A December to Remember

It is hard to believe that is already 2012! December flew by way too fast, but we had a lot of fun events to keep us busy! Here are some pictures from the last month!

Our Christmas Tree! This picture was taken early in December before any presents were wrapped.

A few close ups of some of our special ornaments. I really liked using gold, silver and blue accents - it worked perfectly with our living room decor!

On December 5th, Johnathan and I celebrated my 28th birthday! He surprised me by taking me to a very nice dinner, then we came home and had birthday cake! So sweet to have for me to blow out candles! Oh, and the beautiful flowers on our table are from my sweet parents and in-laws!

 On December 10th, we traveled to Charleston, S.C. with my family to surprise Lauren for her 30th Birthday! We arrived early at Peninsula Grill before she and Mark came.

Lauren was very surprised! I didn't get a good picture of her arrival, but as soon as she saw us at the table, she ran over to see everyone!

 Saturday morning we all went to a cute little restaurant for brunch. It was nice to spend the day with my family, along with Mark's mother and sister-in-law, Angie. 

 We walked around Charleston all day shopping and site seeing. I had to snap some pictures of the gorgeous homes decorated for Christmas!

 Saturday evening we went to Cypress for dinner. We had a few more surprises for Lauren - my parents gave her this beautiful diamond necklace - it looks great on her! 

 One more surprise Mark had up his sleeve was that Vicki, Lauren's roommate from college, joined us for dinner! We had a great time. 

 After dinner we attempted to go to a local sweet shop for dessert, but it was too crowded, so we opted for the warm cookies from the DoubleTree hotel instead! I was not too sad about that!

Sunday morning we went to say goodbye to Lauren and Mark before heading home. They stayed at the beautiful Charleston Place Hotel!

On December 23rd, we got together with the Jollay Family to celebrate Christmas. Each year we do a white elephant swap, and it is so fun to see what everyone gets! I ended up with a pretty scarf and keychain, but Johnathan ended up with a donut hole maker! He's not too thrilled, but let's just say I hit the jackpot considering I can now make munchkins at home! 

Lauren made a beautiful chocolate torte for dessert that was amazing! Her three days of work to put this together was well worth it!

On Christmas Eve morning, we woke up to celebrate Christmas with my immediate family. It was so nice to be with them before heading back south! I got some new Tory Burch sunglasses, a Kate Spade wallet, and a new iPhone! Johnathan got a Garmin, new workout clothes, and an iPhone, too! Lauren and I each gave our parents a photo album from each of our weddings which I hope they will enjoy.

On Christmas Day we celebrated with Johnathan's side of the family. We had such a great time watching our nephews open their toys! T.G. loved his Captain America helmet and Star Wars light saber.

The boys both got a lot of toys, but Jack's big present is a Red Rider BB Gun! He is so excited because now he can go hunting with his Dad.

Speaking of hunting, the week after Christmas Johnathan and I went to Blackshear to visit with his family. One afternoon he took me hunting with him to sit in the deer stand. Even though we didn't see anything, it was relaxing to sit outside in peace and quiet!

Also while in Blackshear, we took our nephews to pick up pecans near the cabin. They were such good helpers - we filled up the entire bucket and were able to get about 7 pounds of fresh pecans! Now I just need to find some good recipes ... mmm, pecan pie, candied pecans ...

Well that wraps up the final month of 2011! I can't wait to see what 2012 brings!