So Thankful................

Hey Blogland !

Hope you had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  We traveled to visit my side of the family for our annual gathering.  It was good to see and spend time with family but it was also a very challenging week. We (me, my husband, my sister and brother-in-love) are dealing with managing my parents health issues and having to make lots of  major decisions regarding their care. It was quite and emotion filled holiday.

We kept up the tradition of our annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. It was quite chilly & I am quite out of shape, but I still pushed it out  & trudged my way through ! LOL

Here are some pics from that morning .....

Love these little ones !

Me & my nieces

My beautiful sister & her girls !

My handsome nephew

The First Family - we call them Barack & Michelle, LOL !

My love carrying the chairs for he & my Mama !

My husband had foot surgery 2 weeks before Thanksgiving so I am doing all of the driving for about 8 weeks. We have very different driving styles, so this is a challenge for the BOTH of us, LOL !  He came out  to cheer us on with my mom who is making huge strides in her stroke recovery. She did not want to miss watching her grandkids run this race, so we made it happen.

So happy my Mama made it out

The youngest two in the whole crew ran the fastest. Gabbie who is 6 ran the 1 Mile Fun Run with ease & KJ who will be 8 in a few days, smoked us ALL in the 5K ! LOL

The Champs !

This was hands down one of the worst 5K's I have EVER run.  I am ridiculously out of shape, I probably went to the track a total of 5 times in the last few months to get ready for this race, but as I have previously blogged about, I have been dealing with a lot of issues causing me stress & regretably have not used exercise to help me manage it as I should have. My nieces & nephews would not let me sit this one out & I did not want to break tradition, so I pushed it out on HEART & my body paid me back for the next 5 days or so LMAO !

Thankful to cross the finish line ! 

We had our dinner, everything was great.  I made a Caramel Cake, that really came out good. I found a solid recipe on Pinterest that used a Bundt Cake Pan & it was very good. I did not overdo it on the leftovers that day, as my memory of that horrible race earlier in the day was fresh on my mind. LOL

The kids provided some after dinner entertainment, performing a little Skit/Play that they put together that day. Let me tell you we have some animated, entertaining kids in our family ! When they know they will have a captive audience, they are bound and determined to provide some entertainment.

It would take me forever to explain........LOL

Alexandra giving Savannah some last minute direction. LOL

It is hilarious to watch these kids interact with each other, see how their personalities and the family dynamics play out. I can't wait to see their growth and development in the future.  We are blessed with some very bright, talented and confident children in our family & I pray for their continued blessings.

I am so THANKFUL for family, health, provision, friends, and His continued blessings over my life DESPITE some of the recent challenges.


I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday


How was your holiday ?

Do you have any special holiday traditions ?

Did you make anything special



Beautifully Complex

The Annual " Great Fall Festival "

A few weeks ago my girlfriends and I hosted our annual " Great Fall Festival" once again. We hold this event every year in late October. It started several years ago as a simple day with me and a friend of mine spending a day with our other girlfriend's daughters baking & carving pumpkins. I blogged about it here and again here.

Over the years it has evolved and gotten bigger and bigger. Each year we have invited a few more children here and there and now we just turned it into a full fledged party ! You know how we do.


So now we have costumes, games, giveaways, food....the whole nine yards.

Here are some pics from this years event


I got some really good ideas for treats for the kids from Pinterest. They were simple & fun to make. We had a "Prep Party "AKA "Adult Baking party"  the night before to decorate & setup for the event which included lots of wine LOL

Treat Table

We kept the food menu very simple since it was just kids: Hot Dogs, Chili & Cheese for the Hot Dogs & to make Frito Pie, chips & drinks.  One of my girlfriends also made candied apples the night before.

Food Table

The big surprise this year was we hired a Clown. She came about an hour into the event & surprised the kids with some games, songs, dance contests, face painting, balloon animals, popcorn and snow cones. It was quite a hit.

Clowning with the kids

Games

Dance Contest

Face Painting and Balloon Animals

Of course we had Pumpkin Carving this year too.....

Seriously focused on those pumpkins

Mommy can you help me ?

We also had a costume contest and lots of participation too. We had several winners: Ike & Tina Turner & Old Lady &  a Boxer. People were so creative this year !

Ike & Tina & their little ones !

Beautifully Complex as Bat Woman !

This Little Old Lady on a Walker..........

...actually looks like this in real life !

Our Little Boxer was one of the winners !

My girlfriends and I have grown this into an anuual event that we are really proud of and look forward to each year !  The guest list continues to expand. We love traditions, we love making memories and we love partying and having fun. We are blessed to be surrounded by so many beautiful children and it has been a pleasure to watch them grow and learn and develop.

The other 2  Hostesses with our Suprise Guest the Clown !

How do you celebrate the Fall Season or Halloween ?

Parties ? Family Gatherings ? 

Did you Host or attend and fun events this year ?

Did you see any creative costumes ?

Thoughts ? Comnments ? Questions ?



Beautifully Complex

Jumpin' the Broom ....New Orleans Style !

Just thought I would dust off the blog before the years end. It has been a whirlwind for me since the wedding. With no more planning to do, I have been focused on all of the other things around here that took a backseat to the big day.

In November we traveled to my hometown for Thanksgiving to spend time with my family. We did our annual Turkey Trot & dinner at my Aunt's home. We just got back from Charleston, SC for the Christmas holiday with my husbands family. There were so excited to see us, as they did not expect to see us so soon, since we just finished paying for the wedding 2 months ago. We had a wonderful time & I truly hated to leave. I had some type of seafood (shrimp, crab cakes, salmon, stuffed flounder, fried soft shell crab) & grits every.single.day ! LOL Man, I was in heaven.

As I reflect on the end of 2013, I am SO VERY GRATEFUL for all of His grace & blessings in my life, most importantly an awesome husband who treats me like a treasure. I am so happy to be standing in the middle of His will for my life. We had the most wonderful destination wedding surrounded by our family & closest friends. We made some beautiful memories to last a lifetime for sure.

Here is the link to our photographers website with some photos from our special day.....

WEDDING PICS

Thoughts ?  Comments ? Questions ?

Beautifully Complex

Christmas Rewind

We had a lovely holiday with the family, full of laughs and some surprises too.

While at the rental car counter, Mr. Mixologist get's the bright idea that we can rent the Fiat 500 that caught his attention when we pulled up. I was trying to veto it because, I knew we had gifts AND luggage, but I let him have his way........lets just say it took him over an hour to figure out how to get everything loaded in the car !  It was pure comedy to me & lots of language I won't post on here,  LOL  He was super frustrated and admitted that it was his fault & that he had gotten caught up in the novelty of the car, but in the end, he made it happen. The good part was that we did get great gas mileage, and it was more comfortable than expected and we truly enjoyed the ride. Of course the little ones loved it too !

This is the car we drove a total of 17 hours in ! 

On Sunday before Christmas, we worshiped at the church where  my BIL is the Pastor with our family. It was great to see the kids perform in the Christmas program. My sister wrote the Christmas play and all three of the kids got to show their acting chops. It was great to see them so excited to participate. My niece surprised us all with her Clarinet skills. She did a solo accompanied by a drummer.

We were surprised to hear my niece play her instrument so well ! 

Look whose one of the wise men !

Our Christmas dinner is a small affair with just the immediate family & we get together with other family later in the day. My mother and I did all the cooking together. We had Cornish Hens, Dressing, Gravy, Green Beans, Macaroni & Cheese, Greens, Coleslaw and Yeast Rolls. I even made a Sweet Potato Pecan Pie for the first time and it was a hit.

My pie fresh from the oven

The surprise on Christmas morning was that we had a white Christmas ! Big heavy snowflakes started falling around 7 AM & kept accumulating until the ground was covered. The kids of course were super excited as they were already hyped up about all the presents under the tree !

Before opening gifts

My nieces and nephews have fallen in love my my parents new dog since they got it a couple of months ago. They have bought outfits for the dog, they fight over who is going to take the dog outside, LOL, it is cute to watch and see how they have bonded with the dog. Watching them  has even helped me with some of my dog anxiety, LOL.

They dressed her like Mrs Claus

The last gift they opened from Santa was a bone, it took them a few minutes to figure out the big surprise is that they are getting a new dog of their own, a Boxer that is currently still in the womb. It will be born by the end of January. This was their reaction when they figured it out......

Yes it was dramatic but it was funny ! They were screaming ! 

I love the laziness of Christmas Day, opening gifts, calling your family and friends, having coffee, finishing up the big dinner and watching the men play with the kids and their toys.....

They played this game for quite a while

After dinner we loaded up the little ones and slid around  headed out to visit some family !

My love keeping us safe behind the wheel of the Fiat ! LOL

The biggest surprise of Christmas day came from my cousin and his wife. This is the gift they gave to both of their parents.....

Manifestation of God's Grace 

The reason this is such a Christmas blessing is that they have been married for 15 years and dealt with infertility for all of that time. They adopted two daughters who are now 8 and 4.  She is 39 and he is 41. To say we were surprised would truly be an understatement. We were all just stunned. We watched the video of when my Aunt and her mother opened up their boxes that morning and it was hilarious. I could.not.stop.crying or smiling the entire day !


Reluctantly, we hit the road early  the day after so that we could deal with the icy roads. Mr Mixologist had to remove the ice from the windows AND the locks (we couldn't even unlock the doors) it was so cold. Though I will miss my family,  I was somewhat glad to head back to south Texas where we don't have real winter LOL

Too cold for comfort  ! 

All in all it was another blessed Christmas that I am so very thankful for.


How was your holiday ?    Did you travel or have visitors  ?

Any plans for NYE ?  Are you ready for the New Year ?


Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex 

Santa Came to Town.....

...and I was OUT of town ! LOL  I left Friday to travel out of town for the Christmas Holiday and did not return until last night, which is why this post is so very late. My neighbor across the street always collects my packages, so I knew that it would be safe until my return. I look forward to the Blogland Secret Santa hosted by Psonya for the last few years. I love shopping & shipping surprise gifts as well as receiving them.

My Secret Santa did not disappoint ! When I opened the Fed Ex Envelope, I was happy to see several silver jewelry bags with pink ribbons.  Inside were some lovely necklaces, bracelets and earrings, all in the perfect colors ! I love jewelry

I really like my gifts Secret Santa and I love Charming Charlie ! I can always find something in that store.

I promised myself I would not read the reveal post until I got home, opened my gift and tried to guess who my Secret Santa was. There was no clue inside the bag, so I cheated and used to the tracking number so I know for sure that  my Secret Santa is from somewhere in North Texas. Based on this I deduced that it must be dontworrybenappy !

Thank you very much !

Beautifully Complex 

So Very Thankful

Another epic holiday has passed. We had a wonderful time, safe travel to and from and wonderful times with the people who mean the most. Family is such a blessing. I had some conversations with my cousins over the holiday and just did some personal reflecting in general. Life, love and family should never be taken for granted. There are so many people that don't have these things in their life, so truly it should be treasured.


We took off a day earlier so I got to spend all day Wednesday in the kitchen cooking and prepping for the Holiday with my Mom which is a complete blessing after her health challenges from earlier this year. I got to hang out with my cousin from California, which was an unexpected treat also. My parents got a new dog, which they were reluctant to tell me about since they know I am really afraid of them. LOL They were jokingly calling her my new little sister. LOL I will admit that she is a very gentle little dog and after about 48 hours of anxiety, I was fine. I am still not that comfy holding or touching her, but everyone seems to love her.  My nieces and nephews are fascinated with her and it is fun to watch them bonding with the dog.  I like the fact that she seems to helping my mom with a routine and something for her to focus on since she is retired now.


We got up early Thanksgiving morning for our annual family tradition of running the Turkey Trot. I did the 1 Mile Fun Run this year because my ankle would not let me be great. LOL My 5 yr old nephew, smoked me like nobody's business. He is quite the little athlete.  My 11 yr old niece shut everybody down in the 5K, we were very proud of her. She has been playing basketball this year and her stamina was through the roof ! She did a great job.

Early morning stretching for the race !

Heading downtown for the Turkey Trot

My parents even brought their new dog  to watch LOL 

Go girls !

My BIL & Niece after she made us all proud 

Me & my little track star niece

My cousin reppin' the OKC Thunder LOL 

Later that day, my Aunt & Uncle hosted in their home as always & we had a great time, eating, watching football, doing Karaoke & of course the annual Taboo Challenge of the men vs. the women. We spanked them of course ! LOL Even my dad got in on the Karaoke & had us rolling singing " Mustang Sally " LOL ! And I don't know why my nieces & nephews were shocked that I know the words to "Hot Cheeto's & Taki's" ???? I love that video on You.Tube. Those little kids are the cutest and can rap too.

Me & my cousin from Cali ! 

The famous "Kiddie Table X 2  " LOL  !

My my my  they are growing like weeds !

Hot Cheetos & Taki's !!!! LOL 

The boys wanted to get in on it too. 

My sister & BIL singing a duet !

Daddy had to get him some. 

My cousins doing Bonnie & Clyde by Bey & Jay Z !

My two favorite guys :) 

On Friday, the day after we did absolutely no shopping. I am not into the Black Friday Madness. We took the kids to an indoor Trampoline Park which was really fun for them & cool to watch. I was sore from the run, so I could not indulge but it looked like a blast. The kids had an impromptu Pizza Party that night & the grown cousins went out for dinner and drinks at Republic Gastropub which was a cool little spot.

Oh to be a kid on a trampoline again ! 

No more Turkey ! Let's have Pizza ! 

This little girl is a handful, best believe ! 

Love these little girls .......

Me and my love at dinner :)

Saturday morning. Me & Mr. Mixologist had a breakfast cook off challenge. We made two different versions of Shrimp n' grits for the family. They thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't have to tell you that he won the challenge, but everyone said that both were really good. I just realized while writing this blog, that I took no pictures of what we cooked. I guess I was too busy cooking.


Saturday afternoon, we went to a Cigar Lounge and watched football.  Mr. Mixologist  got my cousin from California to try a Cigar & she is hooked, LOL. She can't wait to go back to LA & find a local spot to hang out at.

Puffin it up ! 

When we finally got tired of all the Turkey we made our way to our favorite Mexican spot when at home, Ted's Cafe Esconditio. I really love their food.

My BIL & Sister

My sister & cousin 

I hated to have to get back to reality, but we did. It was a wonderful holiday. I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by.  Not it's time to start shopping for the Christmas tree ! Dang.

How was your Thanksgiving ?  

Do you have any holiday traditions ?

Who traveled the furthest to celebrate ?


Thoughts ? Commnts ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex