Back to work.

After a lovely five day weekend I headed back to work. Shawn and Aubs are still on Vacation so they stayed home today. A day of rest was needed by both. I am posting the promised ICE pictures among others. The one in front of the tree is a family tradition. Every year at Uncle Bill's house we take a picture with the tree. This year Shawn wanted to match the girls so I embarked on a hunt for matching shirts. Luckily Old Navy must have gotten wind of the quest that would be chosen for me and had the perfect shirts. Three Old Navy's later and the Barrieau Family matched on Christmas. To all I haven't spoken with I hope you had a Merry Christmas.

Abridged Holiday Cheer

This has been the busiest December I can think of. I had gotten an early start and really seemed to be ahead of the game. Then cold and flu season hit the Barrieau House, a death in the family, and now it is just a couple days before Christmas and we are behind. With all that has happened it makes I have made it my mission to get back the last two weekends of Holiday preparation and squeeze it into 5 days. Here is what has been accomplished since Wednesday Night
Wednesday: Last minute trip to Target for stocking stuffers and stamping all the Christmas Cards.

Thursday: Quick shopping trip at lunch to get Shawn's final gift, stop at Wal-Mart after work for other items, Tree decorating, Picking a picture for the cards, Making a sample card deciding I don't like it and starting all over. Baking and decorating a cake for Aubrey's Christmas party (this one did not fall on the floor) Printing all the pictures for now revamped cards.

Friday: Shawn took Aubs to day care for her party while I slept in. When he got home we went out to lunch, and finished our last few gifts. While he drove I knitted a gift, we picked Aubs up early and came home. We put on warm clothes and found all the mittens. Aubrey and Shawn napped while I did my hair and stamped more cards. We left and went to Ice. I will post some pictures in a bit. The Gaylord Palms chills one of the convention areas to 9 degrees. It is filled with Ice sculptures. There is a house you can walk through, Ice slides, and all sorts of other things. We went with Carly and Robb, it was tons of fun. We went out to dinner and then came home. Once we got home I stamped and embossed the rest of the cards, cut the pictures, and assembled the cards until I ran out of tape runner.

Today: (more of a to do) Clean the house, Wrap gifts, Have a holiday dinner with the Cowans, pick up Christmas pictures, finish the cards, wrap more gifts, start the assembly of another gift, fall into bed exhausted.

Tomorrow: More wrapping, visit with Grampy, go to Bill's early and be chef's helper, come home and make sure everything is ready for Santa. Fall into bed exhausted.

Worst Daughter Ever.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD. Congratulations on 31 years of marriage. I am sorry I forgot to call this morning. I hope you have a great time at your concert. Thank you for setting such and incredible example for Helen, Bob, and me to follow. (Congrats Bob and Jody) Thank you for teaching us to be such great spouses and parents. We are so blessed to have been given you as parents. Thank you for everything. Here's to another 30+ years!!!!!

Poppy

We will miss you Poppy. Thank you for welcoming me with such open arms. I cannot think of you without a smile, although today that seems to be missing. You brought such light and laughter to our world. I know the last few years were hard for you, missing both your wife and eldest daughter. I hope you have a Merry Christmas reunited with them. Our hearts will be heavy this holiday. I will make sure that Aubrey always knows she is your Lizzie. I don't know that I will ever be able to eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day but I will try. I will teach that tradition to Aubrey, just one bite will do. We love you.

Our Anniversary

Today is our sixth Anniversary. By all of our activities today one might think it is actually Aubrey day. This morning we woke up at 7 am so that we could get ready for the parade. We lined up at 9 am and finished around 11 am. The only problem with the parade was the extreme heat. I have marched quite a few times in my life and never did I think that a Christmas parade would be as hot if not hotter than the Stow 4th of July Parade. The high today was around 83. If it had been a typical winter day it would have been nice b/c we usually don't have humidity in the winter. This year that is not the case. Halfway through the parade I ducked out to a food stand and bought drinks because we felt like we were going to die of dehydration. The upside to the parade was we got to see Shawn's Uncle Greg. He lives in a group home that participated in the parade. Aubrey also met her first horse. It was a nice surprise and everyone was happy to see each other. We then went to Millenia Mall to see Santa Claus. He really is the best in town even if he wasn't wearing his regular clothes. Aubrey told us he must only wear the red suit on Christmas. We did some shopping and then stopped by to see Bill and Eddie. We also met Wayne, a new friend of Bill and Eddie's. It was a great day. I am so exhausted now I think I may just go to bed.

Six Years Ago Tomorrow

This is what Shawn and I did six years ago tomorrow. Just like this year the weather was unseasonably warm. It was probably 80 degrees for the ceremony. The picture of the two of us is my favorite picture from the day. It was such a fantastic day with so many great memories. I love you, Shawn and I can't wait to see what the coming years have in store for us. We have a very busy day tomorrow and I probably will not be able to post.