tree farm tradition

Not sure if Patrick was aware of this prior to getting hitched...but I must cut down a tree from a tree farm for Christmas! There have been a few years that are the exception...but I just love searching for the perfect tree, cutting it down (well, it was always Dad, then Court and I tried, and this year Pat got the honor), dragging it to the tractor and decorating it at home. I do have to say, I am quite disappointed that all Moses Family members cheated this year...I am just sayin'. And what trip to get a tree would be complete without the baby girl all dressed up?!

The perfect tree

View at sunset of St. Louis from the farm

Patrick was such a good sport. Best Husband Ever. And we will see how long the tree stands with Elle and Sophie around. Here is the finished product!!

Thankful

We had the best first "married" Thanksgiving. We both have so much to be thankful for. And most of all, we are thankful that Alison, Michael, Emory and Grayson came all this way to spend Thanksgiving in St. Louis! My good friend Elizabeth was able to join us for our feast and we were so glad to have her company, and Pumpkin Crunch dessert :)

Here are some pictures of all of the fun we had...

The girls found the "juice" cabinet. Grayson is sippin on the Hypnotiq and Emory on some Grenadine. Hilarious.

Family picture at the Arch!

Running towards me and cheesin the whole way, so cute.

And Grayson loves the camera

Here is Elizabeth and I, we were so glad she joined us!

Okay...so, the not so cute picture.

This is what we found in the turkey. Alison and I have never prepared/cooked a turkey before, but were warned on what to find inside. This turkey neck just kept coming out of the dang thing...and I had to turn my head and drop that sucker in the sink. I don't think we expected it to be like it really was...

And here are the boys. They were the actually turkey cookers...or fryers, I should say. Alison and I are quite thankful that Dad B read the instructions before sending the fryer this way so they didn't have any disasters. At one point something outside was on fire, we chose to not ask any questions....

Here is our feast!

Turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, rolls....and I think that's all??

We had a little scare. Pat cut into this bird and it was all crunchy. Then we flipped it over and tadaaaa. Yummy fried turkey meat. They did an excellent job.

And not to forget dessert! I didn't get a picture of Elizabeth's dessert, but it was soooo good!

Things are very sad and quiet around here with the girls back in Savannah. Thanks for coming to visit us, we miss you and your mom and dad - can't wait to see y'all again soon!!!

it's finished!

Finally. My little project is done! We put it back up last night, now I need some artwork and another bedside table...then I will be satisfied. I think the headboard turned out just right. And saved a lot of money.

slow progress

The headboard is slowly coming together! It may have taken us a while, but we just haven't had time off together in forever! My dear handyman nailed the top row on last night - still have the sides to do - but doesn't it look wonderful!? I LOVE it. We decided around 8:30 or so that we should stop so our neighbors didn't come kill us...I am going to attempt to do the sides today while (hopefully) every one else is at work.

Ahhh! Don't you LOVE this? I talked her Daddy into letting her have some Christmas PJ's (I know...totally unnecessary, but SO cute). Aaaaaand she loves them.

This is her new Turkey stuffed toy. She has been so destructive with all of her soft toys lately. She has removed the stuffing from the majority of them. We decided to invest in a Thanksgiving Turkey for her - we will see how long it lasts!

I am very excited that our Christmas cards came in the mail this past week! We ordered from Tiny Prints, they have so many cute cards it was hard to narrow it down.

I feel like I have missed a lot going on in Birmingham lately. All of my friends getting together to do fun things, family celebrating Gee Gee's birthday, my sister selling TONS of art work at shows - by the way, I am obsessed with all of these pictures under her Southern Exposure Series. I'd like one of each, please ;) Thankfully Pat had a "slower" week and we had the weekend off together. And still can't wait for our Thanksgiving visitors!

thanksgiving meal?

Pat got off work a little early yesterday so we ran a few errands. We are very excited to have Alison, Michael and the girls for Thanksgiving!!! However...I've never made a Thanksgiving meal before....

I am hoping for the best, and already have a turkey in the freezer thanks to Trader Joe's

That is the BEST grocery store ever. Be jealous if you don't have one...

Any tips on cookin' a feast??

This is a gift from Auntie Courtney. It is made from firefighter hose material - which is supposed to be nearly impossible to destroy - ha.

Elle has been enjoying the dog park lately. This place is very dusty and dirty. When she plays alone she just gets a little dusty...when she plays with friends she gets muddy. SO, bath time after play time today...

This is how much we LOVE bath time.

Still a Mama's baby. She will let us do anything to her...I just love it.

sneaky

This dog is NOT allowed on furniture. Not the bed, the couch, chairs, none of it. She knows better too. So - last night I was waiting for Pat to get home and Elle was all sleepy after our 2 hour walk and play time at the dog park with Mabel the Basset Hound. I had these huge brown eyes staring at me, then her front legs end up in my lap. Her head gets all snuggled against my legs. But, mind you, her back legs are firmly planted on the ground. She gets all comfy with her entire upper body on my lap/the couch. I couldn't stop laughing. The next thing I see is one scrawny back leg up on the couch. About a minute later, this dog was in my lap...on the couch. I felt that she had put up some very good and sneaky effort and let her stay for about 5 minutes. Then I realized Pat would be home oh so soon and I made her get down.

I told him the story after he got home and while we were watching tv after dinner she gave a 2nd performance.

Then there was tonight. Here are some pictures of the end result.

Yep. She made it. Same process. Very slow and very sneaky. I am such a sucker.

Happy Fall!

bling

Well, Elle got some new bling. See her new necklace? Guess who bought her that? Real hard question ;)

Pat brought us both some fun prizes from South Bend. Yesterday (4 days after he had returned home) I noticed the little Fighting Irish guy in the bottom corner of the rear window in my car. I can't believe it took me that long to see it. So sneaky...

I was a little bored yesterday - I was on call at work so couldn't do anything too crazy, so I cooked! I made these little cookies covered in powdered sugar, some chicken salad and most important - FRIED OKRA!

I have never attempted to make Mom's okra until last night. I may or may not have burned the 1st batch. Here it is...just a cookin'!

sticks

Our walks are always eventful. Elle spends most of the walk with her nose to the ground sniffing out sticks. Not squirrels or other dogs...just sticks. We get a variety...

This one was light, so it was definitely worth carrying.

This stick is suuuuuper long and heavy. Don't you worry. If you can't carry, you can drag.

A little blurry - but this is a real treasure. A stick with lots of dead leaves on it.

See what you get if you read the whole post!? Cutest. Picture. Ever. It's the girls all dressed up for halloween!!! We miss y'all!!