Thanksgiving Part 2: Logan Family

After eating a big lunch at my parents' house, we headed to Connie's to see more family and eat another awesome meal. Of course Princess Lila was there with her new outfit that Amelia gave her...!

Before loading up on dinner, Connie wanted to have some family shots while Jake was in town. This was the only one I got on my camera...the new family of four:

Yes, Evan looked that good 2 days after she had Amelia! She is a superstar!

Three special guests were in our midst: Grandma Sue and Dick, and Jake! Grandma Sue and Dick came up from Myrtle Beach, SC and Jake was here from Colorado. It was great for them to meet their new granddaughter/niece and hang out with all of us.

Jake even cut the roast for us...complete with outfit and all!

love Evan!

After dinner, Lila and I did a little dancing for everyone...apparently she loves her headband so much, she wears it every day. It came from her snow white princess outfit :)

The rest of our time with the Logans was great! Connie and I spent a lot of time together. We shopped, walked, ate great meals, and she even taught me how to paint:

Yes, I painted that. I have not attempted to paint since I was in art lessons in elementary school. The fact that I could paint something like that is a testimony to her amazing teaching abilities. She calls it "follow the leader." I picked out a painting I liked, then she painted it with me, showing me where to put what strokes, colors, etc. My painting is on the right, the one we copied was in the middle and her's is on the left! Pretty cool huh?!

Connie does that with at her studio and calls them "painting parties." Groups of people will come in, have dinner/wine and walk out with a painting! How fun is that?!

Our last night we had a great dinner at Sushi Republic with Jake and Connie. It seriously has the best sushi EVER and I have been craving it since I moved to Harrisonburg. It was delicious as always, and afterward Luke and I went out to meet some of our friends.
Stace, Em and I hung out at Speak Easy, which has become our favorite bar in Greensboro. They have a great outdoor area with music, heaters, and cornhole! It was so great to see these two ladies. Stace is about to move to Portland, and Emily and Andy are all the way in Boston...so our time together was short but sweet. Linds, we missed you! By the way, Stace and I did not plan to match...

Our siblings even came out with us...I cannot believe they are all grown up!

I just love these people and am so thankful for them.

Overall, Thanksgiving was great and we enjoyed our time in NC. On Sunday we headed back up to Harrisonburg...and spent two weeks studying and writing papers! I am so glad it is all over and all my hard work paid off! STRAIGHT A's!!!!

Thanksgiving Part 1: Register Family

We spent most of our Thanksgiving in Greensboro with the Logan clan because Luke's brother was in town all the way from Colorado! But, we did have the chance to spend Thanksgiving afternoon with the Registers and we had a blast as usual.

Many of you know my cousin, Brooke. She is one of my closest friends and we have been calling each other "Twin Cousins" ever since my grandma got us our first set of matching dresses when we were toddlers. She started the trend of Brooke and I calling each other before every visit making sure we had a matching outfit for each day. Also, every year for Christmas we got an outfit from each of our moms...and this continued till around high school. Some of my favorite outfits included:

• a complete turquoise set from limited too: turquoise shorts with ruffles, turquoise tank with flowers, and a turquoise scrunchy and socks of course! i am pretty sure i would still be wearing this outfit if i could fit into it...
• a lovely silk button up shirt that we wore with black jeans (i think?). i am pretty sure this one showed up in both of our school pictures.
• jean dresses. duh.
• a tribute to America outfit...complete with American flag shorts and navy shirts from limited too (we wore this while performing "I saw the Sign" at Hilton Head Beach)
• teal dolphin shirts
  
• matching hats. pins. etc. earrings. etc.

Man I wish I had pictures on my computer of all those amazing outfits!

The funny thing is, we did not really look alike back then. But, the older we have gotten, the more similar we look! For example, on Brooke's wedding day we were all getting ready in the country club and one lady came up to me and asked why I kept on changing out of my wedding dress..oops I was not the bride, just the MOH!

A couple months ago we went shopping together and both found a sweater we loved and decided to get it. Also, it happened to be the perfect Thanksgiving sweater, so we decided we would bring the twins back in action for the holiday season. We tried to act like we did not plan it; however, we could not lie for too long.

The best thing about this whole thing...Luke and Matt actually did match and did not plan it! Down to similar shoes and everything...it was perfect!

More pictures taken in our back yard!

Doug, Dee, Brooke, and Matt--we missed Brian and Luann!

A more recent tradition for the Register family is my dad doing something to remind Brooke and Matt that N.C. State beat Carolina in football (for the past 5 years I think). The first year, he brought out red and carolina blue cupcakes with the score on them during dessert. He also had the game playing in the background when they walked in (he had recorded it). Last year we were at the beach so he sent a text message with the score written out in seashells. This year Brooke and Matt got a special delivery before lunch:

Maybe one day they will have the chance to surprise my dad with something! Until then...go State!

All the ladies looking good!

Our family has so much to be thankful for and I am looking forward to seeing everyone during Christmas. Also, I wanted to send a special shout out to Grandma Reg who has been struggling with her health a lot lately, I love you and I am thankful for you!

Amelia Louise Logan

My new niece, Amelia Lousie Logan, was born 2 days before Thanksgiving on November 22nd. She weighed over 9 pounds and is perfectly healthy. Luke and I were lucky enough to be able to meet her when she was just 1 day old. We already love her and can't wait to see her grow up with her big sister, Lila. Check out some pictures...

It was funny to see how nervous Luke was to hold a newborn. He needs to get some practice in for the future (the far future)

Proud Grandma Ci-Ci

Luke's brother came into town for the week of Thanksgiving, all the way from Colorado! It was great to have him around and he was glad to be able to meet his new niece.

super dad

oh my gosh..she is so precious!

I also had the chance to meet my friend Krystal's new baby, Riley Grace, who was also adorable! Krystal and Jordan are amazing first time parents and I enjoyed getting to spend some time with over break. Does anyone else think Riley and Amelia look alike?!



One thing is for sure, I have had plenty of practice with babies the past few weeks! It is crazy how I am receiving just as many baby shower invitations as wedding showers these days...my how the times are changing. And, it makes me feel old. The other night I had an "aha im old moment" as I was wearing lipstick, getting ready to host a dinner party at my house, and sipping on a glass of wine...I am turning into my mom, real quick.

I can't wait to hang out with Amelia again during Christmas!

Ohio Bound

Luke and I survived the mountains of West Virginia when driving through early in the morning on the way to Ohio. Our friends, Paul and Nichole, were getting married in Columbus and we decided to make a trip of it while visiting some old friends. And by old friends, I mean the Seria clan in which I have been a member of their family since I was an awkward 5 year old.

The first time I met Amanda I did not have the best impression of her. Her hair was so curly it made you dizzy if you looked at it. And, I did not want to help out a "new girl" in Ms. Cole's kindergarten class like my mom made me. One day my mom forced me to go with her to their house to welcome them to the neighborhood, which happened to be a 3 minute walk away. I remember ringing the door bell and seeing a really young girl who appeared to be a teenager named Iris answer the door. I kindly asked, "where is your mom?" in which she replied "I am the mom." I was so confused because Iris was so young looking I mistook her for Amanda's older sister! Anyway, we headed in and I reluctantly went upstairs to play kitchen with Amanda and her little sister...and then I never left.

There are so many memories from the 10 years we lived in the same neighborhood together. It would be impossible to share them all, but here are a few highlights of our friendship blooming:

• Amanda lied on her eye exam so she could get glasses and sit in the front row of the class beside me. But she got caught.
• Amanda and I both hated green beans, but I ate them with her for moral support.
  
• One time we were bike riding and I fell down in a patch of thorns...Amanda tried to rescue me and it just did not go too well.
• We once filmed ourselves wearing bathing suites in the bathtub pretending to be drunk on grape juice and talking about wanting to be on the Rosie O'Donell show (I know that makes NO sense).
• We decided to run away together to the neighborhood gazebo by the lake. We had a plan that we would catch fish to eat and live happily ever after. I packed my barbie back pack full of fruit roll ups and other essentials for survival and called Amanda to let her know I was on my to her house to run away. Her mom over heard us talking about it...we got caught again.
• We frequently dressed like spice girls.
• We made up our friendship handshake, which is more like an awkward dance that we still know (well, most of it).

I always tell Amanda she is my one shot of having a famous friend. Her and her husband do some freelance writing, directing and producing of films up in Utah. One day I hope she will turn all our stories into a movie....

Anyway, we headed up to Ohio and spent the weekend with Amanda, Brittany (younger sister), Joel (Brittany's husband), their AWESOME grandparents, and Brody (their new pup). It was a fabulous weekend and now Luke has a better picture of my childhood.

On Friday we grabbed some lunch, made dinner, played games and of course spent time with the Brody...



On Saturday morning we headed to German Village and it was a blast. We saw beautiful homes and ate delicious food!

Me, Amanda and Brittany

Luke was chilly, so Amanda graciously let him borrow her mittens

Amanda's grandparents were with us Friday night and Saturday afternoon

After walking around we headed to Schmidt's to have some authentic German food. Luke was in Heaven!


After German Village, Luke and I headed back to get ready to see Paul and Nichole get married! They had a sweet wedding and the reception was fun with a great band and dancing. We had a blast!

Sunday morning we went on a quick walk, ate some lunch and then headed back home to Harrisonburg before Thanksgiving break! We had such a fun time with the Seria family and hope to see them again sooner than later. They are truly a special group of people and I am so glad Luke got the chance to meet them and fall in love with them as well.

DIY FRIDAY: Thanksgiving Addition

I know it has been awhile since I have had a DIY Friday. That is what happens when you are constantly writing papers and trying to finish up your first semester at grad school. Hopefully all my hard work will pay off soon. Luke told me if I make all A's he will take me out to Taste of Thai. I asked him if I got $20 for each A like I used to get (or something like that) when I was a child....but considering we are living off his income so I can go to school, I'll take that as a no. haha. Anyway, back to DIY FRIDAY.

This blog features my mom's beautiful arrangements she created for Thanksgiving this year. Her talent amazes me. Below is the only contribution I made to our decorating for the day:

Yep, that's a turkey I made with my hand. It's pretty terrible.

The materials you need for these arrangements:

• sticks


• walnuts


• sticks with berries (formal name unknown)


• green leafs
  


• the round, green, sticky balls you find laying on the ground that smell good (again name unknown, 5 points to the person who comments with the correct name)

And from that random assortment that can be found on any farm, or even the side of the road, comes these beautiful and festive arrangements:






We had a great Thanksgiving break and I cannot wait to post pictures of all our fun adventures: going to Ohio for a wedding and to visit friends, holding my new niece, meeting a friend's new baby, seeing family and friends...it was amazing! More to come!