they sat together during the readings.

After the reception, we got to steal the bride for a few pictures! It was also so great to see an old friend: Amber! We got to hang out with Amber and Robbie, her husband, most of the night. We had such a great time!

Once of the cutest touches she had on the wedding that I loved!

Congrats again Laura and Jake!

Love and Hugs, Lizzie