I present to you...

the Cantrell Family Christmas Tree!

Last year, we had a very normal, 8 ft Christmas tree. This was just unacceptable for my holiday enthused Cute Boy that I live with. After we got home and put it up, he sat down on the couch and pouted. Not just that day, but the whole Christmas season. I promised him that this year, we could get the biggest tree he could find (seeing as how my belly would be much smaller and it would be easier for me to help him get it put up.) So, we loaded up and headed to the nearest Christmas tree farm in search of a perfect tree.Well, we have 12 foot ceilings, and our tree was 12 ft+. He was the happiest boy in Marshall County, and quite possibly the whole state. Our tree is/was HUGE!

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. ~Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas

Gobble til you Wobble

I just realized I didnt post anything from Thanksgiving. Yall have to remind me of these things...my memory is slowly slipping away!Here is Sweet Girl on her 8 month bday! She is crawling around everywhere! She babbles like crazy, has her two bottom teeth, and is as sweet as sugar.

Unless she is tired.

And even then, she is the cutest thing ever. Luke and I are enjoying being her parents more and more everyday! My grandparents bought a river house on the Little Red River in Arkansas. We started off the week visiting there and hanging out with my aunt and cousins from Texas! Kate loved all the attention and loved watching the boys play. We had to leave Luke at home to study, but I have a feeling we will be going back soon for some fishing!

Then on Thanksgiving Day, we headed to Tupelo to continue the celebrating (and eating lots) with Luke's family.

Then we had Thanksgiving at the stately Bousson Manor:

Notice PawPaw is sleeping again this year!

Our cute family

"PawPaw, I gotcha nose!" Have I mentioned she LOVES dogs. She goes crazy whenever she sees one, and loves when they give her kisses.

Cheering on the Bulldogs to Victory!

Over the river and through the wood

To Grandmother's house we go.

The horse knows the way

To carry the sleigh

Through white and drifted snow.

Tis the Season to be Jolly and Joyous

Falalala!

What a wonderful Christmas season we have had! The magic of sharing this season with a baby has made it the best Christmas yet...and I know it is just going to get better! We started off December with the annual Christmas tree lighting on the Collierville Town Square. Luke and I got married in a church on the square, so I love coming back and seeing the beautiful lights every year. I think it is such a magical place! Kate and Reed loved it this year :) After 200+ pictures of my not-smiling child, her Daddy (the cutest boy in the world), came home from class one night and put her in her dress and got several priceless faces. I love how much she loves him.

I also love how much she loves her friends. Kate cannot get enough of Isabel, or anyone else her size!Apparantly, we haven't uploaded any more pictures from the month...Boo us! I will post more stories when I have my adorable child to show off.

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. Norman Vincent Peale

The Honeymoon is Over

Three years ago today... Two years ago today... One year ago today...

Today...

He is still my best friend and my hero! Love you, Hubby of Three Years! And, for this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But, for them, it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures had only been the cover, and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on Earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. C.S. Lewis

Is December really here?

Can yall believe it is December already? One of my favorite months of the year (and April, March, October, and June), and it is here! We went to Knoxville to visit Blake during the UT-Memphis game! It was so good to see him, hang out in the mountains, and enjoy each other. Kate loved it (the car ride-not so much). She was a trooper! The first picture is Megan, Brett, and Kate. I was on the balcony taking pics, and Megan didnt know I was there. I caught her giving Kate icing off my homemade sweet rolls! Oops-Caught in the act!

View on our hike

Little papoose Flying with Daddy Our cabin=Fabulous Hanging with Uncle Blake Blake was in charge of Homecoming for Pike, so we made a stop at the Pike house on our way into town. Write it in the baby book...her first frat house visit. Kate's Daddy informed her that would be the only time she would be allowed to hang at frat houses....haha! The whole fam...and the lovely portapotty in the background.

Getting ready for the cold..brrr! Put me hands up...and the butterflies fly away!

Hair by yours truly

Some of the new mommies! Lesli and Miles, us, Janet and Natalie, Stefanie and Reed

And the newest parents! Due June 11! We have three couples (that we know of :) at church that are pregnant, and I have 5 other friends having babies in 2010! I LOVE it! Kate will have friends everywhere!Sweet Daddy, Sweet baby!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and ate three times! YUM! We are so blessed to both have big, wonderful, entertaining familes, and we got to see almost everyone this week. Kate enjoyed lots of sweet potatoes and turkey too!

Our small group is reading a book called The Life You've Always Wanted, and last night we discussed simplifying your life. Ironically, I had spent our 20 minute ride to church going over our December schedule with The Cute Boy. We had one, if not three things, on the schedule for every ay of December. The season when we should be stopping and reflecting on Jesus and what his birth means for us, and we have it jam packed with stuff. Most of it is good stuff, but where do you start saying no?! I don't know especially because I want to do it all, and enjoy having a busy schedule.

“Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful.” -Gordon B. Hinckley

Shopping with a Purpose

This time every year, I spend lots of time looking for the perfect gift. No one on my list needs anything; myself, Luke, and Kate included. Looking at how much I have, and how much others need, has challenged me to Shop with a Purpose this year. I am constantly humbled by how much God has blessed and continues to bless my family. I am hoping that 75 % of my the gifts I purchase will benefit those who I buy from. I only say 75% because last year was 0%, so 100% is a slightly unrealistic (especially since I have already purchased some toys for Kate that were not benefitting anyone but us :) Here is a very extensive list of ways that you can give (twice) this Christmas season, and she is working on a list for 2009.I also looked here and here for ideas. Do yall have any other good place that I can shop?

"I am sorry, Boy," said the tree, "but I have nothing left to give you----" "My apples are gone." "My teeth are too weak for apples," said the boy. "My branches are gone," said the tree. "You cannot swing on them------" "I am too old to swing on branches," said the boy. "My trunk is gone," said the tree. "You cannot climb--------" "I am too tired to climb," said the boy. "I am sorry," sighed the tree. "I wish that I could give you something------ but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump." "I don't need very much now," said the boy. "just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired." "Well," said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, "well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest." And the boy did. And the tree was happy. © Shel Silverstein

8 months and holding

I wish! Every month has brought so many changes with our sweet lamb. I don't know which one is my favorite. Right now, she is so interactive! She loves to read, and gets excited when I pull books out. She is starting to recognize faces she knows. She has recognized me and Luke for a while now, but she is gets so happy when it is someone else she knows. The other night, we were hanging out at The Gardner's, and Travis walked in. He said hi to her, and then picked up Reed. She was not having it. She wouldn't smile at him for anything! It was hilarious! Don't worry, he made up for it the next morning in Sunday School! She also loves Jake. Anytime he is around, her little (chunky) legs just start gettin it. She laughs at him constantly. I love it! I think it helps his feelings a little too about her taking his spot as the youngest in the family. She is crawling all over the place, and loves giving kisses. She also still loves all dogs. Blake's dog, Babe, is residing at our house right now, and she loves to lick Kate's toes. Kate was trying to lean in and give her kisses yesterday...you gotta watch her! She still loves bath time and eating anything in sight. We were at Cassie and Will's the other night for a dip party, and she was mad we weren't letting her try any of the food. Cassie brought out some puffs, and she went to town! It was funny that she knew exactly what to do with them. Luke and I just sit and laugh at her. She is the best entertainment!

Just trust me, Mom! I will be right here when you get back!Going!Going!

Gone! "For you see, each day I love you more Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow." -Rosemonde Gerard