Special times with special friends!

You know how you have those friends that you honestly can't remember ever not being friends with?? It's almost like life started and BOOM they were there? I have to say that I am fortunate to have a few of those types of girlfriends and I am SO thankful for each of them! We can go a month and not talk and then when we do, it's like no time has passed at all. LOVE,LOVE, LOVE them! Don't know what I would do without them!

The Skalon's got to see one of these girlfriends of mine over the holidays and it was WONDERFUL as always to see her (and her great hubby)! Lena and I grew up living right next door to each other from the time I was four and she was two. Four and two!! Crazy, huh? My parents lived in that house for over 2o years and moved out the summer I got married - Lena's parents still live there - and that's a LONG time to live next door to someone. I have so many memories with her and her family and I can only hope that we build that same type of relationship with our neighbors here in Ivey Chase. It's really neat to think that Lena and I are at the same point in our lives that our parents were when they each moved into that that subdivision in Lawrenceville and now we are getting to raise our families together. Pretty neat..... :)

Lena now lives in Nashville with her awesome husband Jason and we love visiting with them when they come into town. We grabbed dinner with them over the holidays and played catch up on all the exciting things we have going on and of course, snapped a few pictures....


Pretty girls!

Look how much Addison has grown over the years:


(Barely a year old)


(Just turned 2)


(Three and crazy) :)

Since Addison was up (it was WAY past her bedtime) we decided to attempt a group shot...at least we're all in the picture! :)



We had such a fun night catching up with the Cox's and can't wait to see them again soon!

He's still here...

Remember my post around the holidays about our new "friend" the HAWK that had taken up residence in our backyard??? Well, guess what??? He's STILL here!

We have had some really cold weather lately and we didn't see him for a few days (which did NOT hurt my feelings in the least), but as soon as it warmed up...he came back. Lucky us!

I will admit...he is VERY pretty and he is fun to watch from our kitchen window BUT I would love to be able to let Belle outside without searching my backyard first and I would love to be able to let her stay outside for more than 3 minutes at a time. That is the reason we got the darn fence in the first place!

Here are a few recent photos of him (we really should have given him a name by now!)...


He likes to perch on our fence...


He's very photogenic and looks right at you when you ask him too... ;)


He even likes to play on Addison's swing set!

Crazy, huh? I just really want him to find a new "home" before the spring gets here and we all want to play outside. Anybody want him??? I will gladly give him directions to your house! Just let me know...we are currently accepting adoption applications.

Happy Friday!

Birthday fun!!

We had so much fun celebrating my Dad's 60th birthday! Here are a few photos from our special night!





Make a Smilebox slideshow

Chris-nina came to town!

Wow! I feel like we are still in "holiday mode" around the Skalon house and believe me...that's not a good thing! Good thing I only have to show you guys what I want you to see. Hee! Hee! Don't you wish things were always that way?? I do sometimes!

Anyways...over the holidays (maybe that's why I still feel like we're in holiday mode...because I'm still BLOGGING about the holidays!) Christina and Daniel came to visit and as you can tell, Addison was SO excited to see her. Christina moved to Destin, FL a few months ago and Addison and I have missed our lunch dates with her terribly. This was also a very exciting trip for me because I got to meet Daniel for the first time and give him my "stamp" of approval! Him and Christina got engaged over the Thanksgiving holiday so we definitely had a lot to celebrate! :)


Addison loves Aunt Chris-nina!


The future Mr. and Mrs. Cole!

Daniel got Christina this PRECIOUS puppy for Christmas and all of us had the best time playing with her. Belle and her were so cute playing with each other the entire night and Addison thought she was the greatest. Maybe it's time to get another puppy???? ;)



Just kidding! Don't worry...I know my limits with Duke! :)

Wonder What This Means???

Think this means Addison has spent too much time in time-out lately??? I was cooking dinner the other night and this is what she did with her dolls. The best was when she left the room only to come back a few minutes later, bend down to one of the dolls and ask,"Are you sorry?"

Oh the fun of having a 3-year old! :)

Happy 60th Birthday Daddy!

Today is my Dad's 60th birthday! 60!!! Can you believe it? It seems so weird to me that he is turning 60! (Sorry Dad!) ;)

If anyone deserves to have an awesome birthday, it's my Dad. My Dad is one of the most selfless people I know and has always put our families needs and wants before his own. Even now that my brother and I are grown, most of the time it seems like you have to beg my Dad to purchase something for himself. I think Duke wishes everyday that I would have inherited this trait from him. Hee Hee!

I am lucky to have a wonderful relationship with my Dad and the older I get, the more I realize how precious that relationship is to me. I was definitely a Daddy's Girl growing up and still am to this day. I have learned so many wonderful things from him and I can't wait for him to teach Addison so many of the same things. I love to watch the two of them interact with each other and watch her bring out the "soft" side of him (Yes, Dad....you have one!). :)

Thank you Dad for always being there for me no matter how big or small my problem was. Thank you for coming over to my apartment and putting my very first Christmas tree together for me. Thank you for leaving your golf game to come and rescue me when I was stranded on the highway when my car had "died"....(it really was just out of gas!). Thank you for teaching me how to balance a checkbook and save money (Duke also thanks you for that one!). Thank you for teaching me to always believe in myself and listen to Margo...the rest will be easy.

Most of all, thank you loving me and ALWAYS believing in me.

Happy 60th Birthday!!! I love you!

Christmas Day at Mom & Dad's

I love Christmas Day at my parents house! I have so many wonderful memories of long mornings spent sitting in the floor of their living room playing with all of our surprises. I remember how much I used to love to watch my parents open their gifts from each other. I loved watching my Mom open the gifts that were usually hidden deep down in the bottom of her stocking or watching as my Dad went and got the box he had hidden in some other room of the house so my Mom wouldn't find it. I have always been in awe of their love for each other and still am.

We headed over to my parents in the afternoon and enjoyed a great day of friends and family. We were lucky enough that Pat and John were able to spend Christmas with us again and they brought Addison's favorite 4-legged friend, Sandy.

Addison was so excited that Santa had also came to visit her at NaNa and PopPop's house! Who knew the old man made multiple trips?? PopPop was thrilled he brought her a kitchen so Addison could always make sure he had a snack waiting for him! ;)



Addison educating Captain John on how these kitchens work...he caught on beautifully! :)



Addison was so excited about her kitchen and new food that we ended up doing most of her Christmas in the floor of her room at my parents house.



I love the look on Addison's face in this photo. Addison LOVES pajama's and if she could have it her way, she would never take them off. Look at her face when we agreed to let her take off her dress and put her new pair on! Classic!



So sweet!



The Tesh's (minus Sandy!)



The 4 Divas! (More explanation on this photo later...promise!)



Poor Addison was so tired and worn out...she laid down right on the floor!



Stockings are a BIG deal in my family...you just never know what you're going to find in them! Duke was very excited about his deodorant and shaving cream. :)



See...like I said...you never know what you're going to find in them!



Addison looks so grown up to me in this picture. She sat so quietly and watched us open our gifts. I love how her little legs are crossed.



Pat got Mom and I glasses...a princess one for me and one with flip flops for her for all our fun memories at the beach!



My brother got Addison a bible and wrote her the sweetest message inside of it...I know she will treasure this one day.



My parents have the greatest neighbors and they have basically adopted Addison has their grandchild. This photo proves how much Addison has them wrapped around her little finger! If you only knew Scott...you would know how funny this picture is.



By the end of the night, Addison was exhausted and Duke and I were overwhelmed by how blessed we are to have such amazing family and extended family. We had such a wonderful Christmas and it's hard to believe it's come and gone. Hope Santa was as good to all our friend's and family as he was to us!

Santa Came!

This Christmas was definitely the most fun with Addison...she was all about Santa this year! She has always liked Santa, she has never been the child that cried when she went to see him, but this year...she LOVED him! Duke and I had so much fun re-living our childhood through her.

We enjoyed a somewhat early morning with just the three of us before we headed over to my parents house to celebrate Christmas with them. Addison was so excited to come down the stairs and see what Santa had brought her!

Look at the excitement on Addison's face when she realized that Santa had enjoyed her cookies she made him....too cute!



The only thing Addison asked for this year was a "Disney Princess Mirror" and much to her delight...Santa came through!



Santa also brought her a case of princess dress up clothes and she was THRILLED!

Santa even brought Belle a new sweater!

We are lucky enough to have the best neighbors and Addison adores their two little girls. They came over Christmas morning and the three of them were so cute playing with Addison's new stuff and exchanging presents.

The Skalon's must have pretty good this year because Santa sure was good to all of us! ;)

Christmas Eve (Part 2):

After church, we headed straight to Duke's parents house to celebrate Christmas with his parents, two sisters, brother and their families. I have always loved Christmas at his parents house. Between his siblings, there are seven grandchildren, so there is always so much excitement about Santa Claus coming and you really get to see the "magic" of Christmas in their eyes. This year was even more special because Duke's brother and his wife, Jennifer, had a little girl in November and this was her first Christmas. So as the grand kids had fun with their new toys...all the ladies had fun passing sweet baby Kami around. :)

Here's a photo of all the gifts before the kids came down (think they are loved??):



Addison's big gift from them this year was her kitchen and she was SO excited to see it waiting for her when she walked down the stairs! Once she saw that, she wasn't interested in opening any other presents. We all spent the rest of the night eating plastic food. :)



Our attempt to get a shot of all the grand kids:



So proud!



A glimpse at all the craziness!!



As I mentioned before, we are all so in love with little Miss Kami. As you can see in the pictures, Addison and Ansley were a little out numbered when it came to boys vs. girls, so Kami helped to even that number out. Needless to say, Addison is in awe of Kami and wants to love on her every chance she gets. I snapped these photos of Maw-Maw and two of her three girls and I simply ADORE them. I was so glad I was able to capture such a sweet moment between a grandmother and her grand children. I can't wait to print them out and give them to Ruth.









All of the kids are getting so big and time is passing way too quickly. Look at this photo I found of the kids from just two Christmas's ago:



It's hard to believe that much time has passed already! I'd love to slow time down.

Hope everyone had as memorable of a Christmas eve as we did!

Christmas Eve 2009 (Part 1):

Our church offered three Christmas eve services this year so we attended the 5 PM service so we could get to Duke's Mom's house as close to 6 PM as possible. This was the second year that we attended Christmas eve service at The Vine but this year was even more special because my parents, brother, John and Pat were able to go with us. This was also the first year that our church was in it's own building (last year we met at Chateau Elan) so that was even better.

I am so glad that our family adopted the tradition of attending church on Christmas eve. I can remember attending midnight Christmas eve services when I was younger and I remember how much I enjoyed it. I'm sure it will be a while before we ever attend a midnight service with Addison but I'm glad we are able to go to an early service with her.

Addison really enjoyed the service this year and just like last year, we left with a few memories I know we will never forget. First, Addison LOVES listening to our band play and she spent a good bit of the time front and center watching them. There were multiple times I thought she was going to walk right up on stage and was thankful we had chosen an end seat so Duke could grab her. Maye we have a future musician on our hands??? Or maybe she's going to have a thing for guy's in bands?? Let's hope it's the first one! ;)

Second, our church closes out our Christmas service by lighting candles and singing Silent Night. I had not given any thought to the fact that Addison would want to hold her own candle until right before it came time to light hers. I went ahead and lit her candle, thinking I would help her hold hers and blow mine out. Well, right as I went to blow mine out, Addison leaned forward to see what I was doing and put her hair right into her candle. All I can say is God was defiantly looking out for her that night because I happened to see all of this happen out of the corner of my eye and Mom and I both grabbed the end of her hair before much of it burned. Needless to say, I was done with the candles before we had sung the second verse of Silent Night. :)

The last thing is something I know I will never forget and I am so thankful Jason, our outreach pastor, found me after the service and told me this. At the end of the service, our pastor was leading people in prayer and talking to everyone about asking Jesus to come into their heart. At the end, he asked anyone that had prayed that prayer for the first time that night to please raise their hand. Jason said that a few moments passed and then you saw Addison's little hand come up. She raised her hand! How precious is that?!!?

Now, I know that at 3 years old she was probably doing what she told to do (raise your hand) but the thing that got me was the fact that she was listening (which is HUGE for a 3-year old!). Also, Addison does not attend regular service with us on Sundays so I wondered if she would be so overwhelmed and distracted by the band, stage set up, etc. that she wouldn't "get" anything that was said that night. I just couldn't believe that she had done that and thought it was so sweet. I have to say that I was so humbled at that very moment, knowing that God is doing wonderful things with her and her heart. It was such a special ending to a wonderful service!

Christmas with Mom's Side Of the Family

In typical fashion, I am so behind on this blog and all of our Christmas festivities. Sorry! I guess the best way for me to try and play "catch up" is to attempt to break all of the craziness down into different parts. :)

So here we go....

We always do Christmas with my Mom's side of the family the weekend before Christmas since all of us have our own families now and so many places to visit Christmas day. It is so nice to have this time to get all of the Great-Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins and great cousins together and I wish we were all able to do it more often. Both of my cousins have little boys that are about 6 months older than Addison so it is always fun to get them together and see how different little boys are than little girls!

Here's our attempt at trying to get a photo of the great cousins together:


(Ryan, Addison, Michael)


They were singing some Christmas song at this point :)

I love this photo of my Grandfather and all the great grand kids:


(Ryan, Addison and Michael)

My Grandfather with most his grand kids:


(Melette, Me, Granddad, Adam, and Nick)

And since we were in such the picture taking mood...my Grandfather with most of his children:


(Ken, Dave, Nadine, Granddad, Mom)

We had such a fun afternoon and WAY too much yummy food. All of the kids were so excited about Christmas and got lots of new toys to hold them off until Santa came! :)