1. PSU game - We headed to Happy Valley the weekend before Thanksgiving for the PSU vs MSU football game. It was a fun weekend with our friends Ben & Pam (who are MSU fans) and drove in from Michigan after being in Cancun for a week (what die hard fans!).
Pam & I before the game (notice the layers!!)
The strangest thing was renting rooms in a home, in my hometown...so strange... Our host was super nice and even let us tailgate with he and his friends before the game. Oh another first, it snowed the beginning of the game...I've never watched a game in Beaver Stadium in the snow, how cool...or I mean COLD (haha)!
2. Outlet shopping - Oh yes, I LOVE shopping but especially LOVE outlet shopping. We didn't find a ton, well except for the jackpot at the Pfaltzgraff store that is closing.
3. Spending time with family - We traveled from MD the Thurs before Thanksgiving to drop Winnie off at my mom's for the weekend. It was the first time we've left our daughter with anyone longer than a few hours, and she did great (so did Nain!)! I loved the calls from my mom as she struggled to open our stroller while taking Winnie out and about. We headed onto West Newton next to visit with Mom Jones, Margie & David..and the rest of the family as they all came in for turkey. While Tom & I worked remote Winnie was entertained by her Grandma, she loved all the attention!! Between conference calls Tom took some time to re-carpet his mom's stairs as a belated birthday gift, they turned out awesome!
4. Thanksgiving @ Aunt Mary Ann's - Thanksgiving at my Aunt's is a long-standing tradition and an event I always look forward to. There are only a few times a year that we see all this family, and this year there were 16 of us. Every year I am amazed at how fast all the kids are growing up (including my brother & I) and how our time together doesn't change....the guys all talk about football and hunting, while the women congegrate in the kitchen fixin' their contribution to the meal (wow I just said "fixin" on my own...have I turned southern??). This was Winnie's first year and she LOVED all the food, and of course the attention (is there a theme here...haha), especially playing with her cousin Treyson. 
5. Birthday parties -- On Wed night we had a joint birthday party for Winnie & our nephew Landon which was a blast, half the room was decorated Princess and the other half Transformers....too fun! Mom Jones & Margie went all out on the decorations and food, everything was perfect!
Winnie was even more daring with eating her smash cake, at one point she even smashed her whole face into the cake...hilarious!!
Winnie was even more daring with eating her smash cake, at one point she even smashed her whole face into the cake...hilarious!!This past weekend we celebrated Ben & Preston's 2nd birthdays too... like I said before its that time of year around here! Both boys had a blast playing and were all eyes opening their gifts.
6. Giving Christmas to a family - Every year our couple's small group from church adopts a family for Christmas, buying each member clothes, toys and household items. This year we adopted a family of 4 (mom & 3 kids). Once we all have our gifts we have a small Christmas party to fellowship and wrap all the gifts together. Its been a great way for our group to come together as a family and so much fun!! Can't wait to deliver the gifts to the family next Sunday...
7. Black Friday shopping - Oh yes, I'm one of those people! My mom and I were up at 5:30am to get ready to shop till we dropped (literally!). We were at Wal-Mart by 6:15am and able to get a few of the deals we were looking for (the other I found the next day), and then off to our favorite stores in PA, Gabriel Brothers and Ollie's. Both of these stores are bargain places... they have namebrand items for cheap, I got a Gap long sleeve shirt for $3 this time and it made my day! I wish I would've taken my camera with me....bummer.
8. Cookie exchange - Last night we had our Annual WBS (Women's Bible Study) cookie exchange...where we bring a batch of cookies to share with everyone. This year was no different, we had a ton of cookies and were able to fellowship, hear a message from Debbie and pack our tins with cookies to bring home (to our families). I'm all about traditions and this is one that I LOVE, not just for the cookies but the great girlfriends that I thank God for!!
9. Decorating for Christmas - Oh do I love getting our home ready for Christmas. This past weekend we were up early on Sat morning (mostly b/c I messed up when I had my haircut) so we headed out to do some Christmas shopping and then over to Lowe's to get our tree. 
By Saturday evening we had our tree up and decorated, and decided that for next year we are investing in the tree stand that is easier to straighten your tree...it took us forever to get our darn tree straight!! So now the lights are out front and the Santa's all out.... I collect Santa's and kind of geting annoyed of my hubby calling my buffet table the "Santa Shrine"! I love putting them all out and remember who gave them to me.
10. Seeing Heba & Ed - While we were at the Crabtree mall last weekend we ran into some celebs (if you could call them that)...maybe reality tv celebs... Heba & Ed from this season of Biggest Loser. All I have to say is they look AMAZING! Next Tues night is the season finale and I think America will be surprised at how much weight they have both lost. They are both in the finale but unfortunately America has to vote on which stays in the competition for the final 3... of course Ed is a gentleman and asked everyone to vote for his wife (what a sweetheart!). All day though I did kick myself that I didn't tell them how good they looked... Heba definitely knew I had spotted her as I was hitting Tom with excitment.
By Saturday evening we had our tree up and decorated, and decided that for next year we are investing in the tree stand that is easier to straighten your tree...it took us forever to get our darn tree straight!! So now the lights are out front and the Santa's all out.... I collect Santa's and kind of geting annoyed of my hubby calling my buffet table the "Santa Shrine"! I love putting them all out and remember who gave them to me.10. Seeing Heba & Ed - While we were at the Crabtree mall last weekend we ran into some celebs (if you could call them that)...maybe reality tv celebs... Heba & Ed from this season of Biggest Loser. All I have to say is they look AMAZING! Next Tues night is the season finale and I think America will be surprised at how much weight they have both lost. They are both in the finale but unfortunately America has to vote on which stays in the competition for the final 3... of course Ed is a gentleman and asked everyone to vote for his wife (what a sweetheart!). All day though I did kick myself that I didn't tell them how good they looked... Heba definitely knew I had spotted her as I was hitting Tom with excitment.
Alright, thats a wrap....promise to be better about my bloggin'!!
2 comments:
I've been waiting for this post and you did NOT disappoint - no siree! I love the one where Winnie is hugging her cousin and all the snowy pictures make me want SNOW. What a fun recap of your last month - and what a busy month indeed! Great post!
Thanks girl ;-) Thanks for bugging me to post...hehe...it motivated me to get the job done!
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