A Family Valentine

Clark and I had plans to have an "after the kids go to bed" date for Valentine's Day.  But, we decided it would be more fun to have a family Valentine's!  Everly helped me decorate the table and make a few things.  Clark cooked some amazing steak and we had such a great dinner.  The kids like that I let them drink their milk out of champagne glasses!  Everly loves to set a beautiful table.  I can't imagine where she got that! 

Here are ALL of my precious Valentine's:

The most handsome boy….

And, beautiful girl.

I feel confident that a new tradition was born.  Family Valentine's from now on!

Housewives' Guys

We've got some fun neighbors.  And, the girls make a point to get together every month.  We call ourselves the Real Housewives of SilverStone.  RHSS for short.  We do get together with our men, but that usually includes families.  It's always hard to really catch up when you are chasing kids.  So, we had a little Italian themed dinner party for the couples!

I threw in the leaves on the dining table and somehow we all fit!

I love that I have my mom's table and all that came with it.  The red and white checked table cloth was used for a very fun party in the 90s!  It was so fun to bring it back out.  We all had a great time and us girls enjoyed having the guys with us!

And, in the meantime, Walker and Everly got to dye some eggs!!!!

It was a great start to the holiday weekend!

Christmas Eve Dinner

So, after we opened presents, we took a few more pictures.  (Have I mention how cute the babes are?)  Bunny and RayRay are pretty cute, too:

And, a family photo… including the pups.  (5 out of 6 looking at the camera isn't bad):

Then it was time for our fancy dinner.  This Christmas Eve marked the first time for the kids to eat at the dining room table.

They were fantastic!!!

Clark cooked delicious steak and lobster and we continued our tradition of toasting.  The kids loved getting in on it:

And, I'm sure he won't be happy that I'm going to publish this, but Clark gave the best toast ever.  And, I'm going to share it with you:

Merry Christmas, I'm glad you're all here,

To share time with us in this wonderful time of year.

It is special to have you and share this night,

What great memories, and the presents are alright.

Time goes to fast and we don't slow down enough,

We talk about it often, but doing it is tough.

Walker and Everly are growing very tall,

They are wonderful kids, in winter, spring and fall.

I'm looking very forward to seeing them grow,

There are still so many things I still need to show.

Our family is special, we feel very blessed,

We couldn't ask for more, you are all the best.

Here's the future, in particular, next year,

And, to many more Christmases with all of us here.

 When we first got married, I think Clark hated the toasting tradition, but boy…. he has upped his game and always impresses.  Love that he can pull these awesome toasts off with very little prep time.

After our lovely dinner, it was time to feed the reindeer!!!!

Santa's team had plenty to eat at our house!!!!  These babes were prepared!!!   After that was done, it was time to get pjs on and go fast asleep, because I'm pretty sure Santa was waiting to stop at our house.  So fun to have all this Christmas excitement at our house!

Overbooked?

We were invited to a lot of parties this holiday season.  I find it super fun.  Clark says we were overbooked.  Ha!  But, all it all, all the events were great and a fun time was had by all.

Here are some (okay, a lot) of pictures!

It started with shopping at Nordstrom:

The next night, Clark and I were off to downtown for his work party.  It was a masquerade ball!

Next up, a party for the whole family at our neighbor's house:

The next weekend, I had a dinner party for my girls' group.  I love setting my beautiful table!

Such great friends!!!

Not done yet.  Everly was very excited about the girls only, mommy/daughter party:

It was a grinch theme.  She loved watching the movie:

And, finally, we went to our neighborhood party.  Santa was there and the kids enjoyed watching a movie outside. 

We met lots of fun neighbors and looked at christmas lights on the way home (Walker drove)!

It was a jam packed and fabulously fun two weekends!!!!  Looking very forward to more holiday time with the family.

She Has His Heart

I've mentioned it before, but it's worth mentioning again.  Debra has a very special place in our family.  She and Taylor are a part of us.  And, nobody knows that better than Walker.  Debra is his girlfriend and she has his heart.

I was getting ready for our dinner party last week and told him that Debra would be coming over.  He was thrilled.  The day before I got some flowers to put on my beautiful table.  Walker said, "I want to get Debra some flowers."  So, I told him we could do that because I knew I had to make a HEB run anyway.  

So, that morning, we walk in the store and he immediately went to the flowers and started looking around.  He was very serious about this big decision.  Finally, he walked over to some red carnations and said, "I want to get these for Debra."  

It was 100% his idea and so very precious. 

Everyone arrived and the flowers were on the kitchen counter.  And, of course, everyone was standing around in the kitchen.  Walker didn't want to come grab them in front of everyone, so he told Debra, "I got you some flowers".  I think that's so cute!  Eventually, I got the flowers and gave them to Walker and he presented them to his girl:

I told Taylor, he might have a little competition!  This is such a precious relationship and I am so thankful that Debra is a part of my boy's life.

When she got home, she sent me this picture to show her boyfriend:

Her special flowers, in a pretty vase.  Someday, (in a long, long, very long time) Walker will fall in love.  I hope he finds a girl as special as Debra and remembers to buy her flowers!

A Special Dinner

Back in the 'ole GP days, my parents had some excellent dinner parties.  Always good food, good drink, wonderful toasts and amazing fun.

Blaine was usually at them and we often talk about all the good times.  Ever since Googie died, Blaine has been asking for a good old fashioned dinner party.  I'm happy to report, I obliged!

He came down last week and Walker and Everly got some good Uncle Blaine time in the backyard.

And, then it was time to party!  Forgive all these pictures, I just thought they were all good, so I'm including them!

It's great to have a picture of Blaine with us, considering he's a part of us!

And, so happy to have Debra and Taylor as a part of our special night.

I loved that Melinda came!  She's a great "aaaaahhhh GP" girl and fit right in with our craziness!

More pictures….

I love this one….. Mom with all her "boys".  Blaine, Clark and Taylor have all helped her through the loss of Googie.  All these guys are so very special!

It was a fantastic night.  Wonderful toasts, good stories, some tears and a whole bunch of laughs!