Christmas Decorating

We went and got a tree. Live trees are the best and if I could get away with it, I would leave it up for months, maybe all year. What, people have fresh cut flowers, well I have a fresh cut...tree

Nathan, being the saint that he is, started decorating the tree. Also notice that he forgot to check the lights before hanging them and only half of them worked. Lesson learned. (too bad this lesson was probably forgotten five minutes later so we will be doomed to repeat this next year around this time)

This is Nathan's frustrated face after the lights debacle.

So we drank coffee

From our favorite mugs, from our favorite store

That's all.

Lately Part 2

Nathan and I had such a lovely thanksgiving holiday. 

We played with sweet cousins

 Little Sarah is about the cutest thing out there. Just ask her to show you her itty bitty toes!

 And we went shooting...on an extremely cold day!

My little sister. She is a bit ridiculous. Which is part of the reason I love her so much. She is also part eskimo, which is why in part she is so short

Yeah, we are pretty cool.

Just call me Annie Oakley...but whatever you do don't judge the rolled up pants. It was rainy that day and  there were puddles and I didn't want my pants getting wet.

Again with the shortness! Notice my brother-in-law who stands at a normal height (6' 0"?) is only a smidge shorter than my sister atop the bench.   

Maybe one of my favorite photos of the weekend. The look of trepidation on Jen's face is priceless. In her defense, this was the FIRST time she had ever shot a gun.

My husband looking manly

That is my dad. He is the one in charge. He keeps us safe. Notice the ultra cool sound canceling head phones he is wearing. I didn't wear my ear plugs..oops...I mean OOOPS!

Obligatory gun pictures...

Lately

It has been a busy few weeks since the last time I posted so I thought that I would catch everyone up with a series of pictures...enjoy : )

Nathan and I went to the Arkansas/South Carolina Game

The obligatory couple pic. I was trying out a new hairdo (not sure if it is a keeper)

I went on a shopping trip for graduation and wanted to buy these beauts, but finally settled on a more muted look.  I am still not sure I made the right decision

 I almost bought this fur vest, but I wondered what Peeta, I mean PETA would think

I made breakfast the other day. This delicious sampling is part of the Pioneer Woman's Migas.  They are an absolute must to make

We went to Dallas with some dear friends.

But we spent most of our time here. Because we are obsessed.

We went to eat ice cream with some good friends. These are all the pictures I have of that night, but he is so darn cute I think that you will forgive my documenting abilities.

I think that is enough updates for now. I will continue the historical photo montage perhaps tomorrow, or maybe next year whenever I get around to it.

Last Weekend

Last Weekend I was in a cooking mood...specifically a pumpkin cookin' mood. I have discovered that pumpkin makes EVERYTHING better

While I was doing this, Nathan was doing this....

Fantasy Football. Enough said.

Recipe for Pumpkin Iced Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup cooked, pureed pumpkin (fresh or canned)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups unbleached allpurpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup raisins

Icing:

• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream, fresh orange juice or rum
• I left out the raisins and the nuts and if anyone from NLR is reading this blog..I did not use rum in the icing : )

31 bits

So I haven't posted in awhile. Alright I haven't posted in months. I have grand plans to post more often and we will see if these ever come to fruition. This post is to share a neat website that I came across on my google reader.

The website is 31 bits. It was started by a woman who traveled to Uganda and was inspired by the jewelry that was made locally by the Ugandan women. She returned to the US wanting to help the Ugandan women and decided that sharing their jewelry was the avenue to do just that. She shared the idea with a few of her friends and they started a company. Now here comes the neat part, they now employ woman from Uganda to buy jewelry to sell in the US and in return the women get vocational training, english lessons, health and HIV education and finance training. The business model is to help raise women in Uganda out of poverty. Their story is more eloquently told on their website. You should check it out and maybe buy something....I mean it is for a good cause right

New Years Eve

I realize that New Years has come and gone faster than I would like to admit, but since we just got into this whole blogging thing we have all of these pictures that we are dying to share. This is from our New Years party at Eric's parents house.

This picture is great because it demonstrates Ashley's "floppy hands" and Doug's awesome outfit.

Carnage from our famous (infamous) game "naked" that we play every time we get together. Don't worry, the game is much tamer than the name would suggest and far less Rated "R".

The happy couple. We brought Sangria. Why wouldn't we be happy?

Eric just chillin'

Me and Esther

Lewis the dog.

So there were many more people, and much more fun to be had, but these are all the pictures that we took that night. Enjoy : )

Snow My Gooodness! That Was a Great Snow Day

More than ever lately I have been feeling really blessed with the opportunity to live and work at New Life Ranch. And this weekend was just so great I felt like we were living in a dream world. Saturday morning started out with just nice lazy morning with Teresa eating a can of orange rolls and catching up on one of our new favorite shows, Fringe.

Then we set out on a beautiful hike down the hill. I just continue to be amazed by the beauty of this place, and what the Lord has created.

When we finally reached the ballfield we were greeted by an onslaught of snowballs as an unknown "friend" shouted, "Get the McKinneys." But don't worry, we held our own in the ongoing snowball fight.

As the fight continued on, all around were people getting pulled along in sleds from all kinds of vehicles. Luke was pulling the older kids around in a sled behind the gator. And then turned the reigns over to David and Connie as they pulled the little guys around.

Tom was pulling adults behind his Jeep on the rocket weenie.

And Chase even brought a horse out on the ballfield to get in on the action.

After a while we decided we needed to get some good downhill sledding in so we all drifted over to the trail behind the gym for some sledding that was...well...let's just say it was exciting.

Thanks to Chase and Lauren for some of these great pics.

Then later that night, a bunch of people came up to our house for some soup and a rousing game of naked. It was a classic match-up between the Water Wolves and the Step-Dads. I'm gonna give the MVP for the game to Mrs. Danae Castle for her awesome acting. Her hilarious husband gets Honorable Mention for his depiction of Budapest/Butter Pest.

All in all it was one of the best snow days ever. Hopefully more of you can come and get snowed in with all of us next time.