Merry Christmas!

Every year the James Island County Park does the Festival of lights. You drive around the park and there are hundreds of light displays by various sponsors. You can also park for a while and walk around where they have art by schools, bonfires to make smores, and shops with lots of holiday stuff. It is a really big thing and people come from all over to see it. Luckily we only live 5 mins away. It is so fun. I have been going for many years and now Stephen and I go every year together as our own Christmas tradition. Mine and Stephen's favorite is a light display on the water in the park. It is a huge display of the old bridge that fades out and then there is the new bridge. Thanks to our wonderful camera we got last year for Christmas, we got some really great pics.


Old Bridge...


New Bridge!!


This one is sponsored by MUSC


I love this one too...


This is another one of my favs. Rudolph is measuring the chimney and it doesn't look like Santa is gonna make it! The best part is that it is sponsored by weight watchers!


Rainbow row..


Stephen at the bonfire


Some of the art from an elementary school


Giant sandcastle


More art..

Happy Birthday Stephen!

Dec. 15th was Stephen's 26th birthday. Since it fell on his test week he decided to celebrate it on the weekend. On Friday we went out with some of Stephen's friends from school. On Saturday my parents took us out to a fondue restaurant in Mt. Pleasant. Afterward we went back to my parents for cake, ice cream, and presents. I went in with my parents to get Stephen a nice Keurig coffee maker and some k-cups! He has been going crazy over the one parents have. He was so excited when he opened it. He had been wanting one for so long. He makes coffee and tea all the time now!

Stephen at dinner



Stephen, Layna, Mary Jane, Rob, Melissa, Dad, Mom, and Me


Stephen with his cake


Getting ready to open presents


Opening..


He loves it!!





Dad giving out cake


Layna and her sweet cousin Mary Jane. They were so excited about cake and ice cream. They also told uncle Stephen happy birthday many, many times!

Progressive Dinner

On Thursday night our small group had a progressive dinner. Unfortunately Stephen had his surgery shelf the next morning, so he stayed home to get some last minute studying done. We started out at Alyssa and Matt's house for appetizers. I brought a hot spinach and artichoke dip and Alyssa made a shrimp cocktail platter and veggie pizza. After about 45 mins we progressed to Ryan and Anna's house where we had dinner and listened to a reading from Luke. The last leg was at holly and Bens where we had a dessert and the couples exchanged white elephant gifts. It was a great time of fellowship and wonderful food!


The girls at Alyssa's


The guys- minus Stephen : (


Hanging out at the Reese's, house 2


Eating dinner


Ryan reading from Luke


Mandy and Brad


Matt and Alyssa


Ryan and Anna in their matching sweatshirts : )

Over the river and through the woods...

To grandmothers house we go! Here is my sweet grandma. Her name is Eulean (my middle name- pronounced like "you lean") and she is my mom's mom. She is 91 and lives in NC. I went with my parents and Layna to see her a couple of weeks ago. My grandma gave Layna every piece of junk food she could find including a gingerbread man cookie and a lolli bigger than her head. It was really fun to have so many generations in one room together.

Our Christmas Tree

This picture was taken right before the AOA Christmas party last night.

Mountain Weekend

A few weekend ago, we went with our small group to Dillon, GA for a mountain weekend. We all chipped in and rented a beautiful log home. We had such a great time just getting away and enjoying some great fellowship. We went for a beautiful hike and Stephen got some really great pictures. On Sat night we all went to the Dillon house for dinner. I have never experienced anything like it. You dont order, you just pay a flat price and they bring out bowls of everything to pass around the table. The just keep on refilling everything. The food was really good. It was all homecooking country kind of stuff. We had a blast the whole weekend.

Halloween Party

On Halloween night our small group had a halloween party at Matt and Alyssa's house. They live within walking distance to us but we had never met until we joined their Monday night small group. Getting to know them has been wonderful. They have been such a blessing to have in our lives and we are really looking forward to getting to know them better. Before the party, our wonderful friends Ben and Christy came over to watch a little of the Clemson game and hang out with us. Then we headed over to the party. We had such a great time. Stephen and I both feel extremely lucky to have found this wonderful group of people. We love them all so much! On Monday nights the girls meet for a few hours and the guys meet separately, so it was definitely a treat to spend time all together as couples. Here are some pics : )