Christmas in Arkansas

It's been about ten years since we've been back to visit my grandmother as a family. Chap and I did make a trip out there about 2 years ago just so I could show him what an amazing place it was. Hot Springs Village has 9 golf courses and 12 lakes making it a host to many firsts for me...this is where I learned to water ski, fish, golf, and drive (the golf cart training surely benefited my skills behind the wheel).

Some of my fondest memories are here in Hot Springs Village, so to be back again with my parents, brother, cousin, aunt, uncle, and husband was very special. We had such fantastic trip and visit with my grandma, I'll just share a few of the highlights!

The first day we were there we walked the golf trails to the lake behind Tutu's house.

Christmas Eve we visited Tutu's church and then came back to her house for a YUMMY meal she prepared for us!

Christmas morning we had a wonderful and emotional time opening gifts. The official title, "Retro Christmas" came into effect after we opened the amazing antique treasures Tutu passed along. It was a memorable morning that will be cherished forever!

Later on that day we walked down to the golf course Tutu lives on for some warm up rounds (The annual 'Berky/Gourley Moon Cup' tournament was to take place the following day).
Lots of memories on this course that my grandparents and dad enjoyed for many years.

That night we enjoyed lots of food and more family when The Berky's arrived!

My Aunt Annie with her new 'Write Plate'. Love you Annie!

The cousins with Tutu on Christmas! (Not quite the same without Bryan's frown face=)

Lots of laughs and memories when you have this group together! Here Auntie Annie and my dad were re-capping dad's heartache when his second grade teacher asked him to simply mouth the words to 'Joy to the World'... =)

Even the rain didn't stop our fun, the last day we had the Moon Cup golf tournament. The Gourley family did win this year, but it sure was a collaborative effort. I'm sure the Berky's will come back strong next year!

The last night Tutu took us all out to eat at the Club. We had such a good time, I miss it already.
The RV landed in Greenville at about 1:30 AM. It was a wonderful trip with so many new memories created. I am grateful for our family and the chance we had to spend time together! Even though distance and time seperates us, it's always so comfortable and happy when we get together. Love to Tutu, Aunt Annie, Uncle Andy, and Drew! I miss you guys already and hope to see you soon!!!

Rollings' Christmas 2008

Well, I was too busy watching movies on my new portable DVD player (thank you Marilyn), reading my books, and hangin out to do any more posts in the RV. It was actually a fun trip! Definitely the only way to travel 14 hours with the fam =) Since we're spending Christmas in Arkansas we did the Rollings' Christmas a little early...which I am very grateful for them re-arranging their Christmas schedule for us!! So, here's the re-cap (early Gourley Christmas will follow).

Big cousin Rollings with Smith and Addison. Smith found Rollings quite hilarious! When Rollings would sing and dance around, Smith cracked up!! It was so cute! You can tell who that boy is going to look up to when he gets a little older =)

Uncle Chap and Smith Christmas morning

Addison and Poppy

Christmas morning, Keesha got Ms. Addison laughing lots...here was one of her action shots =)

We had a wonderful Christmas with the Rollings! Having two sweet angels there makes us that much more thankful for all of our many blessings!

Cruisin' America

Here we go! We just began the journey to Arkansas! We have a LONG trip ahead of us, so I'm sure I'll find some time to do a few posts =) Here are the 'before' pictures...

Chap being silly....strrrreeetch! Don't you just love the Lampoon hat?!

Our new home for the next day.

Mom's new home for the next day (she's already in the bed with curtain closed!)

Who's ready for vacation?!

Christmas Break 2008!

One of my favorite days of the year is finally here!! Today is the last day before break, the day we get to werar PJ's, exchange gifts, have hot chocolate, and watch 'holiday' movies (this is all after we take our tests of course....yes, I am that witch).

This year, our team opted for the matching pj's/scarf uniform set by Target (except Brad, but he's a guy so that might have looked funny =) I love my fourth grade team so much! It makes coming to school that much more fun knowing that I have such great friends that support me and love shopping at Target just as much as I do!

Happy Christmas Break 2008!!!

Road Trip!

This Christmas my grandma, Eva (we call her Tutu), has asked for a family Christmas. Well, Tutu doesn't ask for very much, so of course we immediatley started planning the trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas about 6-7 months ago. The original plan was for us to make the 14 hour (that's 28 hours round trip) journey in two cars. With 6 of us, we figured this would be most comfortable.

So, Saturday my dad called and after chatting for a few minutes said, "Pumpkin, I've got two letters for you...R.V." All I could do was laugh, I was really shocked! Though we had tossed the idea around, I never thought big Norm was really going for it?! Anyway, I figured I'd share the Gourley's exciting news, along with some very special pictures I found while making a special project for my grandma. Haha, enjoy =)

This was me and my Tutu during my second Christmas =)

I think this is the actually the last Christmas we had with my Tutu. We lived in Collierville, TN and I think I was either 9 or 10. I hope you can see the obnoxious bow in my hair...wow. And check our Normie's goofy grin.

Tagged: "I Am..."

Tagged by Jamie!

*i am hungry
*i want food to magically appear.
*i have a wonderful family and amazing friends!
*i miss friends that have moved away.
*i fear not being able to have children.
*i hear the fire crackling and some show Chap is watching on Discovery Channel.
*i search for ways to be healthier.
*i wonder what my children will look like.
*i regret little, but sometimes I do wonder how my choices effected outcomes. Not sure if that’s considered a regret?
*i love teaching, books, dogs, babies, family, friends, my Christmas tree…I could go on and on.
*i forgive first…I hate conflict and do just about anything to get past it.
*i ache after the first snowboard trip each season.
*i always try to help people, I am a sucker for fixing problems or playing match maker.
*i try to be more patient.
*i seem to be a push over?? I think people know I avoid conflict at all costs and this can send the wrong message sometimes.
*i know I am lucky.
*i feel excited that my grad. class ended yesterday and that Chap only has one more semester left!! What will we do with our time??
*i dance a lot during "So You Think You Can Dance" season, and even more now around my house and in my car since I got my IPod.
*i dream of watching my parents become grandparents one day.
*i give to the Salvation Army bell ringers this time of year. I don’t know how to walk by without trying to find something to give. Today we went to the grocery store this morning around 9:30 and then went back by this evening around 6:00 and the SAME sweet man was outside ringing the bell. I thought that was pretty amazing.
*i listen to all kinds of music.
*i sing all the all the wrong words to songs.
*i laugh a lot…at Chap, my friends, the kids in my class, my Nephew Rollings, the Target lady on SNL. “Approved!”. Etc.
*i can't go to sleep without reading or watching tv first.
*i write a ton! I have a gross callous on my left middle finger from all the writing, I think that must happen to teachers a lot though.
*i cry fairly easily for a variety of reasons…my emotions have never been a secret.
*i sleep on road trips. I don’t think I’m a very good ‘wing man’.
*i am excited that all my shopping is done, presents are wrapped, and Christmas Break 2008 is almost here!
*i see not very well. I would LOVE lasik eye surgery!
*i need to do laundry!
*i should go to bed so I can finally finish, “Breaking Dawn”!

I tag Amber, Courtney, Sarah, and anyone else that wants to play! Just fill in the answer with the FIRST thing that comes to your mind.

Good Times at the Goodner's!

The fifth annual Chinese Auction Celebration at the Goodner's this past weekend was another success! Chap and I look forward to this every year, definitely one more fun Christmas events we attend =) Since each couple brings two gifts, one is usually very silly...one of my favorite parts.

Erica won the chocolate lottery with her gift...Chap did pick this out with her in mind =)

Kevin/Craig lucked out last year with an economy size package of toilet paper. This year...he wasn't as lucky =)

The Sham Wow was definitely a HOT item at this year's party. Here is Mike testing out Shelly's big win! Remember: Punch, not dab.

Here Russ, Alicia, and Shelly are doing another Sham Wow demonstration. This gift turned out to be quite the miracle =)

Hmmm...and here you can see Lauren is just thrilled with her new Dale Earnhart calander. Luckily, I think she got to trade this one in.

And the grand prize, brought by Colly, was the porta John. The guy that works outside couldn't have been more proud to take home this shiny new prize home. No, he has not tried it out yet...
....but Shelly did give practice run. Safety first.

Good times had by all! Thanks again Goodner's for the yummy dinner! Eating, laughing, and gifting with friends is always fun with you guys =)

Ohhh Christmas Tree...

After little convincing this morning I was finally able to talk Chap into getting our first REAL Christmas Tree! I didn't think he was too excited about it till I came downstairs to find him in his lumberjack hat singing 'Oh Christmas Tree'. Turns out that while I was getting ready he was exploring the world wide web for an actual Christmas Tree Farm (rather than the silly Christmas Tree stand I was going to try and buy from). Anyway, this farm turned out to be really neat! They had campfires, marshmellows roasting, and hayrides. It was my first experience picking out a real tree, and the fact that we got to cut it down ourselves made it tons of fun!

Brodey enjoyed himself also, while he was hunting for something, we doubt it was for the perfect Christmas Tree.

Here she is...isn't she a beaut?!

A boy, his dog, and a tree...doesn't get much better than that.


We had an excellent day at the tree farm and I hope we can make it annual tradition =) Now, on to the decorating...

Thankfulness

With my birthday being so close to Thanksgiving it usually makes me that much MORE aware and thankful for my wonderful family and amazing friends (yes, the presents do help a little. =) Once again, this year I feel such gratitude for the amazing people I have in my life!

Since we usually have off from school on my b-day, this year was quite a treat to actually be in school for the first time since I can remember! My amazing and sweet class made me feel so special; seriously, the cards and gifts were a little overwhelming. Bigger than Christmas. They were so cute. The girls even planned a little surprise party having their moms bring in cupcakes and brownies and having the entire cafeteria sing ‘Happy Birthday’! After the red from embarrassment went away, I realized that there should definitely be a place on the fourth grade report card where I can give these girls credit for ‘event planning’. Really, this is a great skill that will benefit the girls later on in life =)

My parents also sent me a beautiful bouquet of fall flowers! They still looked great even after I shared half the bouquet with the party planners in my class =)

That evening lots of friends joined me for dinner at Thursday’s. It was so great having everyone there, I will use any excuse to get together with friends =) Love you all!!

...and thank you for my yummy cake Chap, Mike and I both enjoyed it =)

I guess I should say my b-day actually started Monday night when Chap got a little excited and gave me my b-day present early (if you think I am bad at surprises, you should see this guy!) For his b-day last month, our wonderful friends gave him a gift card to buy an IPod, so he decided to share this gift with me getting us both the new Nano 8GB IPod. Even though we are a little tardy with this great concept we are super excited to finally own IPods!! We had a little dance party in the living room Monday night (separately of course listening to different songs…thanks again Justin!)

I was also able to get the awesome Nike + sports kit which is the device that plugs into your IPod and hooks into your shoe to measure distance, and calories. I am pumped about this!! I got a small workout in after the yummy turkey dinner yesterday =)


Needless to say, we both have LOTS to be thankful for! Thank you for everyone’s support and love ALL year round. We are lucky to have such caring people in our lives! This includes my new (and old) blogging friends! Your messages, words of encouragement, and fun readings are always highlights in my day =) Love!!

Ahoy for a Goodner Boy!

This weekend, we hosted a baby shower for our good friends, Matt and Mimi. It was a fun shower to set up for because the home was absolutely gorgeous (right on the lake!) The soon to be mom and dad got lots of fantastic gifts for baby Goodner!

Mom, Dad, and hosts

Matt wrote a VERY sweet letter to Mimi which I framed with a picture of Baby Goodner. One of my favorite frames so far...thanks again for the idea Jamie, it's always a hit!

Favors: white chocolate covered pretzels drizzled in blue. While they were delicious, we decided this is probably the LAST time we'll make these incredibley messy and time consuming treats... but they sure did look cute in that sailboat!

The Goodner's pulled through with another yummy catering performance!

Erica's flower arrangements are always beautiful!
Opening the MANY great gifts...just to give you an idea, they got two strollers at this shower!

How proud is that daddy?

Evidence: Yes...Chap, along with the other guys, did remove themselves from the football game downstairs to offer SOME assistance =)


What a wonderful celebration of the soon to be parents! This brings us one step closer to welcoming baby boy Goodner into this world. He is going to be a VERY loved little boy with amazingly fun and loving parents! We are anxious to meet him and support his parents through this incredible journey!