Christmas 2009

For Christmas Eve, my aunt took all of the family that were here for Christmas to Ruth's Chris to celebrate. They have amazing steaks there and we were all so full by the end of the night.



My sister and I decorated my Grandmother's door for a contest that her assisted living center put on. She didn't win (the door below this won), but she really liked it. She and I personally think the contest was rigged a little!:)


J.R. and I met up with my friends Alex and Amber for lunch and went to a park to visit for a while.

Christmas morning was a little rainy, but cleared out fairly quickly and we had a great day!

As my Aunt put it, we had a "Ralph Lauren Christmas" with the plaid flannel and puppy by the fire!:)

Some Snowy Pictures...

So, my camera has been out of commission for a few weeks due to a malfunctioning flash. Right after Thanksgiving I shipped it to Nikon for repair. I had great intentions of sending a cheesy Christmas card to everyone (and I still may send a “Happy New Year” card), but by the time the camera was shipped back there was not enough time to take pictures, print them, and get them out to everyone. There WILL be one next year, I promise!

I did, however, get it back in time for the first big snow in PA. It was a beautiful thing, waking up and looking out the window to see so much white. J.R. is of course, very used to snow, but Max and I were elated. I am told that I will be sick of it by the end of winter, but I will enjoy the excitement while it lasts.




I love this picture of J.R.



Here are a few Christmas pictures (torture sessions:) for Max). There will be more to come.

This one was my favorite!

Thanksgiving 2009

Here are some shots from Thanksgiving 2009. Julie, her husband, J.R. and I were all home and we ended up being extremely busy the entire weekend.



Julie and her husband, Seth.

Hmmm.....

My grandmother laughs at us for our obsession with cameras, but she is always ready to smile!

My dad has a signature pose for all Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey carving.

Julie "untrained" Max all weekend.

Max really preferred my stepmom, Jackie, over anyone:)



We packed into the car one night and went to downtown Knoxville with the intention of ice skating.


Unfortunately, the rink was packed so we went out to eat with my dad's friends, Rick and Peggy and had a really good time.

Saying goodbye to my mom.

I'm not sure what was going on here, but I love my mom's face in this picture.

November 2009 DC Trip

J.R. had a Friday off while his company was moving to their new office, so we decided it would be a great time to visit DC. We drove the 4 and 1/2 hours Thursday night so that we could get up early on Friday morning and get started on the sight seeing. One of our first stops was the Botanic Gardens. I thought these models of DC were amazing!


We reserved a daytime trolley tour for Friday and Saturday, but didn't use it very often. One lesson I will share....wear comfortable shoes when visiting our nation's capitol!

We ran into protesters of the new health care bill before we went on our tour of the Capitol. We were actually able to sit in on the House of Reps while they were debating around noon. We heard they were in session until midnight that night.

Arlington

My "illegal" picture of the Library of Congress, taken before I realized there was a sign:). This was one of the most beautiful buildings we visited.

The gorgeous hope diamond:).

My "illegal" picture of the constitution, taken before the guards objected to the bright focus light.


Does this look familiar?



We also went on a "Monuments by Moonlight" tour (which we highly recommend). Our hilarious tour guide, a.ka. "Grumpy," made the whole experience well worth it, even stopping the trolley in the middle of the road so that we could take beautiful pictures of DC! We loved him!



TVA at the FDR memorial!





Throughout the weekend, we stayed at a great hotel in Old Town Alexandria and caught the metro at King Street. I am in love with Old Town! From the original cobble stone streets to the beautiful architecture, I love everything about it. We toured during the day and went on a ghost tour one night that we also recommend.

On our way out of town, we stopped at a fish market. The food wasn't great, but I had to get a picture of the huge beer that J.R. ordered, unaware of the size! lol