Christmas 2011 Part 2

So what would Christmas be like if we did not make sugar cookies with icing. My Mimi, my mom's mom, used to make a table full of cookies every year for each family. How I loved getting that tin of cookies in the mail. Some were crushed, not having fared well with the long journey from Pittsburgh, but they still tasted amazing. My favorites were the sugar cookies. I finally found a recipe that reminded me of Mimi's and my mom and sisters agree. BellaRose has also really enjoyed this tradition of helping me bake them as well as serve them to Santa. 

Santa loves them too!

Of course you need to see some photos of the dogs. Rainy is 12 and looking so old but still the same old Rain dog. Atticus is eternal.

Spring Lovin'

We are so fortunate to have The Biltmore Estate almost in our backyard and have a season pass. As you know we have really used our passes. I highly recommend getting a pass, especially if you have children. A lot of the times you can find a discounted pass through Mast General Store or even a passholder. My in-laws recently got a year pass and I met them there the other day as the Tulips were in peak bloom. It really is a site to be seen.
The picture on the right is my favorite picture of the tulips I took. It looks as if this is one tulip but it is actually two. What I like so much about these photographs is that I shot in the middle of the day with bright sun. A pretty tough time to photograph. I shot into the sun which gave a warm glow around the girls. I also like that you might not actually be able to tell that I am at the Biltmore and with all those beautiful flowers but the colors seem to still seep into the photographs.

No I did not have a third child that is just BellaRose's creepy baby that had to come to Biltmore with us.

Rosey wants to take pictures with Hollings, but when I put Hollings beside her she just clotheslines her. Poor Little!

Hollings is a walker, she still loves to crawl, but when she walks it is like Frankenstein. Pretty cute and funny. We have taken to calling her Frank lately.

A little help from your friends

There seems to be a lot to post but almost no where to start. We recently threw our neighbor and friend, Bill, a surprise 60th birthday. We had several surprises set up for him over a couple of days with different people coming in on different days. He was completely surprised and completely floored to say the least. I will post those pictures soon along with my dad's surprise party pictures.

I also need your help a little bit. Annie and I are participating in the Junior League of Asheville's Spring Market at the end of April. I have never done something like this and I am pretty anxious about it all. I am not sure how it will be beneficial other then getting my name out there, which I guess, is huge! Annie and I would love if you would come and see us over those 3 days. If you go to my facebook page you can print out a free coupon for entry into the Spring Market. I would like to blow up a few more prints pretty large and would love your opinion on what that image should be. You all know my pictures from here and from my photography blog and website. What pictures stand out to you and would make a great first impression? Also any advice would be greatly appreciated for anyone who has participated in something like this!

As I look at these pictures of my precious girls, I would be remiss if I did not mention my amazing grandma and her one year anniversary (yesterday) of her passing. I woke up yesterday with my heart heavy and tears in my eyes. It is hard to believe that I have not heard her voice in over a year, or that I have not touched those hands I loved so much. We carry her in our hearts always and I know she is loving my girls from heaven. They have so much of her in them, in their smile, and in their name, and in their spirit.

"Always remember, there is nothing worth sharing
Like the love that let us share our name"

Spring!

I was in the middle of uploading pictures to this post then completely forgot all about it, well I am back now!
We have been busy but I don't think I have a lot to tell you. I guess we have just been busy being outside and enjoying as much of this amazing weather as possible. March is so weird. Yesterday was overcast and cool and today is sunny and 70 with tomorrow going to be 77. I will take it! We recently went to Atlanta to celebrate my dad's surprise 65th birthday, although he ended up finding out about it that day. That was totally fine because I don't have any idea how we would have gotten it all together in the hour he was going to be out. It was a complete blast and I will post photos soon!
This post is heavy with Hollings pictures but this is really like her first spring since last year she was a newborn and didn't really know what was going on. It is fun to let her just be in her diaper and figure out what grass feels like on her toes. I am pretty sure we have another water baby on our hands and I dare to say that Hollings is probably more adventurous then BellaRose, if that is possible.