Happy Holidays!

Where did December go? I swear it went by faster this year than ever before. Maybe it was because Thanksgiving was so late in November, or possibly our trip to NYC. I think the stress of removing the hallway wallpaper and repairing it and the kitchen before our visitors arrived played a role too. I just can't believe that Christmas is over already. But what a crazy wonderful holiday! We spent Juliann's first holiday here at home. My side of the family came up on Christmas Eve to celebrate with us so we didn't have to travel with Jules-THANK YOU!!! Mom, Dad, Grandma Sugars, Ryan and Meredith all made it up to Richmond by lunchtime. Heather and her Ryan were here by late afternoon. We had lots of yummy food, wine, and beer and a ton of presents to open. I should have taken a picture of the tree and the mountain of presents underneath and spilling out into our living room. You couldn’t walk within 4 feet of the tree-it was crazy! And let’s just say that Juliann is one lucky kid. She had more gifts than anyone else did! Being the first baby in the family means that everyone spoils her! She’s in for a rude awakening in a few years when everyone is fawning over the next kid. She got a doll house, a stuffed Rompy dog, a neat toy that pops balls into the air, a jack in the box and much more. We spent the rest of the evening opening up gifts from each other and sharing lots of laughs! My big gift from David was a new video camera and he got a brand new camera to replace the one he broke at the UVa-Tech game.

Christmas morning was equally as wonderful. Santa brought Jules even more neat toys-including her Leap Frog table which she LOVES! I swear the child is either going to play a musical instrument or be a dancer. The minute she hears music-doesn’t matter where we are-she starts bobbing her head and bouncing all around. It is hysterical! All of the adults in the room were laughing so hard we were almost crying watching her move to the music of her new table. I’ll try to upload a video from my new video camera tomorrow.

After a great Christmas Day lunch everyone headed out. Friday afternoon we then headed up to Lexington to see David’s family. We spent all of Saturday walking around and enjoying the beautiful weather. It felt more like early spring than almost January! We also had more wonderful food (David and I are now officially on a diet) and opened presents-more toys for Juliann! We left Lexington Sunday afternoon and headed to Amherst for a quick dinner at Grandma Sugars house because my cousin (and David’s VMI roommate) was in with his family. Finally, around eleven Sunday evening, we made it back home to Richmond. It was a whirlwind of a holiday but we had a great time spending it with our families. We took a ton of pictures so I'll try to post some later this week. Hope everyone had a great holiday and Happy New Year!

NYC

David had an opportunity to go to New York for a conference at the beginning of December and I tagged along-oh how I love working part time! For the first time since February, David and I left Juliann for more than just a few hours. She spent 5 days with my parents, aunt, and grandmother while we were gone. We stayed 2 blocks up from Times Square at the Park Central Hotel. I shopped while David was attending the conference and on his breaks we checked out the sights of New York City. We were able to visit the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Ground Zero, Chinatown, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Deli, Macy's, Rockefeller Center, and even saw the Rocketts at Radio City Music Hall-we were busy! It was unbelievably cold on Saturday and Sunday (it even snowed for a bit) making walking around the city a challenge. We also tried the tour bus but only made it half way around because we were freezing. However, it apparently wasn't too cold for the Naked Cowboy (see picture below) who was playing his guitar in his briefs in 20 degree weather. We found the subway to be the fastest and warmest option!Thanks to my parents and their camera we were able to take lots of pictures of our trip!

the city skyline

the naked cowboy from our tour bus-he's the one in the white hat

Ground Zero still under construction

David and I at the top of the Empire State Building

my hair standing up on end because of the strong winds-David says I look like a troll doll

here's a sideways video of the crazy winds at the top of the Empire State Building

Statue of Liberty

The tree at Rockefeller Center

Central Park

Good-Bye Camera

Here are the last pictures that were taken with our camera before it broke at the Tech-UVa game. Thought they were worth sharing because Jules looks adorable all bundled up!

Thanksgiving

Our family had a lot to be thankful for this year. Everyone is happy and healthy, not to mention we've added a family member or two! Juliann's first Thanksgiving was a busy one. We spent part of the time up at Wintergreen with David's family, where Jules enjoyed playing with Peter's dog, Ranger. We then headed to Amherst to see my family and do a little Black Friday Christmas shopping! We finished off our Thanksgiving holiday with the UVa-VT football game in Blacksburg. We all nearly froze while tailgating at 9:30 in the morning and our camera broke, but the Hoos played a great game despite loosing to the Hokies. My mom and I took Jules to a restaurant to watch the game and got an adorable picture of her in UVa clothes with another little girl in a Tech outfit. If I can figure out how to get it off of my cell phone I'll try and post it! Below are some of the photos we were able to upload to the computer before the camera got smooshed in the Expedition's door!

family shot Group shot while hiking to walk off our Thanksgiving meal

Jules and Ranger