A driving tour

Thomas wanted to see ALL of Columbus including the not so safe, low income housing areas. But, first we had to head to Country's Bar-B-Q for lunch. There is nothing like southern bar-b-q! During our tour of South Columbus we came upon these signs that we all found to be hilarious. Thomas commented "And they wonder why the kids don't know how to spell?"

I guess it's some what cooler than "THE TRAP"

We also drove across the bridge to Alabama just so Thomas could claim he had been there, but then he refused to get out and take a picture at the "Welcome to Alabama" sign.

We have really enjoyed having Thomas here this past week. He has been a lot of fun and we have had a blast entertaining him. It really meant a lot to us that he wanted to come down here for Christmas. And Annagrace sure does love her Uncle Thomas. He even babysat for us so we could go to a wedding. He finished up her bath, got her dressed (including the diaper), and entertained her until she fell asleep. All-in-all he was an excellent babysitter (hint, hint Todd and Kim!).

Additional Christmas Eve

I missed this photo when I did my Christmas Eve blog. But, it's too funny not to post it. Thomas has a little run in with some meatballs.

World of Coke

We took Thomas to Atlanta for the day to visit the World of Coke.
This entire train was built from Bottle Caps! We learned all about the history of Coca-ColaThis is a space ship Coke dispenser.Annagrace had a quick snack.A wall of Coca-Cola Santa's. This was my favorite area - Pop Culture. It was a collection of Andy Warhol's and other Coke inspired artwork. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the Warhol's though.Then we went to the 4D movie. The theater was interactive so our seats moved and vibrated with the movie, we got sprayed with water, and windblown. Bonus - we got to wear these cool shades! Then we headed to the Tasting section. They have all of the flavors that they sell around the world. There is a Europe section, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Asia. Thomas was the only adventurous one and ended up with a yellow Triaminic tasting soda.Mom and I stuck to the stuff we know - DIET COKE!On the way out we were given a glass bottle of coke as a souvenir.

Afterwards we went to Maggiano's for dinner and made a quick stop at IKEA.

All was done with the help of Mom's new Garmin - coolest thing ever!

CHRISTMAS DAY

Well Christmas morning was especially magical for us this year - Annagrace's first. Santa stopped by during the night (even though we forgot to put out milk and cookies for him.) And even though we were SO excited for Annagrace to open all of her presents, we enjoyed a little family cuddle time in bed before we headed out to take a gander at all of the loot. Mom, Dad, and Carol came over for a breakfast of bagels and cinnamon rolls and of course to open presents.

Annagrace looked especially cute in her Christmas PJs that Nana made her. Thomas took over the recording duties since Tyler now has the "Daddy duty" of handing out all of the presents (a Welch tradition). Santa brought her a Leap Frog Activity/Learning Center. She just loves standing up at the table and pushing all of the many buttons and is pleasantly rewarded with lights and music. Great Grandma McNeil sent her this cute sweater, but we may have to wait a couple of years for it to fit.She didn't really get into the paper ripping thing until at the end.
She wasn't really in the mood for a hat this morning. But it sure does look CUTE!Lucy was very excited to open her Christmas present and had to show it off to everyone. After Mom, Dad, and Carol left we decided to break in the new tub seat and bath toys Annagrace got for Christmas. I swear this child is half fish. I've never seen a baby love the water so much. She kicked the entire time! (And Mommy didn't care b/c I don't get splashed every time now!)

But all of the excitement (and the bath) wore the poor 'lil booger out.

The rest of us just laid around the house until time to go to a movie. We saw the new National Treasure - it was excellent and Annagrace slept through the whole thing!

My special present

On the way home from my parent's I asked Tyler if we could open Laurie and Betty's gifts tonight (Tyler is a stickler for opening everything on Christmas day!) He said yes, but when we got home I got a little side-track with putting all of the left over goodies away. Suddenly Tyler came running into the kitchen yelling "They got it, Candi, they got it for you!" When I looked at the gift in his hand the ribbon said Swarovski and I started crying immediately. You see, I collect the Swarovski crystal ornaments. They have one every year, and every year it is a unique snowflake (my tree theme). But, this year we couldn't afford the $70 gift for me and I had decided I would have to settle for either a scattered collection that could be filled in with the help of EBAY one day when we are rich (LOL) or I could give up the collection and just enjoy the four that I already have.

I absolutely love it. Not only does it symbolize another wonderful year and Christmas that Tyler and I have shared, but it also shows the love and thoughtfulness of my best friend/soul sister, Laurie, and my second Mom, Betty. I love and miss you two so much!

This gift was my little Christmas miracle.

On a side note - I love my husband with all of my heart. The fact that he was just as excited for me to get my ornament, as I was, just shows how much he loves me. I know - it's just a stupid ornament, but it was something that I wanted and he wasn't able to get it for me this year, which broke his heart. He even endured the ridicule of Thomas who teased him endlessly for being excited over an ornament. But, I don't care, I love him and all of his girlie excitement.

Christmas Eve

Well, I started the day attempting to make marshmallow covered yams. My Mom always makes sweet potato casserole but never just yams, even though my Dad requests them every year. The yams turned out great, so I covered them with marshmallows and put them in the oven. The marshmallows weren't browning so I turned the oven to broil and stepped away for two minutes. I could smell marshmallows and ran back to the oven to find them ON FIRE!! After Tyler put the flames out, we just laughed. Right before we headed out to Mom's I decided to try to salvage the yams. The only thing that burnt were the marshmallows so I pulled off the charred black lumps to find perfectly white goo on top of yams. I tasted them and they were delicious - so they made it to the dinner buffet.

We had a family lunch at 2:00 and then reset the dinning room table with finger foods for the Open House to begin at 3:00. I really wish I would have taken a picture of the table - it was beautiful. All kinds of sweets, and dips, and goodies covering the whole table. Almost all of the serving dishes were mine that I packed up and hauled out to their house. I have an obsession for serving pieces and party ware but rarely get to use them at my own house.

After everyone left, we opened our presents from Mom and Dad and Carol. Annagrace had to be woken up for the event which put her in a rather grouchy mood - not ideal for a first time fun paper ripping party.

Christmas Eve Eve

With a family dinner and an open house the next day, we spent most of today at my Mom's helping to finish with all of the food and decorating. Meanwhile, Tyler headed to the airport to pick up Thomas who is spending the next week with us.

It never ceases to amaze me the level of excitement my parents show each and EVERY time they see Annagrace. They greet us at the car in the driveway with humongous smiles. They grab her up and almost always fight over who SHE wants to hold her first. Well today it especially touched me - I was in another room and heard my Mom and Dad talking to Annagrace, she made a noise in response that in turn sent the two of them into laughter. The moment brought me to tears, it was just one of those moments when you remember what a special little spirit Heavenly Father has blessed us with and the joy that she brings to our lives.

Christmas Countdown

You know what's even cuter than the elf dance? Annagrace's reaction to watching the elves dance. I will have to video it! She smiles, squeals, and bounces all around.

Well, it's less than a week until Christmas and I can't wait to enjoy Annagrace's first one! I know she's not really old enough to understand, but I think she will have fun ripping the paper off of her gifts. I purposely separated every possible item that I could and wrapped them individually so she would have more things to unwrap. (Plus I LOVE to wrap gifts!!) But, when it comes to myself, I honestly can't think of one thing that I really want or need for Christmas. When people asked me this year, I really didn't know. I did need some jeans, so I bought them (Steve and Barry's Grand Opening - Everything $8.98 = Sarah Jessica Parker Jeans for $8.98!!) and Tyler claimed them as his present to me. But other than that, I just can't think of anything!!

For the LOVE of CHRISTMAS

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Christmas Card

Hopefully everyone has received their Christmas card!

The inside said:

We hope all of your Christmas wishes come true as well!

The Welch's of the South -Tyler, Candi, and Annagrace

BUSY Christmas Weekend (Caution:Long Post!)

This has been our jam packed weekend. It began on Friday night with the Meadows' family Christmas Party. Tyler had to work and Daddy was tired so it was just Mom and I that attended. I had to actually get a babysitter, a REAL babysitter, not my mom. But, I wasn't brave enough to hire a young woman from church, Angie and Keith came over and entertained Annagrace for the THREE full hours I was able to tear myself away. The party was very nice and her house was beautiful. She had a Christmas tree in every room of the house, even the laundry room (it was decorated with dryer sheets - TOO CUTE!!)

Then Saturday morning we were off to Mom's for a cookie making day. Even Carol drove down for the event! We tried to be very Martha Stewart and make them PERFECT!

We didn't get much baking done because Mom and Carol had a hard time pulling themselves away from playing with Annagrace. Thus we have all of these fun pictures . . .

But Missy got a little jealous, she needed some attention too, even if she had to SIT on Mom to get it.

When Annagrace got hungry Grandmother fed her two full packs of baby food but Annagrace still cried like she was still starving. So, Mom handed her the pack, and she started licking it! She looked like Lucy (the dog) trying to lick every last crumb off of a plate.

Then we were off to see SANTA

This happy face only lasted two seconds, then we got this . . .

She did NOT like Santa, I don't know if it was the beard or what. Normally she will go to anyone!

Alright, on with the day . . . after Santa we headed to Church to decorate for the Ward party. Decorating was a lot of fun and went really quick! Even Annagrace had fun!

We had a delicious pot luck dinner with Ham and then we had a reading of the shortest version of the nativity I have ever heard. But my Primary kids, and one Missionary, sure were adorable as Mary, Joseph, Three Wise Men, and Angel (the Shepard was MIA).

And then, of course, Santa arrived. (Annagrace didn't like this one either.)

I guess I can say the party went well, especially since it was my first (and probably only) attempt at organizing a church party alone. There were a few hick-ups, but it all worked out. Today was a little more relaxed. First we went to Aunt Brenda's to hang a couple of doors and finish up Tyler's handyman jobs. Annagrace played with Triston.

Then we went to a party at Angie and Keith's. We had a nice dinner and played dirty Santa. Tyler and I were able to end up with exactly what we wanted - two $25 gift certificates for Olive Garden and TGIFridays!! It is crazy how small the world is, or at least Columbus, Georgia. I knew a couple of people at the party, one guy worked for me ages ago at Club Grind, a girl that went to school with me Pre-1st through 12th grade, and a couple of firemen that I have seen here or there at other parties a couple of years ago.

Annagrace tried ice cream for the first time and LOVED it!

We all enjoyed a smooch under the mistletoe.