Snow Day!

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Merry Military Christmas!

I love the MWR! For those who don't speak military acronyms it stands for Morale, Welfare, and Recreation. Basically, it's a group on the base that is in charge of hosting parties for families, providing discount tickets, and helping out with deployments.

This year, we went to a MWR party on the nearest base, which happens to be an Army base (Carlisle Barracks). It was their annual tree lighting ceremony and it was a hoot.


We all bundled up and even though we missed the actual lighting of the tree, we had free cookies and hot chocolate. A booth was set up advertising all the programs available through MWR including a Christmas bazaar.
They handed out free Christmas ball ornaments and even Santa was there ready to pose for pictures and hand out candy canes.


Then, we waited our turn for a horse drawn carriage ride around the small base. It was so festive and made me appreciate all that the MWR does for its military families.

First Snow

Brrrr! It's COLD here in Pennsylvania! William finally got to experience snow first hand. It didn't really stick so we'll have to wait until next snow for the real fun (ie. sledding, snowman, snowballs, etc.)

Melissa Fowler!

My friend Melissa is the best! She was the first friend I made when I moved to California as a 12 year old and we've been friends ever since. In middle school, we did everything together. My personal favorite was taking the video camera and making mock commercials or TV shows, then laughing until we cried watching them later. We loved watching Star Wars Return of the Jedi and even pretended a kid in school was friends with Chewbacca. We'd try to speak 'Wookie' to him and laugh and run away while he stood there, thinking we were crazy. We were always tent buddies at Girls Camp. She taught me how to sing alto and I taught her how to scrapbook. For Valentine's Day in the 8th grade, we went around and kissed all the boys with brightly colored lipstick to leave lip prints on their cheeks and started the Great Kiss Fest of 1992. We'd sing songs with our own lyrics ("Bulgy Land," "Greatest American Bulge," "The Bulgy Connection").

In high school, we did cheerleading together, went to EFY, and Church dances. We would play games like "20 Questions" but referring to a specific memory we shared. We playfully referred to each other as "pre-existent" twins. She was there for me when my heart was broken and I went to her when she was sad. We lived together briefly in college until she got married. We were each other's bridesmaids. Now, she lives in Minnesota and I live in Pennsylvania. Fortunately, we have the phone and internet to keep in touch. She has never missed my birthday and this year was no exception. She sent me Chewbacca and a hand made key holder. I giggled for a long time remembering our silly adolescent days. Thank you so much, Mel, for the laughs, the memories, and the friendship!

I didn't have a picture with me not looking like a fatty-boomba-laddy!

Gingerbread House

It wouldn't be Christmastime without decorating a gingerbread house. This year, I had my dad and William help out. It wasn't as fancy as what I've done in the past, but it was more fun sharing it with my family.

Happy Thanksgiving

Yeah, it's December now and Christmastime but I finally figured out how to get my new camera's pictures uploaded so Happy Thanksgiving!

The meal before the feast
(shrimp cocktail, pumpkin bread, artichoke dip, pistachios, crackers and cheese)
Pals
Cousins and Grandpa
A little gun play after dinner

What a ham!

I figured out how to use auto focus now.

The turkey kicked in

Ryan and William's favorite ride, Uncle Sean!