a food and present-filled Christmas... :)

We had a wonderful Christmas!

We are so grateful for all the support we have received from The Cliffs/Bluffs Leasing Office this past year with our CARES program! We sent them a Christmas basket to enjoy.



Christmas Eve Service at Fellowship Dallas :: We attended the kids service...
Our niece Chloe and nephew Jude were happy about that! :)

Miss Sundae on Christmas morning enjoying her new bed.

CARES has a big Christmas party every year for all the CARES Teams.
This year, an illusionist entertained us after dinner!



Pickle was SO excited about her new bed and Sundae was beyond excited about her stocking!

Richard baking mint chocolate chip cookies...yum!

Christmas Eve Dinner...we ate way too much!

Our sweet nephew, Jude, getting Christmas kisses from Pickle.

Merry Christmas 2010!

December is in full swing with Christmas festivities...family dinners, parties with friends, secret santa, shopping, giving, Christmas movies, eggnog...and the list goes on and on!

Florida :: KAB Conference and Universal Studios

Christmas in Whoville at Universal Studios

"Butter beer" (tastes like cream soda) and "pumpkin juice" (tastes like pumpkin pie) at the new
Harry Potter exhibit in Universal Studios!

Harry Potter :: Hogwarts Express :: Universal Studios

Jessa and Brandee (KMB Board Chair) inside Epcot at Disney World for the
Keep America Beautiful National Conference!

CARES :: Toys 4 Tots Drive + Christmas Party + Holiday Lights Contest

Toy collection event in the Cliffs/Bluffs

Keep Mesquite Beautiful :: Christmas in the Park

TPN :: Secret Santa

Richard participated in two secret santa games at work. He got crafty with his first secret santa and painted office supplies orange (a favorite color of his co-worker)... he also participated in an "as seen on tv" secret santa game...we are now the proud owners of a pasta bowl strainer. TPN's Christmas Party had a "tacky outfit" theme...he wore his pj's with a Santa hat!

 Traveling Puppies

Pickle and Sundae during our Christmas travels.

 Food...food...and more food!

In the spirit of Christmas, Richard has been busy in the kitchen cooking
favorite dishes and baking cookies from scratch...yum!

 Have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Timothy the Turkey, among other things.

We had a very blessed Thanksgiving. Our second Turkey Day as a married couple, two very sweet dachshunds, both sides of our family celebrating together, wassail fest, food...food...and some more food... the turkey trot...and let's not forget, our dear friend... Timothy the Turkey. He was wonderful.

RIP Timothy. :)



Us with Richard's Mom (Anne)

Us with Brenda and Will!

The 8 Mile that Richard ran at the YMCA Turkey Trot!

Richard after his 8-mile run.

Food, food and more food. Thanksgiving meal #1 at Beth's house (Richard's sister).

Both sides of our family!

Before the turkey coma....

Thanksgiving in Nacogdoches. Richard with his Uncle Mark, Brother-in-Law Matt, Grand-dad and nephew Jude!

Thanksgiving in Nacogdoches...Chloe and I were the only two that heard the silly theme...haha :)

Our nephew Jude!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

And...have a silly week! :)

Allen Americans Hockey and the Dallas Zoo

Our friends, Mindy and Evan, invited us to go with them to the Allen Americans Hockey Game in Allen! We had a drink at BJ's and then headed to the game! What a fun way to spend a Friday.

Richard and Evan... we noticed they were both holding our purses... haha :)

Jessa and Mindy

Allen Americans Hockey Team

On Saturday, we went to the Dallas Zoo! Richard loves the zoo and up until today...still hadn't been to the Dallas Zoo! For his 25th birthday, I gave him zoo tickets (which he knew was a true present...b/c I am not a fan of the zoo...). However, we had a great time. The weather was perfect and we were also able to see the newest part of the zoo - Giants of the Savannah. It was really great! 

CARES team gifts for new resident move-ins. Who doesn't love starbucks?! :)

A whirlwind of fun.

The past 4 days have been crazy for us...but so fun and very rewarding! 

We were able to serve approx. 120 people at our CARES Thanksgiving Dinner!
We could not have done it without the help of friends and family.

Our little nephew, Jude, hanging out at our CARES Thanksgiving Dinner.



Our sweet niece, Chloe, helping at the CARES Thanksgiving Dinner.

Keep Mesquite Beautiful (Jessa's nonprofit) was lucky enough to have the Litter Force (very cool educational presentation from TxDot in partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful) come to Mesquite, TX! We made the news - FOX 4!!

Celebrating Richard's 25th Birthday in New York City! This picture was taken in Times Square. We had the opportunity to stay at TPN's corporate apartment (Richard's company)...enjoy a wonderful french dinner at La Mirabelle..and Richard got to jog in Central Park.

We added a new state...CT!

Keep Mesquite Beautiful hosted Mesquite Recycles Day on Saturday! We had over 600 vehicles drop off e-waste, shred documents and donate used items to local nonprofits. Another successful event!

This picture was just too funny...we had to share.

Pickle + Sundae = One Very Long Dog!

Halloween :: 2010

Happy Halloween!!!! We had a Halloween T-Shirt Party with friends!

Our niece and nephew also dropped by in costume.

Friends since middle school!

My sweet niece, Chloe.

One of my best friend's little boy, Zach.

Uncle Richard and Jude

Richard's super cool zombie t-shirt!