Elf on the Shelf

Have you ever heard of Elf on the Shelf? I was introduced to it about two weeks ago and think it's such a fun tradition for families to have around Christmastime with their young children. The family I work for started it this year and Carter just seems to love it! The idea is to put the elf in a different place every morning and when the children wake up they go and find him. The elf is Santa's helper and he watches the children every day and then at night he will report back to Santa how the children were that day. The children can name him and talk to him, but cannot touch him. Carter has named his elf Bill. We have no clue where that name came from! We've also noticed better behavior in Carter because he knows Bill will go tell Santa how he is behaving. Just seeing how much fun Carter has had with it already, I know this is a fun little tradition I would like to begin in my own family one day!

St. Jude 5K and Half Marathon Weekend

Last weekend Brandon and I had some friends come in town and visit. A few months ago we talked them into coming in town and running with me in the 5K and, for those more ambitious, the half marathon with Brandon. All the girls and Ryan did the 5K, while Brandon and Owen ran the half marathon. Brandon ran his personal best in just under two hours! It was a very early and cold morning, but we had a blast!

Before the race

After the race with our medals

After Brandon finished

Owen and Brandon

Love ya!

That night we all got together for a Tacky Sweater Christmas Party! We had Central Barbecue for dinner, played games, and Dirty Santa. We also got to spend time with baby Rylan!

Brunch at Brother Juniper's

I am so glad you girls were able to come in town for the weekend! Love ya!

Thanksgiving and a Little More

Last week Brandon and I went to Nashville to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. We had basically three days to celebrate with each of our parents. Do the math....that's four times!! On Thanksgiving Day, we ate with Brandon's mother and family. The food was absolutely delicious! Then we spent the rest of the evening with my mother and her side of the family playing games. Friday, we had lunch with Brandon's grandmother in her assisted living home, did a little shopping with his dad, and later went out to his house for dinner. Once again, the food was wonderful! On Saturday, we met my father and Birgit, along with my brother and his fiance, at the movie theater to see The Blindside. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it! After the movie, we went back to their house. Birgit cooked another great dinner for us. I just love the holiday season and being able to spend time with family. I wish we lived closer and our time wasn't as limited so that we wouldn't feel as rushed at each place. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and look forward to coming home for Christmas!

On Sunday, Brandon loaded up his car and drove to Atlanta for, yet another interview! He has an aunt and uncle that live in Atlanta who were kind enough to let him stay with them. From there he drove to Chattanooga for another interview. Both of the interviews went very well! He got back home Wednesday night.

Last night we bought our Christmas tree and put it up! Last year, if we remember correctly the tree we picked was the second one we looked at. Ha, not so last night! For starters, all the trees had netting on them, so we had to cut that off before we could even look at the tree. We probably cut the netting off of ten trees or more. I'm not joking. AND....my family is probably reading this thinking that I was probably being the picking one. Not so...it was the hubby!! Anyways, after about an hour later, we left with the perfect tree!

This weekend is the St. Jude Marathon! This will be the third year we have participated in it. We talked a bunch of our Nashville friends into coming into town and running it with us. They will be here tonight and we are making a whole weekend of it! Brandon and Owen are running the half marathon and then a bunch of the girls are doing the 5K! It's going to be COLD, but so much fun! I'm looking forward to it! I'll have to post some pictures of it next week! Wish us luck!