a little bit of catch up before Christmas....

So much going on lately....as always!

We have enjoyed the Christmas spirit this December in Dallas....doing lots of fun things!

Orie's office had their annual Christmas party....it was a lovely seated dinner at the Ritz Carlton. The food was exceptional and it's always nice to visit with the people in his world. They don't have a very large office so it was an intimate dinner of about 14 people. While we were seated there we realized that Orie is kind of the lone ranger at work....he is one of only two men and he was the only male employee present at the dinner! Poor Orie....having to work with such lovely ladies!

I headed out one evening to a friend's housewarming party. Her new place is adorable and it was a great evening to catch up with some girl friends.....Thanks LT for the get together! It was a fun night!

Orie and I headed out one evening to look at Christmas lights through the Park Cities....WOW....the lights were amazing. We had Grace in tow and she had a blast. She wasn't too sure about the horse drawn carriages though....mainly the horses. She would shake and whimper every time we got near one...it was hysterical! We tried to just meander the streeets and take a gamble on which way to turn....as soon as we saw a buggy we knew to follow it though....surely they knew the way to the best houses! If you are in Dallas this Christmas season go check out the lights.....also make sure to drive through Highland Park Village and check out their beautifully lit trees....AMAZING!

We also celebrated Christmas with Audrey and Chris at Uncle Julio's Mexican Restaurant. It was a fun evening full family and laughter. We tried to exchange gifts in the CVS parking lot afterwards (our gift was a little bit too large to bring in to a restaurant) but were run off by a man struggling to find money and his Christmas spirit. So....what to do in this situation....why head across the street to the classier Burger King parking lot! So that's just what we did! Our gift exchange was super fun and the evening was perfect!

Orie and I did pretty well this year with getting our shopping and stuff done early so that we weren't stressed out right before Christmas. I had my presents nicely wrapped under the tree and had lots of wrapping supplies waiting for Orie when he was ready. So one day he brings home his gifts to wrap.....I got to watch! Now don't worry....I couldn't tell what anything was or where it was from. Y'all....this was the funniest site I have ever seen. It took Orie about 2.5 hours to wrap about 4 packages. He had ribbon and stuff everywhere and used more wrapping paper than I probably did for all of our packages already under the tree. I told him next year he didn't need to buy me anything....watching him wrap empty boxes would be all that I wanted! It was sweet though to see him work so hard on my packages....he chose each color of ribbon with a purpose and put lots of extra flare on his packages too. Thanks Orie for wrapping so pretty....it makes my day!

We now think we are ready for Christmas.....presents are wrapped....items are baked/cooked....we have our home made Christmas crafts ready to go....and we are ready for family and friends!

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!