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I pray your Christmas was blessed.
Here are a few images from our Christmas!!

Some of you will be getting a postcard in the mail
directing you to our Christmas letter.
But it won't be there before Christmas.

Some of you won't be getting a postcard in the mail
directing you to our Christmas letter.
So thus, the quick post letting you know
that you can read our Christmas letter
at Pure Joy Letters

I have SO much I want to share...

...like how Hannah and I flew home (and my brother too)
to surprise my parents before they moved.
...about how my mom almost had a heart attack after said surprise.
...about two nights away with my hubby and littlest one.
...about the two weeks my parents will spend with us before they move.

I have SO much I need to do...
...like laundry.
...like clean the house for my parents visit.
...like finish making a few gifts.
...like catch up my blog.

But I will have to do it later.
I'll be taking a little bloggy break
I may try and sneak in a post or two to catch up...
but I'll be spending every last minute that I can with my parents
before they move overseas for 18 months.

So I want to wish you a VERY blessed, VERY Merry CHRISTmas!
May you truly savor the moments that HE has given you!
May you truly remember the sacrifice that HE has made for you!
May you truly be blessed!

From our family to yours...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

When Naomi and Micah were little we had them
sleep in a laundry basket next to our bed.
Then we found this beautiful, fun, rocking bassinet for Hannah.
She seems to love it!


I know I'm gonna get flack for pics of her sleeping on her tummy.
But don't worry we don't let her sleep on her tummy at night time.
Just for random naps once in a while,
and I keep the light on if she's on her tummy.



These were taken sometime in early November...
guess I've got a lot of catching up to do!

I love working with Paperspring.
They offer so many great products.
I was fortunate enough to have $50 to spend in their store
and I decided to get some birth announcements made there.

Paperspring offers a great variety of high quality products.
Their paper is thick, durable and looks great.
Their website is easy to navigate, shipping is fast
and customer service is incredible.


Look at how cute Hannah's birth announcements turned out!

Now that I have the birth announcements done
it's about high time I move onto Christmas cards...
man, so many things to think about, so little time.

But Paperspring has good news for holiday card procrastinators
like me!

Paperspring is offering 10% off all Holiday cards plus
FREE 2 day shipping on orders of $50 or more
until December 20th!
Just use the code "HOL10" to save 10% on any order
and select Two Day Shipping during
checkout to receive FREE 2 day shipping
on orders over $50.

But wait, there's more!
Paperspring is also offering one of you,
my faithful readers
one of their newest, coolest items.

It's called a StickyStock calendar.
You can win your very own 2011 calendar (a $19.95 value)
It sticks to any surface much like a post-it note,
you can write on it with a pen or dry erase marker.

I so wish I could win this, I'd hang it right by my computer
so that I wouldn't forget an important date next year.
This would make a GREAT Christmas present for that
"hard to buy" for person...or just keep it for yourself,
I won't tell!!!

How can you win?
Thanks for asking!

Just go to Paperspring and check out the StickyStock calendar.
Come back here and leave me a comment with your favorite month
(mine is September in case you were wondering).

If you'd like an additional entry become a follower of this blog on
Google Friend Connect (or let me know you already are).

I will choose a winner with Random.org on Saturday, Dec 18th!

Please make sure to leave an email address so I can contact you if you win!

I'm great at blog surfing,
but not great at blog bookmarking.
The idea for these salted caramel brownie bites is not my own.
If it is your idea, please let me know so I can give you props!



I volunteered to bring 3 dozen cookies to church
for after our advent service this past week.
I was so excited to have a reason to make these
salted caramel brownie bites
(other than to just eat them all myself).

I posted on facebook that I snuck one of the
"salted caramel brownie bites"
and my comments went crazy with people asking for the recipe.

It's a really simple thing to make,
but tastes divine and looks very high class.

You really only need four things
(plus water, eggs and oil for the brownies)
1. Box brownie mix
2. Caramel filled chocolates (I used the new hershey kisses)
(the person whom I got the idea from used rolos
but she said they were a little too hard and chewy)
3. Melting chocolate
4. Sea salt


Bake the brownies according to the box directions.
A 9x13 pan should give you approx 3 dozen brownie bites
Bake the brownies till the early time on the box
thus making them really moist, gooey, mold able.
Let the brownies cool completely.


Cut the brownies into pieces but really you just need to be
able to get at the brownie so it doesn't matter what the pieces look like
or how many pieces you actually cut.

Then wrap a brownie (or stick pieces together) around a
caramel filled chocolate piece of candy. Roll it into a ball.
Put the brownie bites into the fridge to set for a while.


Then melt your melting chocolates according to the package directions.
Cover the brownie bites in the chocolate and set on waxed paper to cool.
Before the chocolate is completely cooled sprinkle with sea salt.
It would probably be better to use the big sea salt pieces
but I only had fine salt on hand so that's what I used.

After the chocolate hardened I used my spoon and just
drizzled some more chocolate over the top to give it a
really cool finished look...couldn't let the chocolate go to waste!
Put in the fridge to completely set up and you're done!

yummm....now I want some more...

I had the honor of photographing my friends foster daughter the other day.
You can go to my photography blogsite to read their story.
To see a BUNCH of photos from the session go here.

But I love to "caption" photos in my mind.
Especially baby photos...since we don't really know what they're thinking.
So, I saved this one...
and I want YOU to caption it for me.

I have some ideas in my head of what I would say about it
or "caption" it, but I'd love it if you would play along.

Just leave a comment with your caption for this photo.
I will pick my favorite...and maybe send a special prize to the winner!

Do you love to go to weddings as much as I do?
I love to photograph them.
But I love to just attend a wedding too
without the photographic pressure.

I LOVE to attend family weddings.
So much fun to get the whole gang together again,
add a new person to the mix, dance all night,
and just have a great time.

I don't love the pressure of getting the "perfect" gift.
These days you don't even have to leave your house.
Just go to one of the major bridal registry retailers online,
a few mouse clicks later and the product is shipped directly
to the newlyweds door...you don't even have to wrap it.

I'd much rather do my shopping in person.
Now, while I love the idea of gift registries and I think
that most people should follow them so the couple doesn't
end up with random strange gifts or ten spice racks,
I do think it's INCREDIBLE to get a really awesome,
"perfect" personal gift.

My cousin got married in September.
I was great with child.
I had ideas of what I wanted to get for them.
The ideas were failing me.
And were just taking more time to implement than I had.

We left San Antonio with no gift...
but then the idea hit me.
Personalized name art is VERY popular right now.
So I figured why not take it ONE step further
and create personalized name art out of
images FROM the wedding and/or reception.
BRILLIANT! At least I thought so.

So I took photos from around the wedding/reception venue
used a little photoshop magic and created this 10x20 storyboard.
Then I had it printed at my lab and mounted on 2mm styrene.
Instant, personalized, good memorial of the day!!!

So, if you go to a wedding and don't have a gift for the couple
take some photos AT the wedding and reception
and create a unique personalized gift AFTER the wedding.
They'll have so many presents to open the next day
that they probably won't even notice that you didn't bring something.
This way your gift may stand out in more than one way!

So, I turned 31 on Saturday...crazy?!
I remember when I was young I thought 30 was
SO OLD...
now it's not that old at all!
I asked Naomi the day before how old she thought I was,
she said, "40" ha! oh well.

My birthday was great.
The big kids got to hang out at church all morning,
Naomi had Christmas program practice,
then the youth watched kids so parents could do some Christmas shopping.
We just came home and hung some lights in Naomi's room
and started some cleaning...
then Greg, Hannah and I went out for lunch
before picking up the big kids.

Have you ever watched Diners Drive-ins and Dives on Food Network?
We love that show...we're big fans of the "hole in the wall" restaurants
and well, food in general! can't you tell!
Anyway, Guy Fieri has been to San Antonio a few times.
We tried out one of the places he was at when my sister was here in January
we weren't too impressed.
Then we were reminded of this other place called "The Cove" close to downtown.
Greg had planned my birthday date and that is where we went.

Here's a little synopsis straight from their website:
"Welcome to The Cove! Restaurant, Beer Garden, Live Music venue and oh yeah, a laundromat and carwash. Don't let that throw you off , The Cove is all about having a good time and enjoying great food with friends and family and doing laundry or washing your car, if your in the mood.

The food was good and the sangria was great!
They also had live music, which we're always big fans of.
They have a playground for kids to play on and kids eat free on Tuesday nights.
It's a very fun, family friendly place! Can't wait to take the kids there!




Then we went to see a movie at the Rivercenter theatre
after which we walked around down by the Riverwalk for a bit,
before heading up to street level and back to our car.
It was a great date!
We live in a great city!
I love spending time like that with my hubby and really we haven't
had a REAL kid-free date in quite a while!



Thanks Susan and Meagan for braving all the kids!
We had a blast and we know the kids loved hanging out with you two as well!

Every so often I like to get little video clips of the kids,
to show to grandparents,,
to embarrass them with later,
and to just remember what they're like at certain stages in their life.

I didn't have a little video camera for quite a while,
so I missed out on doing these little interviews,
but I hope to continue to do more as the months go by.

Here's a little interview with Naomi age 4.


Here's a little interview with Micah age 2.5.

Since Greg tries to take Naomi on the 1st of each month
(because her birthday is on the 1st)
and since we were at church last night (on the 1st)
he took her out on her date tonight.

They went to Earl of Sandwich
because they are on the letter "E"
Naomi was so excited to get grilled cheese and soup to dip it in.
She was also able to get OJ since they were out of milk
(we don't normally go for the sugary drinks
at dinner time so this was a special treat).
Greg enjoyed his dinner too!

He told me that it's pretty exciting to go on these dates
to show Naomi how she should be treated by guys
when she starts dating (when she's 35).

He said that as soon as they sat down, after they prayed for their meal,
Naomi said, "so daddy how was your day today?"
She does this at home sometimes but it's just really exciting to see
her engaging in conversation like this...
being polite, asking good questions, waiting to hear an answer...
she's learning and learning well!

Enough jibber jabber from me...
who didn't even go on their date with them
but instead took the two little ones on our own date!!
here are some photos from the "E" date!

I love Advent...
the preparations
the stories
the goodies
the beauty all around

I love all the advent calendars that are out there,
especially this one that my friend Katherine Marie did last year.
You've got to see what she's doing with her kids this year.
It's AMAZING!
I wish I had more time, energy and creativity to pull this off.

But I did make time to put together 25 books and wrap them.




Tonight there were two books since we didn't open one yesterday
because we were at church pretty late.
Should be interesting to see how they do tomorrow when there's only one book!




We've also got a few other advent countdown things going on around the house.




Greg found this fridge magnet one at the Family Christian Store.


And there's always the child's advent wreath that I posted about last year.


And I won this super cute printable advent countdown Christmas tree craft!
The advent calendar is from Julie Marie's etsy store...
and I won it on Elizabeth's blog, Twelve Crafts Till Christmas

I don't have it all put together yet but it'll be super cute once its done.

What do you use/do to prepare for Christmas and count down the days?