December & Doggies

For the last two weeks, we have been mixing Chris' final exams with Christmas fun. The dogs love Christmas and I couldn't resist a few photo opps.

Hannah finally gave us a great picture! She continues to be a wonderful little girl. She is Jack's play buddy and Tex's snuggle partner at all times.

This is team brown.

Tex apparently felt the need to be pictured with the Christmas tree this year. I wish we could have a tree up all year. I love the lights!

Chris and I made a big investment in bones. This is 6 months worth of dog bones! We cut them in half to make them last twice as long! When you start adding up the expense, you realize how costly they can be when you have 4 doggies. Bones are without question a necessity in our house.

I know, our closet looks like one of the shelves at Petsmart!

Here they are, enjoying their new bones. Ruthie hoards hers until everyone else is finished. Hannah is a machine -- she shreds it. Tex is all about speed --- ten minutes tops. And sweet Jackson doesn't really like bones but because everyone else does, he pretends to want his.

I'm sure all the moms out there have something that they use up and go through constantly with their kids, milk, cheerios or formula. Here in the Henson house, it's bones.

I'll do my best to take pictures as the Christmas season continues!

Of course our tree is real...

I grew up hiking through the snow at a tree farm in search of the family Christmas tree.  It was always real and dad always had to drag it back out of the woods as the three of us girls either attempted to help or simply walked along giddy over the new tree.  Now, getting my own tree is somewhat similar with a bit of a NC twist.

The Hensons drive all the way to Sparta, NC to find their Christmas trees. It's quite the adventure.  Most people in our area of NC, simply drive to their local K Mart parking lot or the nearest Christmas tree tent and buy a pre-cut tree.  It pains me to think of getting my tree from between the parking lot yellow lines! Goodness! So we go in search of a beautiful tree. There's no snow, but honestly, this is just as fun and much much warmer!

Found it!  It took me forever this year. Poor Chris found some beautiful trees, but they just didn't feel right. Sarah got her first tree and David and Joyce got just what they wanted as well!

Let the holiday decorating begin! I love Christmas more than any other time of the year.  It always brings out the best in those who truly understand love, blessings and the Lord.

Thanksgiving in Winston

This year both of our families celebrated Thanksgiving in Winston with us.  It was great! Joyce did a fantastic meal for everyone including dear family friends the Van Zandts.  Beyond football games, too much dessert and lots of doggies to play with the weekend was full of family fun.

Lucas flew in from New Mexico to spend the holiday with Christy. My parents brought both dogs with them on the ten hour trip! We avoided black Friday. Highlights included good movies, stoagies on the porch and great weather for having company.  Chris and I are keenly aware of the many blessings that we are experiencing in our life together.  One of the biggest is the family that surrounds us both near and far!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving with the girls

Last Thursday we gathered for the 3rd Annual Girls' Night Thanksgiving Dinner.  I tackled the turkey again this year. It was our biggest yet! 27 amazing ladies --- wow!  I'll upload the picture soon.  Laura Jones made an appearance all the way from Delaware.  It made the evening extra special! Lots of new faces enjoyed the tradition this year.  I hope that each one of them was encouraged by the friendly faces of those around them.  I remember three years ago needing and wanting committed girl friends to walk through life with, and I'm so thankful to say that I have more of those relationships now than I could have ever imagined! Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Mart

We celebrated Martha's birthday last weekend with a bunch of her friends.  They did oysters and BBQ out at Martha's family's river house. Above you can see Sam and Chris working on the oysters! 

It's My Birthday!

This weekend was full of fun for my 26th birthday. It was the best birthday I have ever had --- thanks family, friends and Christopher! Friday night we celebrated at Mi Pueblo with our friends.  I was prepared for the sombrero and singing, but being hit on the head with every verse of the song was a surprise!

As a special bonus, we got to bring Hannah home from Uncle Brad and Aunt Cooper's house. Before bringing her home, we thought a backyard bath would be a good idea. Dad and CD did a great job!

   












We then headed to the movies to see The Christmas Carol in 3D.  It was crazy how 3-dimensional everything on the screen was through the glasses.  What could be better for my birthday than a Christmas movie?

Somewhere in there I also got up early and took the GRE exam.  Not fun, but not bad either. No more GRE review for this girl! We ordered stuffed crust pizza for dinner Saturday night --- my favorite!

My friends helped me celebrate all weekend long!  Thank you everyone for your messages, cards and encouragement.  Apparently, everyone is excited to see me get older --- sweet!

Sunday we capped off the weekend with the traditional Henson family birthday dinner and mint chocolate chip ice cream cake, mmm mmm! 26 feels great and my only regret is that the weekend is near over.  My father-in-law has declared it my birthday month, so we'll see how long I can keep this party going!

This book has exactly ten days left to its life. I have been immersed in page after page of GRE practice problems for over a month now. I can say with complete sarcasm that I love, love, love this text. Give me more please!

I happen to be taking the test on my birthday. I know, not the best birthday plans, but that is how the calendar worked out. As one of my birthday presents I will be sacrificing the Kaplan book to the GRE gods. Regardless of scores. This is the finale folks.

Normal posts with pictures of doggies and family fun with resume soon.