Getting Ready for Christmas!

The weekend after our anniversary, we went to Kingsmill for the weekend, which was lots of fun!  We stayed in a suite with a fireplace and kitchen, so that was great for being able to spread out and feel a little more at home while staying at a resort.  We had a fire each night, ate a lot (3 meals were included with our package!), and enjoyed some wine from our wedding winery, Veritas.  We did manage to get in a workout on Sunday morning to counteract our more-frequent-than-usual dining.  We also went to the Grand Illumination in Colonial Williamsburg, which was lots of fun.  It's amazing how people are so intrigued by and enamoured with fireworks...thousands of people gather in the cobblestone and gravel streets, braving the cold and crowds and crazy hot cider lines, all for a 20 minute firework show.  And we go back just about every year!  We ended our evening with a trip to the Green Leafe for mug night before heading back to Kingsmill.  The highlight for Billy was a very reasonably priced mug of Mad Elf beer, which was surprisingly sweet and not too hoppy for being 11% :)

Here are a couple of firework pictures...

We love the "spray" fireworks!

This past weekend, we decorated our tree and some other areas around the house.  I always love decorating the tree, since we have a great collection of ornaments consisting of ones given to us by my mom's and my sweet friends and family members from a wonderful wedding shower right before we got married, ones we got as souvenirs from our various trips we've taken together, and ones from both of our childhoods (some of those are slightly scary and strange, though, so we look at them, laugh, and put them back in the box :)).  We also got out our large nativity set, Billy's old train, and some other decorations for around the house.  Next task - snow village.  Maybe that will happen in the next couple of nights before I head down south for Kel's graduation from Auburn. 

Here are a few pictures from around our house - more to come later!

The tree, complete with Billy's train going around it :)

We dressed up the mantle a bit with some red and gold Christmas balls in the hurricanes that usually have candles in them.  Our little Willow Tree nativity scene stays up here year round. 

Dining room centerpiece (same as for Thanksgiving but with red berries around the candles)

I added a red berry wreath on the china cabinet too (love these things...they are pretty cheap, especially at the after-Christmas sales at Michaels, and provide a subtle way to dress things up)

Decorated living room

Last night, we decorated gingerbread cookies...I didn't have any gingerbread man cookie cutters, so we used the ornament cookie cutters Billy had given me for our 2nd anniversary.  I also didn't have any red icing, so we went with blue, green, and white.  Billy turned out to be our star decorator, as the cookies I attempted to decorate were consumed almost immediately because they didn't look so good :)  I guess I've gotten a little rusty from my days of cake decorating class!  We just used half of the dough, so maybe tonight or tomorrow night, we'll have another round of decorating.

For the past three months...

I haven't posted anything, as we have stayed super busy and time seems to just fly by!  Hopefully with Christmas approaching, I'll have more time to post pictures as we decorate our house, get Jefferson ready for his Christmas card picture, etc. (he did just go to the groomer a week or so ago, and we have a potential prop for his picture, so things are looking good for that :))

So, here's a glimpse at our end of summer through end of fall...

We've gone to several weddings, none of which have been local - Chattanooga for Ryan & Heather, Charlottesville for Devon & Dan, and Birmingham for Dana & Dan. 

These are from Dev's beautiful wedding at Farmington (I don't have pics from the other weddings, but I'll add them if I get any)...

College Friends

Jennifer & Me

Seating arrangements & topiaries made especially for the event

Beautiful centerpieces

We've been to a few games at UVa, none of which were any good, but we did have a fun time there, including a trip to Carter's Mountain, a visit from Laura, and checking out a few new restaruants. 

Jefferson's the Worm :)

Hanging out in the apple orchard

Rain-soaked during the UVa-GT game (we all look great :))

Billy's grandmother passed away in October, which was very sad, but we know she's better off now, fully healed and relieved from any pain.  It was nice to see so many extended family members during that time, although different circumstances for a reunion would have been nice.  Billy's whole extended family on his dad's side is very close, which is great and also rare! 

Whole Family at the Church

Billy, Anna Margaret, & Me

We spent Halloween at Busch Gardens with Pete and Mollie and look forward to going back this weekend for Christmastown (no idea what to expect, but I'm sure it will be neat, and weather-permitting, some rides will be open!). 

I made a trip to Atlanta in November to work with an apprasier, as I'm attempting to finish getting my license within the next year or year-and-a-half.  When I was gone then, Billy won his age group in a local race, earning a free pair of shoes - yay!!  Unfortunately, his foot probably wasn't healed enough for a race, so that has prolonged his healing process, which we're hoping ends soon!  He also worked the Brooks Running booth at the Marine Corps Marathon in DC and had fun but will hopefully be running it next year instead when his foot is healed! 

I also made a trip with my Bible study girls to a co-worker's river house in Claremont, Virginia.  We had a great, relaxing time hanging out, taking the ferry to the outlets, cooking, and just enjoying a getaway.  Jefferson also joined us for the weekend :)

For Thanksgiving, Billy and I hosted his family at our house and made most of the food!  It was our first turkey-making experience by ourselves, but it was a success (probably b/c of the brining).  We made squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, salad, pecan pie, fried apple pies, cornbread dressing, traditional dressing, and more!  Billy's mom brought kale and brussels sprouts, and one of my friends dropped by some extra rolls she had made for her family, so we had a feast.  We have since used the leftover turkey for sandwiches and fajitas, the latter of which was our favorite...maybe that will be a variation he and I can do in the future, as neither of us are big "traditional Thanksgiving food" fans.  Cooking and hosting the meal pretty much wiped us out, but we did manage to make it up to C-ville for Al Groh's last game (the second half of which was a complete embarrasment for UVa). 

The table pre-meal

Jefferson's Big Day

The ladies post-meal

This week, we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary with a wonderful dinner out, and we'll head to Kingsmill this weekend for a couple of nights.  We always love Williamsburg this time of year, with the Grand Illumination, decorations, etc.  And, Sunday night is "Mug Night" at Green Leafe, so that's an additional perk!  While I never imagined I would get married in December, it ends up being an awesome time to get away, as anywhere we go is decorated for Christmas and is much cheaper than in the "in season" (except for skiing, I guess, but that's rarely cheap anyways :)).  We've had a wonderful and growing time over the past three years, including some trials but many more great times together, and God has blessed us very much in our marriage!

So, that's a somewhat quick rundown of what all we've been up to.  I'll be sure and post some pictures after this weekend too!