Christmas 2009 and New Years Eve! Winding down, 2009!!!

The original plan for Christmas was that Adrienne (Aaron's sister) and her husband Chris would have everyone over to there house for Christmas Brunch and dinner. Well the plans changed the week before Christmas. Adrienne and Chris are in the process of remodeling their house, so it looked more like a disaster zone than a Comfy, Christmas gathering spot. So we jumped in and said "OK Let's have it at our house!"

Thanksgiving 2009

Aaron, Ethan, and I moved into our new house on September 1st. It was the most exciting thing we've experienced together, well aside from having Ethan and getting married. So I guess it was one of the most exciting things we've done together! ;)

Once we got all settled in we decided that we were going to host Thanksgiving at our house. Aaron and I planned out our menu the week before Thanksgiving, by going through Bon Appetite and Gourmet Magazine. We cut out pictures and the recipes of what we were planning and set them up on paper to look like a menu! We settled on Turkey (obviously), Garlic bacon mashed potatoes, Cheddar Jalapeno Biscuits, Green bean casserole, and Sweet Onion Pie. We also had two different pies for dessert : Pecan and Cranberry Orange (both made froms scratch).

We had Aaron's parents, his sister and her husband, and our good friends Steve, Beata, Chris and Lilly over. Dinner was at 6:30. Everyone enjoyed the food. We had a great time with our family and friends! The weather was beautiful. We ate dinner on the patio and had all of the windows open through out the house.

We had so much to be thankful for in 2009: We purchased a house, we had great friends and wonderfuly family members, our little boy was happy, healthy and thriving, and Aaron and I were more in love than when we first met. Although we suffered a horrific tragedy when my mother passed away back on March 22nd, the year was still a great success. As much as I miss my mother day in and day out, I couldn't ask for better in-laws, a support system made up of my very best friends, and a wonderful brother and sister.

All in all our first Thanksgiving in our new house was a huge success!!!!

Ethan's First Birthday!

Ethan turned one on October 12, 2008!

His first birthday party was a halloween themed party, and it was held in our new home over in Cape Coral! All of Ethan's friends came to the party dressed in there halloween costumes! We had pumpkins, cheerleaders, monkeys, superheros, puppies, lady bugs, etc! There was a great turn out, maybe too many people in our house, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves!

The decorations were centered around the colors orange, purple, and green. I made pumpkins out of construction paper (thanks to Martha Stewart), and hung them around the house. The party favors were little plastic pumpkins filled with goldfish and bubbles. Which ended up being a huge hit! The kids spent most of the time on the patio blowing bubbles! Instead of a cake I did funfetti cupcakes, which worked out perfectly for all the kids! Easy to eat and make a mess with! We had seven layer dip, fruit, pigs in blankets, meatballs, cheeseball, and veggie tray. Perfect amount of food for all the guests.

Ethan got a lot of wonderful toys from all of his friends and family!

We were so happy it turned out to be such a success! Can't wait for next year's bday party! Enjoy the pictures below!