Snow Days

This past week, Northwest Arkansas was struck again with ole man winter. The first week of January, school was out for a full week (5 snow days) and then again last Friday (snow day #6). The highs last week were in the mid-50s and then Thursday, a front moved through and the high was only 32. Later that afternoon a storm moved through that had everyone a little scared. Talk of power outages and severe ice covered roads had everyone talking and going "the extra mile" to make sure everything was okay. Mercifully, God had mercy on us and even though the weather was severe, we kept power and had awesome snow to play in while we were stuck at home. Here are a few shots...the deepest measurement in the cul-de-sac was 7.5" I only had 7" in my yard.

Snowman building fun....thanks Olivia for building it!

Snow Angels

Sledding on "the hill"

Snowball fights are great!!

Headed home....exhausted!

Gemini

I am not a big astrological sign person, but I do indulge myself every now and again. Today has been a very lazy day spent in front of the TV and my laptop. In one of the many Internet articles that I read today, I ran across the "What exercise plan fits your sign?" The plan for Gemini (the twin) fits me to a "T":

Gemini
Gemini needs a buddy to support any lasting lifestyle change. You will be smart to set up a "Resolution Blog" to share your experiences and receive much needed feedback to keep you motivated. For you, a walk around any busy neighborhood can make exercising a breeze. Gemini is curious and will benefit from reading food labels. A powerful resolution in terms of weight loss and overall health would be to refuse to buy anything containing high fructose corn syrup.

Note: (1) I do not workout unless someone goes with me. It is a weakness that I have identified about myself and have had to come to terms with it. (2) I read most all food labels on the food that I buy and (3) I have purchased VERY few products with high fructose corn syrup as a top 5 ingredient in well over a year...

Coincidence? maybe.

Christmas & the Cotton Bowl

Christmas this year has come so very quickly! It's hard to believe that we are ending the first decade of the 21st century. 2010 is sure to be a memorable year...I cannot wait to see what good things are in store!

There is a Sullivan family tradition of having your family picture taken in front of the Christmas Tree at my Mamaw Sullivan's house. Everyone expects it and is eager to get it over with! However it gets done, these pictures have become priceless. looking back over the years and appreciating where we've been and what we've done can be realized in just one picture...lots of memories. So..without further ado, here are this year's pictures We were only missing 2 grandchildren this year: Tara and Chris.

The Leonard Sullivan Family

Leonard, Elain, Susan, Sanford,

Anna Rose, Betty Jane, and Leonard Talbert

The Bo Sullivan Family

Kelsey, Trae, April, Kamryn, Chase, Blaine, Brandee, Chuck, Bo, Deborah Ann, & Savannah

The Steve Sullivan Family

Stephenie, Steve, Sue, Sarah, Elliott & Emma Claire

The Bill Sullivan Family

Bill, Teresa, Elizabeth, & Josh

The Triplets: Isaac, Isabella, & Ian

The Rex Sullivan Family

Brian & Kayla, Brett, Charles Verne & Vista, Rex, Brett & Jasmine, Kolemyn Grace

The Pat Sullivan Family (missing Tara)

Patrick, Tasha, Pat, Tanya, John Paul

The Tasha Sullivan Scott Family

Josh, Sawyer, Sydney, Tasha, Sadye

The Cindy Sullivan Roberson Family

Tim, Skye, Cindy, Scott, Summer & Kale

The Judy Sullivan Oglesby Family

Bubba, Judy, Kendra, Leah

Mamaw Sullivan & Emma Claire

Emma & Isabella

THE big news on the Sunday after Christmas was the news that both Trae & Scott killed deer! Trae got a nice sized 8-point and Scott got a very interesting 16-point. We do not know where this deer came from as no one had seen him before on the Trail Cams. This deer is quite popular around the Heartbreak Hotel because 1) it's a 16-point and 2) it has palmettoed tynes. Come to find out, this palmettoed characteristic is found in only a few geography pockets in the U.S. One of those is the deep, "coastal" South.

Trae (8-point) & Scott (16-point)

The infamous 16-point

This year was Chris and Stephanie's year to spend Christmas with her family in Alabama. We missed them on Christmas day, but I was thankful to have had some time during New Years to spend with them.

Callie's "big" present this year was a rocking horse given to her by my Mom and Dad (their grandparent names are still TBD...). She LOVES this horse...especially when Chris rocks it for her. She cannot quite get it to go as fast on her own...



Callie loves her Aunt Steph!

Candid of me and Emma Claire on Christmas night...

This year, I was fortunate enough to have been offered Dr Pepper tickets to the Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss received the bid, Dr Pepper was a corporate sponsor, and the Directors knew that being from Mississippi I might enjoy going. And they were so right! I think that Mom was the most excited to go, but everyone else was pretty pumped too. Mom's first cousin, Jeff, lives in Dallas. Since Sarah and Chris did not want to go to the game, we invited Jeff and his sons Doug & Ben. We had such a good time and really enjoyed getting to hang out with family AND watch a really intense ballgame.

Jeff, Doug, Kelly (Doug's wife), and Ben

Dad, Mom, & Me

The Crew

we were the ONLY Ole Miss fans in our section and the sections to either side of us...talk about sticking out like a sore thumb! Blue & Red really did not mesh well with bright orange and black!

The trophy presentation after the game

Yesterday, my office had it's annual Christmas lunch at PFChangs. We all had a great lunch and a good time! One of the "activities" during lunch actually required some pre-work on all of our parts. The activity was to describe in a couple words or a sentence every person in the office. It was tough to find a few extra minutes to jot down a few thoughts about my co-workers as we are all so busy right now, but we all participated and found that it was worth the effort. I just had to share some of the descriptions of me...

1 - Willing to go the extra mile
2 - Delightful
3 - Southern Charm
4 - Southern Firecracker
5 - Dedicated
6 - Fun-loving, Very Smart, Kind-hearted
7 - Energetic
8 - Professional (seriously??)
9 - World Traveler, Good Southern Girl, Involved in Community
10 - Organized, Quietly funny (me? funny?...an oxymoron)
11 - Mississippi Mafia (this is one that made me laugh out loud several times!)
12 - Southern through and through
13 - Vertically challenged (no duh!)
14 - Focused and Energetic
15 - Giving

What this activity taught me was that when you work with people day in and day out, it's very easy to forget to encourage them and tell them what you like about them. I (along with a lot of others) work in an environment where it's more common to focus on what you don't do or didn't do correctly, than the positives. We all had a good time laughing together and enjoying the positive words. I encourage you to exercise an activity of telling others what you like about them!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Season!

Merry Christmas everyone! As I look back over the year, it's hard to believe all that has happened in the last 12 months! Our family has had a very active year and is one that we'll never forget. We've been blessed beyond what we deserve. This time last year, we were overjoyed with the birth of the first granddaughter, Callie. This year, we are so happy to have another baby to celebrate over, granddaughter #2, Emma. Having babies around really make the Christmas season more alive and fun. During Thanksgiving, Mom decided that she wanted to send picture Christmas cards with her Granddaughters on them (only...). So, we dressed them up and staged a set. We (the adults) had so much fun! Callie is such a funny little girl...she's always laughing and is such a ham! Her personality is in full swing. Emma is just 2 months old, but she is full of personality already! This girl knows what she likes and isn't afraid to let you know.

Here are a couple of shots of our Christmas photo shoot:

Callie loves playing and making other laugh with her. In this picture she is trying to dance on a bench outside. There was music playing and she just couldn't sit still!

Emma is a girl that knows what she likes! In this picture, she was telling us that she did NOT like the hat (even though we thought it completed her outfit and that she needed to wear it....in the end, she won)

Callie is already entertaining Emma. Emma isn't quite sure what to think of her cousin, but she's trying to keep up...

I had NOT A CLUE how difficult it was to get a good picture of 2 babies! At the end of the hour long photo shoot, there were 2 pictures that we were pleased with enough to feel like we were successful. So...here's little Sue and little Elliott:

Good picture #1:

Good picture #2:

This is an ornament on Sarah's tree. I just liked it and the way this picture turned out.

Every year my Grandaddy Joseph's side of the family goes to Lake Bruin for Thanksgiving. We (the entire Joseph family) has been doing this for 12 years! We all look forward to it every year. If we do not get to see each other throughout the year, we are guaranteed to catch up over Thanksgiving. The house is old and big. The women sleep on one side and the men on the other. Kids just fall where they may. On Thursday evening as the sun started to set, we were outside by the bonfire. I noticed how pretty the sun had made the horizon over the water and old boat houses. I happened to have my camera and snapped this picture. I love it...I've watched the sun set for years, but never had taken a picture of it...

Here is the Joseph family that was at the lake this year. We are always missing a few, but we've learned that you have to get the picture when MOST everyone is available! It's so fun to go back through the years and see the SAME picture year after year. Kids grow up, the "young'uns" are now the "old'uns" and some have even gone to meet Jesus. Family. What a journey!

Emma Claire, et al...

This past weekend I met my new niece, Emma Claire. She is so sweet and tiny! It's easy to forget how small newborns are, but it's hard not to fall head over heels in love with Miss Emma! Below are a few pictures (of the 200+) that I took this weekend.

Emma LOVES her swing. She would rather sleep in it than her own bed!

Talk about relaxed...

Emma's hands are always around her mouth! Wonder if she'll be a thumb sucker???

Attitude! She didn't appreciate the photo shoot as much as I did...

On October 27, my sweet Mamaw Sullivan will turn 86! Since I won't be in Meadville for her birthday, I made her an early Halloween/Birthday cake. Mamaw loves Halloween and she has always dressed in costume and made it as fun as possible for us growing up. Growing up, I remember her recording "scary" sounds with her own voice on a cassette player so that she could play it when we were walking up to her house! I don't think there has been a Halloween that has gone by that she has not worn her best witches hat and switched out all the lights...even at 86! So...in celebration of her birthday AND Halloween, I made her a witches hat cake. She absolutely LOVED the red velvet cake with black chocolate icing.

On my way out of town, I stopped in Jackson and met my brother and niece, Callie, for lunch. (Stephanie had to work and was missed!) Callie is 11 months old and is FULL of tricks and personality. When I first got there and held her, she immediately gave me a hug...it was THE BEST! She is such a sweet little girl...cannot wait until she can talk and we can hang out more! Below she is demonstrating her best rendition of "Patty Cake." Chris and I both were laughing histerically and she was loving every minute of it!

Callie will be interested in photography OR she's just really into "bling"...Or maybe she just wanted her favorite aunt :0) Either way, she REALLY wanted my camera.