Snow Day 2

More photos from Winter Wonderland!!



It was nice to see blue skies!


Another measurement - close to 9 inches. That is alot of snow!

Cora had a hard time walking in it. She def. has learned a new word, "SNOW!"

Another family shot in front of the snow man. This time without all the snow falling.

William and Cora cheesing for the camera.

William likes to go outside at night and take pictures of the house in snow. Here it is all lit up for Christmas with the snow man and blanket of snow. Looks very cozy!!

I think I would be okay if we didn't have any more snow for the season. This was a lot and it took forever to go away!

White Day after Christmas!!

We went to bed Christmas night with predictions of snow - they said it would start about midnight and not end until around midnight the next day! They were predicting 6-9 inches!! We haven't seen that much snow in a long time!! Well everything they predicted, came true! We woke up to gray skies and snow falling. It was very peaceful watching the snow fall. We went outside to play for a little while and it was very cold and very windy.  I really felt like I was in a snow globe!



Cora all dressed and ready to hit the slopes!



Winter wonderland! aka- our backyard



Cora and I looking cute in our layers of clothes!


We took a measurement of snow - between 6 and 7 inches! we still had a few more hours of snow fall!!

William made Cora a snowman while she napped. I thought he did a great job, very authentic looking! He had coal eyes, mouth and buttons, carrot nose, scarf and hat from Russia. Cora liked looking at him.

Our family shot in front of the snow man.

Phillips Family Christmas!!

We enjoyed having my side of the family over to celebrate Christmas! Everyone came over mid afternoon for an early dinner and present opening. My sister, Heather, made her famous spaghetti and my brother, Eric, made sausage balls! I made dessert - which was just left over "Monkey Bread". So it was a very relaxing time, which is good for this time of year.


I have to say, Christmas has always been a little hard since my mom passed away. This year will make 4 years. It's hard to believe that much time has passed. She passed away December 26th, 2006. That Christmas was so special. It was our first Christmas in our new home and we were hosting. As usual, I wish I had enjoyed it more instead of being stressed out about having everyone over. Mom said it was her "Best Christmas ever!" I guess it really was since she woke up in heaven!


Here are just a few pics from our time together!!



My dad is a really hard man to shop for. He is the kind of guy who says "Don't worry about me.. Buy for others" Hopefully he enjoyed his gifts.


Eric opening his gifts!


Heather is amazing at guessing what presents are. No surprises for her!

Cousins Cora and Holden. Holden turns 10 this year and he was very sweet in helping Cora open her gifts.


Time with family is always sweet - Hope we can all be together next year!

Christmas Morning!!!

The day has finally arrived - Christmas morning!! I know William and I were way more excited about this than Cora! She still isn't quite old enough to understand what is going on. So we have time before she gets "the gimmies"!!


Both of us woke up way before Cora! I woke up around 5:30 and started making our traditional "Monkey Bread". William grew up eating this with his family on Christmas morning and it was something he wanted to do with ours. I had no complaints as it is very yummy and easy to make. Something else we've started is placing pieces from a Nativity set on top of the monkey bread and singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus! I received this nativity set from my CBS leader last year with this idea - She did it with her family. Once I heard it, I knew I wanted to do it with ours.


We were so excited to hear Cora wake up! We got her up and let her run into the living room. She kept saying "Wow...". She loved opening and closing all the doors to her kitchen. She wasn't too interested in the presents but once we showed her how to open, she got a little more into it. She received lots of books, pajamas, "Tickle Monster" book (with gloves - so excited to do this) and a "Tickle me" Elmo baby! We are so blessed by our sweet friends who adore Cora.

Okay - this last photo is funny! William surprised me with a movie in my stocking. I really wanted to see "Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase. It's like a classic and it is hilarious. It usually comes on TV but we missed it and I wasn't able to find it to rent. So he surprised me by buying it for me. We watched it that afternoon with my family and I was not disappointed! It was still just as funny as when I first saw it. He was so sweet to do that!!

"T'was the night before Christmas..."

I can not believe it is Christmas Eve! Every year, it seems as if Christmas comes faster and faster. This year has been no exception! Cora has definitely kept us busy and we are excited to see Christmas through her eyes this year. I really do not think she has much of an idea of what is going on but she does enjoy seeing what's inside the pretty bags and wrapped boxes. William and I are spending Christmas in our own home this year so we were excited to be able to attend our Christmas Eve service at church. I have found it difficult this year to slow down and remember what Christmas is all about - I'm glad I had a chance to hear from our pastor tonight. I hope Cora one day will grow and realize that this baby we celebrate at Christmas was born to be her Savior!!



Cora and William showing off the pigtails!


sitting at church, she behaved about normal :)


photo with mommy!


Cora's gift pile!


We are really looking forward to her waking up tomorrow and seeing her with her Kitchen Play set! We were really fortunate of finding a good deal on "Craig's List". Also, close friends gave us a little rocking chair for her! So we really lucked out in being able to give Cora good gifts this year on a one income budget.

Pigtails!!!!

We are so excited to introduce Pigtails!! William fixed these up tonight and I thought it looked so cute! Cora is growing up into a big girl!!

"On the second day of Christmas..(really it's still part of the first day)"

William's family has a great tradition of having a "Bell Family Christmas Party". It's where all the extended family on William's dad's side get together. Every year, God brings someone new into the family, either by marriage or babies, so it gets bigger and bigger! I always enjoy seeing all the cousins and catching up with them. Plus, it's a great time showing love to Grandma Bell.


William and I got Grandma and Paw Paw Bell this cookie jar 2 years ago - this is the first year Paw Paw Bell isn't here to celebrate with us.



Grandma opening up her present from Cora.



Jennifer had this great idea for all the great grandchildren to make stones for Grandma - they turned out so cute!!


Our group shot!

Katherine is getting married!!!

Williams family is so excited! There is a wedding coming up! Katherine and Kevin are getting married in April of 2011! So it's just a few short months away. They asked William and I if we would take some engagement pics of them while we were visiting for Christmas. Here are a few of our favorites!

"On the first day of Christmas..."

We are so blessed to have family nearby! We got to have our "Christmas" with Williams family this weekend. First, we started out with his immediate family and Cora must have been a good girl! It was really fun watching her interact with her cousin Parker and also see her figure out how to open presents. She received great toys from her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins!




Baby doll and baby doll stroller! I can see her playing with this for a long time!


ELMO!! She is quite the fan.


Trying to hold ALL her new toys.




After we finished up here, we drove to Robbins to visit with the extended Bell family! That will be another post!

Mail from the North Pole!!

Cora received a letter from Santa today! It included pictures from "Breakfast with Santa" and also a handwritten note to Cora. He responded to her little letter that she wrote to him. I'm excited the pictures turned out as well as they did, seeing how Cora did not want to sit with him. He must have worked some "magic" on them!













Maybe Cora will sit with him next year!

Gvegas Ladies Bible Study

I was apart of Campus Crusade for Christ at ECU. This campus ministry is where I got to hear the Gospel and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. It is also where I met my sweet husband of 5 years, William. Being involved with CCC taught me about having a personal relationship with God and what that looks like. To say it changed my life is a complete understatement.


After graduating from college, I helped start a Bible study for those of us still around Greenville. Our group has changed alot over the years. Many of the original members have moved but there were always more beautiful ladies to take their place. I'm very thankful to have these women in my life, praying for me and holding me accountable in my walk with God. They always offer an encouraging word when I need it most and I don't know what I would do without them.


Last night, William and I hosted a Christmas Party for everyone. We had a great time doing a "white elephant" gift exhange - the gifts where not choice items but rather items you already had around the house that you wanted to get rid of. While we got rid of some stuff, we also adopted others items as well.


I'm looking forward to see what God does with this group over the years!



(Jenn and Bobby Scott, Rachel and Bryant Ward, Stephanie J., Laura and Chris Johnson, me and William, and Katie Martin, missing her husband Shane, who had to work that night)

Playdate with some fun!

We invited the Feller girls over this morning for some Christmas ornament fun! I saw this idea last year on my friend Tracie's blog. She made "Cinnamon Applesauce" ornaments with her little girl, Lily Kate. I thought maybe Cora would enjoy it this year.


The craft is quite simple. You mix equal parts of cinnamon and applesauce. I had my doubts on this forming a dough but all that cinnamon really thickened it up. Roll it out and use cookie cutters to make your ornaments. After leaving them on a cooling rack for one day, the ornaments dried nicely and were ready to hang on a tree! They smell wonderful! All the girls enjoyed doing this!



Cora and I mixing up our dough



Chloe enjoyed mixing up her dough as well



Chloe and her mom cutting out their ornaments.



Cora did a good job helping us!


















The ornaments went into the oven at 150 degrees F for 1 hour and then to the cooling rack for about a day.



















The girls enjoying a little story with Melissa.


I loved getting to have people over! I hope we can continue to be gracious hosts to all of our guests!