Virginia Here We Come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will not be posting anything for a while. Michael and I are leaving for Virginia tomorrow around 2:30. We can not wait to go see all of our friends and family! LOTS of posts are soon to come after the trip!

Friends + Starbucks = Good Christmas Fun!

Starbucks was also open on Christmas day!

Christmas Adventure

This morning when Michael and I got up we decided we would call Cracker Barrell and see if they were open. I called 411 and got Cracker Barrell's number. When they answered the phone I asked how long they would be open today and the lady told me all day long. We were very excited and called Brandon and Emily to see if they wanted to come with us. We all got in the car and drove into town. When we pulled into Cracker Barrell there were no cars in the parking lot. I could not believe it...the lady said they were going to be open all day long! We all then realized I must have called the gas station called Cracker Barrell (See picture to the left)! We drove all around town and found a Chineese Buffet. At least we found SOMETHING that was open!

Merry Christmas From Louisiana!

Merry Christmas! To all of our family, we can not wait to see you! Here is a picture of some lights across the road from us. I thought it was pretty classic...alligators pulling Santa!

Christmas Eve

Michael and I went to the Nealys house (Brandon's Parents) for Christmas Eve. We had a really nice time. Jeff cooked filet mignon on the grill and we had all kinds of good sides. Michael and I are thankful for good friends. This is a picture of the fire Michael started at their house. Do you think there is enough flames going on?

Christmas With The Nealys

Jeff and Rachel

Emily and Brandon

Michael got a Coffee Grinder

Adeline got a cute little rocking duckie!

Christmas Baking

I did some christmas baking last night. These are the only ones I took a picture of...I also made lemon squares, Chocolate cream pie with homemade whipped cream and a flourless chocolate cake with ganache. It was all really yummy!

Street Performers

There are lots of street performers in New Orleans. These are a few of the picuters I have of them. Our favorite one is the fairy. If you give her money, she takes glitter out of her flowers and sprinkles it on your hand!

An "Enchanted" Afternoon

Emily and I went to see Enchanted after church on Sunday. We really liked the movie and had a fun afternoon!

There were not very many people in the theater so we were able to kick our feet up and relax.

This is going to be me and Emily in 60 years! I could not help taking their picture, they were just so cute! The lady on the left said I could take their picture just as long as it did not show up in the newspaper!

And The Fun Continues...

We went to Toys R Us on Sunday evening and we saw these dolls from the movie. I of course, picked the handsome prince as my favorite!

Emily LOVED the princess from the movie. She continued to sing and move around like the princess the whole evening!

The Crew

This is after Sunday morning church. It is the first picture we have of the four of us together. We are sitting around trying to decide where to eat lunch!

Emily and Mandi

Sunday Morning

Emily got a few pictures of our service on Sunday morning. We are running an average of 20 people on Sunday morinings!

Michael giving announcements

Michael and Brandon talking with some guest that came to visit.

Girls Night Out!

Mandi, Angie and Heather at Possidans

This is a real "Southern" Meal...red beans and rice with grilled chicken and sausage

Angie, Heather and I all went out for Christmas tonight. We had such a nice time. We started out at a Greek Restaurant called Possidans. We had cokes and appetizers there. Then we went to a cool restaurant called Zea's for our main course and dessert. We had a really nice time and it was nice to hang out together without being at the store. Angie and Heather are the other two assistant managers at BABW. Since Angie's birthday was yesterday we told both restaurants, we were celebrating her birthday. We got to eat some really good desserts!

This is the first birthday cheesecake from Possidans

Angie got bread pudding at Zea's

See What I Have To Put Up With?

I came home yesterday after work and this is what I found on my refrigerator...I am not sure if Buster or Michael put it up there!

Cafe Du Monde

Every time Michael and I go to New Orleans we have to stop at Cafe Du Monde for some beignets and Iced Coffee. The first time we went to New Orleans, we asked people what we should do while we were there and everyone said go to Cafe Du Monde! The coffee is this really nice blend of milk and coffee. The coffee has chickory in it...it is an interesting flavor. The Beignets are these little french doughnuts covered in powdered sugar. I would say they taste most like funnel cake. They are very yummy and we always stop to have a nice little treat. Michael always dips his hot beignets in his coffee. Cafe Du Monde has been located in the French Market since 1862. They are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Another fun little fact is, Cafe Du Monde was the first place to re-open in the French Quarter after Hurricane Katrina.

Kisses From Buster

Mandi's 29th Birthday

Michael threw me a little surpise dinner for my birthday. Rachel got me this really cool candle holder. I love it so much and it goes with my living room so well! Emily got me some really good smelling candles to go inside of it, and she also gave me a bracelet. If you look close you can see the bracelet dangling in my hand.

This is what the candle holder looks like when the candle is lit!