The West Family: 2008

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Pete Meets Mo and The Jackson Family

This past weekend we made a trip to Jackson for our Family Christmas. Cliff, Katy and Mo let us all stay with them. Pete was so excited! Below are few pics of Pete and Mo playing. Thanks for having us!

They had a blast playing. While they were sleeping we went out on the town. Bravo for dinner was awesome. If you like Italian this is a must!

Cliff, Katy, Allie and Chad

Following dinner we met Liz for drinks at Old Venice. It was great to catch up!

Liz, Allie, and Chad

On Sunday we enjoyed a late breakfast and got ready for Family Christmas. This year Dave and Gigi hosted Christmas at their house. Not only did we celebrate Christmas but John and Ali's little girl had a birthday. Below are some pictures:

It was great to see everyone. Pete ended up sleeping in the car during Family Christmas. He was worn out from playing with Mo.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Another Project Finished...

The Holidays always motivate me to finish projects that I started or planned. This week I finished our Bedroom Curtains and Euro Sham Covers. This made a drastic improvement to our Master Bedroom. I plan to add a few more pillows and a picture or two then it will be time to move to another room. Here are a few pictures:

Monday, December 15, 2008

Tis the Season to PARTY!

What a fun weekend! We had so much fun seeing old friends and making new ones. One of my favorite things about the holidays are the Parties. However, this weekend I think we over did it.

Friday night we stopped in The Stables for a Birthday Party. Carrie Hope you had a great one...

Leah, Carrie, and Allie

Next up we attended a Christmas Cocktail Party @ The Curlee's. Thanks for including us John and Jennie B. We had a blast. However I don't have any pictures. We had so much fun that we stopped in Waffle House on our way home.

Saturday was pretty typical for us: brunch @ The Stables, yard work, finishing up some projects, and getting ready for another night out.

Saturday night we attended The Girl's Christmas Party. It was lots of fun! Below are some pics from the party.

Brian, Leah, Allie and Chad

Chad, Erik, Michael, and Brian

Shanda, Donna, and Jennifer

Allie, Ashley, and Laura

Kristy and Millie

Sunday we went to The United Methodist Church in Okolona for Glenda's Christmas Cantata. As always Glenda had a solo. She did an awesome job! Following the Cantata we had lunch at the church and spent most of the afternoon in Okolona.

Chad, Glenda, and Allie

Monday, December 8, 2008

Christmas Parade!

Growing up in Tupelo the Christmas Parade was always fun! And it was a big deal to be in it. Fast Forward 15 years and the Parade is sponsored by Reed's and happens on Saturday Morning. Wow how the times have changed but still just as fun.

Our friends The Westmoreland's hosted a fun Brunch Party for the Parade. Chad and I bundled up and walked a few blocks Saturday Morning to join in the fun. Below are some pics from the party and parade.

Can you tell it is early? I would be asleep on a normal Saturday.

Allie, Tracy, and Amanda (Hostess)

The Gratz Family (Michael, Lucy, Charlie, Mary Margaret)

Funny Float....

Santa and his Reindeer.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Holiday Tree Festival

Last night The Tupelo Women's Club hosted their Annual Holiday Tree Festival at TCC. The room was filled will amazing trees, wreathes and gifts all to be auctioned. It totally transformed the ballroom. I have to say they came a long way since I worked my set up shift on Monday.

Below are a few pictures from the event. Of course I didn't charge my camera so there are only 2.

Allie and Laura Hodges

Chad and Allie

I am definitely in the Holiday Spirit and have some wonderful ideas on how to decorate for Christmas this year. I guess I need to get busy since Christmas is just around the corner.

Monday, November 24, 2008

The Big Easy!

What an exciting weekend! 2 Major Events occurred.

1. Our friends Mary-Baldwin and John got Engaged. Yeah!
2. Ole Miss beat LSU in Death Valley. Hotty Toddy!

And we were there to witness it all.

The Big Easy was rocking this weekend. As always we had lots of fun and ate way too much food - NOLA, Oceana, and Antoine's to name a few. Below are some of the pictures from our trip.

Dad, Pat and Chad after dinner @ NOLA. This a must on your next trip to New Orleans - http://www.emerils.com/restaurant/2/NOLA-Restaurant/

Mom, Dad and Allie - Death Valley Here we are!

John, Mary-Baldwin, Allie, and Chad - Pre Game in Death Valley. Congrats on your Engagement. We can't wait for the wedding!

Chad and Allie - Post Game in New Orleans. Hotty Toddy!

Part of the Crew having Brunch @ Antoine's on Sunday. This is another New Orleans favorite. If you have never been make reservations next time you will be in The Big Easy. They invented Oyster's Rockefeller - http://www.antoines.com/index.html

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I Got Tagged!

Thanks Katy! I got tagged as one of her most Kreativ Bloggers.

The award requires you to Blog 6 interesting facts about yourself and then tag 6 to do the same!
Here our some facts about me. I hope you find these interesting.
1. I sleep with 1 leg outside of the covers
2. I have been smoke FREE for 310 days
3. I like to do things the hard way ie: make it from scratch
4. I would rather eat the cookie dough or cake batter then the finished product
5. I wish I could carry a tune. Until then I will sing to myself in the shower or the car.
6. In my next life I would like to be a personal assistant for a Movie Star.

Tag it’s your turn: Ginger, Emily, Jessi, Lisa, MH and Leah.
Can’t wait to see your interesting facts!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Painted Dog

Pete is learning to play in the back yard by himself. You would think that all dogs love it but he does not. Pete was playing while I was putting the finishing touches of paint on the front porch. When I returned to let him out of the back yard he was so excited he ran into the wet paint brush I was holding. I thought is was pretty funny. Hope you have a good laugh too!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Hotty Toddy Rock Star Style

On Saturday Morning at 7:30 am, 10 of us loaded a bus and headed for the Ole Miss Arkansas Game in Fayetteville. This was no ordinary bus; it was a Celebrity Coaches Bus. Traditionally they lease these to rock stars. We were traveling on the Tupelo Honey that has hosted The Drive by Truckers, Backstreet Boys and Gavin DeGraw.
Below is a picture of our bus:

It was early so my picture isn’t that great.

After a long day full of Toddy’s and great food on the bus we made it in time to explore downtown.
Here is a picture of us before the game:

If any of you watched the game on Pay Per View you know it was a nail biter. It was very exciting! We pulled out a win on the road!

After winning we hit the town to celebrate. When everyone had enough we loaded the bus and hit the road for Tupelo. I slept most of the way home is a tiny bunk. I happened to be traveling with non picture takers so sorry for the lack of fun ones.
We rolled into Tupelo Sunday Morning at 6:30 am. This has to be the longest road trip in the shortest amount of time. If you ever get a chance to go on a Celebrity Coaches Bus I totally recommend it!

Monday, October 27, 2008

The Little Rascals

On Friday we got all dolled up for The Farrar's Annual Halloween Party. We always have a great time and everyone goes all out on their costumes. This year for Halloween we were Darla and Alfalfa from The Little Rascals. It was fun being someone else. Below are some funny pictures.

Darla and Alfalfa

Hippie and A Gangster

Darla w/ A Bun in the Oven

Darla, Alfalfa, The Bun in the Oven and The Bun Maker

Fanny May and Freddie Mac

Now it's time to start planning costumes for next year! Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween Friday.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

More Flower Beds

Over the weekend Chad and I planted in our North Flower Bed.

On either ends we planted LeAnn Cleyera's. They are evergreen Shrubs that will get much larger. On either side behind the Japanese Maple we planted Glory Blue Hydrangea's. I hope our drainage is correct since they don't like wet feet. Lastly we planted a Sassanqua with white blooms in front of our fireplace. Below is a better picture.

Our Camellia in the front yard is looking great this year.

This crazy weather has it blooming already. Below is a picture of the beautiful pink blooms.

With all this yard work I think my BROWN thumb is finally turning a light shade of GREEN.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Flower Beds

Chad and I have worked several different weekends to make our front flower beds presentable. With some help from various people we were able to finish the front beds on Sunday. Thank you Mom and DD! Below are several pictures of our progress:

Here is an up close shot of the right bed:

We planted Higasa Azalea's, Hostas, and Yellow Pansy's.

We also re-routed, prepped and mulched our side bed. Now we need to decide what to plant.

Our other big project is finishing our porch. The treated lumber is finally dry. We spent a lot of time Saturday prepping to paint. We have 1 coat of primer on the rails. The next step is to caulk and prime again. The end result will require 2 coats of paint. The goal is to finish by Halloween.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Congratulations and Best Wishes Miller and Jenni....

That is right. My younger brother finally proposed to Jenni on Friday night! So now it is official that Jenni will be my sister-in-law.
Here is a re-cap of the proposal:
Miller prepared a romantic meal for two and greeted her with it when she came home from work on Friday. Sometime during the meal she thought he was getting more wine and he was about to propose. I knew Miller had it in him!

I was so excited when Jenni called to tell me the news. The best part is when she said "I hear you have been waiting for me to call". We were with friends and they were equally as excited. The catch - my Grandparents were not coming until Saturday and they weren't being told until dinner at my parents on Sunday. It was so hard to keep the secret.......
We kept telling them they came to town for Pete's Blessing yesterday. They were so relieved to hear the good news. In the end Dink said that he thought they were here for some big news. He said either Miller was engaged or I was pregnant. Sorry Dink, no Great Grand Babies yet!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Busy Weekend!

This past weekend Chad and I took Pete to Memphis. We stayed in the condo at the Shrine. It was just like old times. We quickly realized the condo was too small for all 3 of us but we somehow managed.

Highlights:

- Romantic Dinner on the Roof (Chad proposed to me a little over 2 years ago on this roof). Complete with Head banging music from Mud Island.
- Shopping
- French Fries from Young Avenue Deli. I think they currently hold the title of #2 Best Fries. Not sure what Magazine gave them this Award. Need to Check.
- Spending time with the Hildreth’s

Beth holding new baby - Mason Coleman Hildreth.

Sean, Chad and Pete.

- The Raconteurs Concert

Downsides:

- Not enough sleep.
- Not enough time to see everyone.
- Most important – The Apple Store said my iPod was DOA. The only good thing - they said if you purchase your next iPod from a store we will give you a 10% discount for Recycling your old one. So maybe I will get one for Christmas. Hint Hint Chad.

The West Family