Curton Christmas!
We had a great time at mom and dad's! This year the family was on "B" for gift giving. We are slowly making our way through the alphabet. This is our second year with "the rotating gift" Stephanie and David brought the game: Scene it Squabble. A ton of fun girls against boys with trivia, only the opposite sex would know. It was a "B" because Steph called it Boys Against Girls Squabble. Matthew and I brought the interesting drink: Berry-Cherry Lemonade. Complete with Sonic ice and floating berries. This is the best lemonade ever, but I'm a little bias. Nick didn't like that it left seeds in your teeth. Nick and Caroline made a Big Breakfast Buffet for the interesting snack. The Bertolli Paninis were delicious. We also had Banana Berry Smoothies! Thanks for all the hard work Nick and Caroline! Cassandra and Zach brought the movie, Bourne Ultimatum! Thanks for picking it! The movie was awesome! Dad decided to bend the rules a little this year, instead of everything actually starting with a "B" he bought everything at Bed Bath and Beyond. Three points for him! He was also thoughtful and picked out a very appropriate book for each of us from Barns and Noble. One point for that one! The girls spent a ton of time in the kitchen this year. Thank you Mom for making the traditional Christmas dinner so special. It brought back many childhood memories! Can't wait for "C" my snack is going to be unbelievable so get those appetites ready for next year!

Horner Christmas!
We had the best Christmas yet in Huntsville! We started something new with this side of the family. We are doing a rotating gift.... We each buy a gift for the little kids, but the adults no longer buy for each other. We rotate responsibilities instead. Shannan and Robin provided the MOVIE this year, Santa Clause 3. Jana brought the GAME. It was called Finish Line and was a blast. You had to finish famous quotes, songs, lines from movies, and famous literature lines. All of the adults really enjoyed themselves. Mr. and Mrs. Horner brought the INTERESTING DRINK. Sodas this year! Matthew and I were responsible for the INTERESTING SNACK. We made beggar's purses. These are crescent rolls filled with sausage and cream cheese. They were delicious. Each year your name gets moved down the list so that you are only bringing a movie every four years. It was really fun! Christmas for us is all about spending time with each other so the gift ends up being just that; a time set aside to watch a movie, play a game, and eat and drink a little snack together. We are really looking forward to sharing more time together next year. I'll leave you with a little slide show from the weekend. Merry Christmas everyone!

You Felt the Baby Do What??

That's right baby Horner is up and kicking and Belle can't believe it! I had to start wearing maternity pants to work this week too. Found a great clearance deal at Target, too bad I don't get that discount anymore.

Finally Home, With Souvenirs!
We had a great move from Oklahoma. Friday morning we surprised the Horners and Grandmother with a themed breakfast! Matthew and I had a ton of fun thinking up "little" things we could serve for breakfast! We bought mini boxes of cereal, (like when you go camping) mini bagels, baby bananas, and served the chocolate milk in baby dixie cups. After the prayer Matthew said this is a themed breakfast, anyone have a guess? Mr. Horner stood up and said: "Are you?" I got to nod and he gave me the biggest hug.

We called Belle Next. She is always asking us when we are going to have a baby. So, we said Hey, Belle Why don't you ask that question that you always ask Aunt Lindsay. She said, I don't know... We said, When are you going to.... She said, have a party! Finally we coaxed her into repeating the question. She laughed and said, I have to tell Jackson. When she got back on the phone I said, Belle are you going to hold the baby when it gets here? She said, Hold it, are you telling me your PREGNANT? Then she said I have to go. We all laughed and said how long till Shannan calls back? It was about 45 seconds.

Saturday afternoon after we had finished climbing the stairs 150 times we finally had all of our things in the apartment. Mom and I ran to Wendy's to grab lunch for everyone. Mom and Dad went out on our balcony to eat since we don't have a dinning room table. I took out a sharpie and two paper towels. Very quickly I wrote BABY HORNER COMING SOON! I folded the "napkins" and ran out on the porch to join them. I asked if they needed napkins. Mom and Dad both reached for the yellow Wendy's napkins and said "NO!" Again I asked if they wanted to use the napkins I had thrown on the table. Still nothing. Finally I said, "Dad I think you SHOULD use your napkin." They both picked them up and read them. They are so excited!

Later I called Steph and asked if I could talk to Tanner. He was asleep so he had to call me back. I said, "Hey Tan how was the football game?" He said some gibberish. So I said, "I need you to say this to Mommy: I'm going to have a cousin." He said, "Hey, Mommy I'm." Then he handed the phone to Steph. I told her I didn't want to talk to her. I need Tanner. This time I had him repeat each word one at a time.

I got to call Cassandra to break the news and Dad ended up convincing Nick that he needed to call his sisters, they each had news to share. Matthew called Jana and told her the stories of the morning. Everybody around here is very excited!

Mom went with me to the doctor on Friday because Matthew had to work, it was only his fifth day of work. We are three months, so we got to hear heartbeat. I recorded it so Matthew could hear it too. We get to add a cousin to this bunch on May 26th!

God has blessed us richly! We are almost finished unpacking, and the holidays are almost here! Sorry about the novel.

Happy Halloween!

Not our pets, but still hilarious! We hope you enjoy, Jackson!

What Have Friday Nights Turned Into?
I sit here ALONE in our apartment counting down the hours until Matthew will come home from work. It's about 10pm so only 2 and half hours to go. I haven't even showered yet today and was debating over whether or not to gather up my sudoku book and jump in the tub. During this great relaxing thought I was brought back to reality by the loud laughter and noise going on right outside my back door. I guess some of the neighbors who weren't blessed with the night shift this week have started their weekend of rest. About six o'clock I watched a guy walk by the back door with a case of his beverage of choice for the night. I kind of laughed to myself because immediately I thought: "That would have been a very strange picture if he had been carrying a case of 7up or Pepsi. No one brings a case of soda to a party to consume all by themselves. Nobody sits down and drinks a six pack of DR Pepper's in one evening. Think about all of those calories...." Then immediately after that conversation with myself I thought, how old are you? I am GLAD that my Friday nights are slower now. I'm GLAD that the best thing I have to look forward to is my husband walking through the door. I get to hear about his day and then snuggle up next to him in our rented, too hard, creaking bed. We only have five more days before the BIG move and the beginning of another leg of this adventure!

Are You Crazy?Sunday we had a fantastic day! After morning services we ran by McDonalds and consumed enough calories for our entire daily intake goal. We caught a quick 20 minute nap because no one can move after a meal like that. We didn't want to feel too guilty so we put on workout clothes and drove the 20 minutes to Lake Hefner. We decided we would conquer the entire trail. Starting off the nine and a half mile hike seemed like a very manageable distance. We had planned out our attack, specifically mapping out where the restrooms were located. I knew I had to make it half way before there would be a pit stop. We knocked out the first two miles before I was urgently looking for a bathroom. I guess 120 ounces of water is just too much to drink in a day. Lucky me there was a port-a-potty at the boat ramp. When we arrived at the lighthouse(about 31/2 miles in) I asked Matthew if he wanted to read the plaque. His answer was priceless: "No. If I stop I may not be able to start again." We finally made it to the kite surfing guys and took a little rest. We didn't bring any water because I didn't want any weight bringing us down (mistake). We did throw a dried fruit snack pack in Matthew's pocket which was a very good treat. At this point I didn't want to continue but the car was parked where we started, of course, so we just had to do it.

After the seventh mile the pace slowed a bit and the funny part was, I was the winded one. The wind was blowing so hard against us it was hard to walk. The final mile was filled with many jokes about calling a taxi, test driving a car from the dealership down the hill, How much will you take for that there bike buddy?, as well as asking Eric to pick us up because his church was just down the road. The car was finally in sight and I have never been so thrilled! KJ just happened to call and provided a little fan encouragement the last 10 steps. Thanks! That was priceless! Really it wasn't that bad. We are looking forward to doing it all again this Saturday! We rewarded ourselves with a little Joe's Crab Shack! Matthew had crab and I enjoyed the coconut shrimp. Like I said we had a fantastic Sunday!