Too much to catch up on....

There really isn't much that I'm all that 'OCD' about, but this blog tends to be one of those things.  And by that I mean this...  I hate to just pick up and start with life where it is right now when so much time has gone by and so many things have happened.  I have a hard time not 'recapping' so that I haven't left things out.  The problem is, that gets overwhelming and I just keep putting it off until it gets to be this mountain in my head.  BUT, here I am.  And I am going to attempt a quick catch-up.  And then move on.  :)

December was quite the eventful month:

Jack and I celebrated our 26th Wedding Anniversary.  When you have been married for this long, you take all your kids out for dinner.  ha   We ate at Papou's Greek Restaurant on the square in downtown Huntsville with Anna, Mackenzie, Andrew, Becca and Jessica!   It was very good!  :) 

 

Then we had this little event that really should have had its own blog post - Mackenzie and Andrew got engaged!  This was a big surprise that he pulled off on Christmas morning.  Mackenzie thought he had left to go be with his family on Christmas Eve, but in reality, he had just traveled a little ways away to his friend Seth's house to hide until he could come back Christmas morning and propose.  He rang the doorbell at about 9:30 on Christmas morning in the midst of all the Christmas present opening.  My whole family was there, along with Aunt Carolyn.  He bravely came in to the center of the room and the look of surprise on Mackenzie's face was priceless.  (along with the looks of wonder and fairy-tale awe on the faces of my young nieces! ha)  He got down on one knee and there was so much commotion I'm not quite sure what he said, but she said YES!  :)  

 

 

So since then, we've been in the business of wedding dress shopping (DONE! - but I'm not allowed to post that on-line), setting a date (DONE - Aug 2nd!), arranging for a venue (DONE! - Grace Valley Farms in Shelbyville - Barn Wedding!!), getting a photographer (DONE! - so excited that Jenna is available that weekend and is going to be doing the photos!!!!), Bridesmaids dress shopping.....  (DONE! - such a fun day!). 

 



And I spoke to a caterer this week and got phone numbers for a Wedding Cake decorator and flower shop.  So far I'm not too overwhelmed, but it's only February.  :)

In other news, Anna has been very busy with school and discovering her artistic talents.  She is the Communications Officer for the Art Honor Society at HHS and is looking into Art Schools for college.  She was recently honored at the American Native Arts Awards for a drawing she did on leather...  I think it's pretty awesome.  :)

 

Lots of school and a couple of nagging injuries have kept Anna from competitive gymnastics this year.  She is still training because she just loves being in the gym, but it's been a little weird this winter being out of the competition scene.  We did make it to one meet in Georgia and had such a good time reconnecting with our gym family.

 



Let's see... we also had a fun trip to Winterfest with the teens at church a couple of weeks ago.  Made me realize how much I miss these kids!!!!!

Oh.... and we had some beautiful snow days and a little time off from school....

 

Well, that catches up the major events of late.  In the midst of that, I've been preparing for some upcoming surgery on my jaw for TMJ problems.   I'll write more about that later because I've done about all that I can for now.  :) 

Wow it feels to good to be caught up!