Thanksgiving Pics--Better late than never!

We loved having my family in town for Thanksgiving! We miss you guys already!

the day after thanksgiving purchases!!! yes, we are the ones that get up at 4:00 am!
mom getting the food ready!
me pretending to help get the food ready!

meg's thanksgiving plate!!!

best mom and dad ever!

toasting!

Best Hot Chocolate Ever!!!!!

I will NEVER drink hot chocolate out of the packet again! Feeling the need for some homeade hot chocolate (thanks to catherine!) I ventured on to allrecipes.com and searched for hot chocolate recipes. I found one and tried it out--so yummy! I thought I would share:

Creamy Hot Cocoa:

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1/3 cup boiling water
3 1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup half-and-half cream

Combine the cocoa, sugar, and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk, vanilla, cream, and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Serves 4.

My whole family enjoyed it too =) I will try to get some Thanksgiving pics loaded soon, need to download them on the computer! We went to Olive Garden after church today and my mom and I split our two dishes--we usually do that =) Eggplant parmigiana and Shrimp caprise. Very good!! We did go see that new movie, "Dan In Real Life" yesterday. I thought it was pretty funny. It was weird b/c it was also kinda depressing....but good movie in general. I laughed a lot! Anyways..I'm off! =)

Video

Here is the video that I attempted to load last post:

~Carter Bug~

We watched this little guy last week:

He was so much fun! Him and Moses played most of the night:

After they wore themselves out, they took a snooze:

They were so cute! It is good to know that Moses is good with little kids. He just followed Carter around all night and they would both play with his soccer ball. In the video, Carter decided to be a dog too and crawled around the house. They really cracked me up. At one point, Carter would run from the living room to the office and back and Moses would follow him. They did that for like 20 minutes straight. No wonder they both crashed!!! We always have fun with Carter =)

Sleeping Puppy

Just a cute pic of my sleepy puppy:

DATE NIGHT

A bunch of the couples from church went out on Saturday night. We had dinner at Chili's and then we went ice skating at the Jones Center. It was a lot of fun! We laughed a lot and just had a plain ol' good time hanging out! Ice skating was hilarious--it was so funny to see people fall down, we even cracked up at people that fell that weren't part of our group--too bad! I took my camera with me:

Razorback Basketball is Officially Here!!!

We went to a basketball game on Friday night--I was so pumped! We played the first season game and we won considerably! Here are just some fun pics from the game:






I like the picture of everyone calling the hogs--only in Arkansas!!!

Trip to Baton Rouge

I went to a women's conference a few weeks ago with Stacy, Lauren, Genessa, and Mariale. We drove to Baton Rouge and go to stay in a hotel for 3 nights and 4 days. The conference was AWESOME and we had a blast hanging out and shopping! I got to try lebanese/greek food and I was very impressed. That is some good stuff! Here are some pics from the trip:

My Birthday Adventure....=)

I always joked with Brian that it would be hard to top my 21st birthday b/c he did such a good job that year...but he suceeded this year =) He sent me on a little scavenger hunt when I woke up. I had 10 envelopes to open at certain times during the day. FUN! My first envelope was opened at 8:14 am: Go into the kitchen like you are...(which is scary..haha!)....he made me breakfast:



My next envelope said to go get ready. Then I opened the next envelope at 9:30, and it said to drive to the Pleasant Grove Walmart and buy my favorite magazine (random, I thought!). Once I got there, I opened the next one at 9:55 and it said to go get a manicure and pedicure at Cindy's Nails across the street =) SWEET! I was secretly hoping for that!!!!!!!!!!





After I got my wonderful mani & pedi, the next envelope was to be opened at 11:00 am, it said to go to Chic-Fil-A and meet a friend for lunch and it had a Chic-Fil-A gift card in it. At this point I am having so much fun b/c I love suprises and there is a new one like every hour!!!!! My friend at Chic-Fil-A???









Lauren!!!!! So, just when I am feeling all special and stuff, I get to open the next envelope......are you curious now???








Yes, my friends, it was a glorious HOUR massage!!!!! =) I haven't had a massage in like a year! It was AWESOME! That place is really good!!!! I defnitely recommend it!!! Very peaceful and they WORK IT OUT! =)

Then, my next adventurous stop was:


Because, you know after you are all relaxed you need some caffeine to prepare you for the GRAND FINALE---Shopping Money!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can we say BEST BIRTHDAY (or just best day) EVER????? I am truly spoiled =)

Thanks Hunny!!! Your the best hubby ever!!! =) He truly blew me away...=)

Ok, stop gagging, I'm done! ha!

I KNOW, I KNOW

I know that I have totally sucked on the updating the last 2 weeks!!!! Just haven't felt motivated I guess. BUT, I do have LOTS to share, so I will get on it tonight or tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for all the birthday wishes, my birthday ROCKED!!!! And thanks to my WONDERFUL Hubby--he's such a sweetheart =) I will write soon--I promise! XOXOXOXO ~chelle~

WATTA WOMAN

I'm in love! FYI (this is brian) It's Wednesday night and I am sitting alone doing my homework. The saddest part of about it is not the homework, but rather the being alone part that is tragic. My wonderful, amazing, gorgeous wife is out of town. I think even Moses has had a rough night not having his mom around. My wife is the key to making this family function and when she is not around things seem to fall apart. To tell on myself, the last time Michelle left me alone for a weekend the only thing I ate all weekend was scrambled eggs. She is the reason that I am able to go for all the things I am passionate about. She is the most selfless person I know. She has two full time jobs. Her jobs are working at the UofA and the second is taking care of me. God has given me someone who makes all my dreams come true! Today is her 25th birthday and I wanted to take this time to let her know how much she means to me (and to Moses). She always laughs at you and makes you feel funny even if you really aren't, She gives of her time even if she doesn't have it, She gives her heart unconditionally even if you don't deserve it. She is the funnest person I have ever been around and she's my best friend. I knew I had something special from our first date on the Putt-Putt course when she whooped my tail. Every day has been better than the last and I wouldn't trade a day in my life with my wifey. WoW! Watta Woman.

Website for Megan's Pics

For those of you who know my sis, Meg (the "america's next top model" post was an inside joke b/t her and me, so sorry for the confusion!!!)the link above will take you to her professional wedding pics. Have a great Monday!!! =)

SO....I'm Ready For Basketball Season.

Tonight's game was pretty much the worse game ever. I think it was worse than getting beat by 30 points. We actually LEFT EARLY. In the entire history of going to Razorback games with my hubby we have NEVER left early. Not even when we were killing a team. I knew it was a really bad game when he suggested we leave. I really think that Coach Nutt might be in some big trouble. I do feel so bad for D-Mac. Good news is---basketball tickets go on sale MONDAY! I'll be there at lunch! PEACE!

America's Next Top Model (Meg Johns)

Jumping Problem Solved!

I forgot to let everyone know that Moses' jumping problem is solved! We tried many different methods but in the end guess what worked? Good old-fashioned SPANKING! HA! And saying, "NO JUMP" in a very firm, authoritative voice. It literally took like 4 days and he was trained not to jump on people. We got to test our training this past weekend when Brian's family came into town. He didn't jump on any of them! When I come home from work, I act super super excited and talk in this ridiculously high pitched voice to get him super hyped up to see if he will jump. Still hasn't jumped. It cracks me up that we have could have taken care of this a long time ago this easily but never knew it. I also tested him with our neighbor kid, Billy. He is about 7 or 8 and short so a couple of days ago I had him come in the yard to play with Moses. Moses behaved very nicely and didn't jump on him once. I do remind him sometimes and say "no jump" when people come around just in case. I went to Wal Mart tonight and bought one of these:



It is a "no pull harness" and is supposed to work much better than just a collar. He used to be a really good walker but in the last couple of weeks he has been trying to wander and go up to fences and egg on the other dogs. And try to run with them and sniff them through the fences. He would end up choking through half of the walk and my arm, hand, and wrist would be killing me when we got home. That sucker is strong! So, I picked one of those up and I tried to test it out tonight but it was already dark and no dogs were out and it was about to rain. I can tell that it will work out a lot better though. He WILL be a good walker again! =) Good Night!

Razorbacks VS. North Texas

I don't have any pics of the actual game, but I do have a few of the fam before the game. Here is Brian, Matthew, Mr. Walter, Evelyn, and Tonya. There are also pics of Moses and this stray dog that decided to hang out with us that afternoon. He was a sweet little dog! I saw him again today just roaming the neighborhood. No one seems to know who he belongs too but everyone hangs out with him! He must be a nomad! Anyways, we had a really good time, grilled out and ate lunch before the game. The guys threw the football around and we just chilled. Beautiful Day!