Holiday Hooplah! Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Everyone knows how busy the Holiday Season is and it was no less crazy this year. My mimi was diagnosed with lung cancer in October and I had been spending as much time with her as possible, including taking her to radiation treatment on Fridays. So, it was very important to me for us to spend the holidays with her, just in case this could be the last. She and I were very close, as I was the oldest grandchild by 4 years (and then the other 3 came one after the other). She wanted to teach my cousin, Jen and I how to cook the Thanksgiving meal, so we went to her house early that Thursday and learned how to make the infamous "chicken and dressing" and "broccoli and cheese". It was lots of fun and bittersweet all wrapped into one day.

Then came Holiday Party season. Unfortunately, the three holiday parties that I really wanted to attend fell on the same weekend that I decided to get sick. I tried to convince Wes to go and have fun, but no avail. Oh well, there is always next year.

Picking out and decorating our first Christmas Tree was so much fun. We went with my parents to a tree farm in Jacksonville and Wes and Dad actually cut down the trees! Here is our finished product:
Christmas was one big road trip for us. We had Christmas with Mom's family on Saturday (in Atkins), followed by Christmas with Mimi on Sunday (in Morrilton), then Christmas Eve at my brother Tony's (in Conway) and Christmas Day with Wes' family (in Hot Springs). By the time we were finally home to rest, we were exhausted from the Christmas holidays. Of course, not too tired to dress up the dogs for a laugh.
They did not move from the kitchen while they were dressed in costume.

New Year's Eve was low key for us this year. We usually head up to Jim and Angela's New Year's Eve Party, but with New Year's on a Thursday and work for Wes on Friday, it seemed like too much driving. We missed everyone though! So, we had the Wilson's, Tony and Serena, and Cecilia over for a low key evening. It was a perfect ending to great year. Little did we know what BIG surprises were in store for us in 2009.