Looking Back on 2011

Wow...I can't believe 2011 is over! It went by sooo fast. It was an amazing year for Kevin and I, mostly because it brought us 2 of the most wonderful blessings. So...here's a look back our at 2011..

January ~ my best friend got married!! Her wedding was just gorgeous and tons of fun!

Kevin and I at the wedding, isn't my Maid of Honor dress gorgeous??? She did an amazing job of picking our dresses, and her dress...it was beyond fabulous!!!!

The beautiful bride, in a gorgeous Vera Wang dress, moments before she walked down the aisle...she is just glowing!

February ~ We spent Valentine's Day in Colorado and went on a fun Valentine's Day double date with some friends! It was such a fun trip and Colorado is such a beautiful state.

March ~ Kevin parents came to visit. They like to tour little vineyards (just like us) so we took them to a few of our favs. Here we are a one of them...the random lady in the middle of the pic is the Vineyard owner.

April ~ We took a really quick trip to Norman, Oklahoma (home of the Sooners!!) and this seemed to be the only picture we took...it's me in front of my beautiful Sorority house. Like I said, it was a super quick trip. Lol ;)

May ~ This is the month we went to Coronado, California. Oh my goodness, it was such a lovely island. I could have stayed there forever. After this trip we're totally planning to retire there...like next year. ;)

June ~ My bff (the one that got married in January) and I had a fabulous little girl's weekend in Kansas City. LOVE the Plaza!! Can't wait for our next one!

July ~ my friend Katie and I attended Omaha's 'Red Sky Music Festival' - we went to the Jason Aldean concert, he was uh-mazing!! We had such a fun night. One of the best nights of my whole summer!!

August ~ Molly and I tagged along on Kevin's business trip to New Mexico. Such a beautiful state, the desert is so neat. Also...on this trip, I found out I was pregnant!! SOOOO EXCITING!!

September ~ Kevin and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. It's just crazy to think that we've been married for 3 years now - sometimes it seems like we've been married forever but other times things still seem so 'new,' I think it's a good mix. ;) As a wedding gift to each other, we decided to purchase new toasting glasses since ours never made it home from the reception. But, the BEST anniversary gift of all, was learning that we were pregnant with TWINS!!! What an amazing blessing!! After a 3 year fertility journey, we were overjoyed. I can't even tell you how thankful we were/are for this amazing gift!!

Toasting Glasses!

First picture of our TWINS!!!

October ~ I turned 30!! EEEKKKKKK!!! We celebrated with a trip to Florida and the Bahamas. We had a fantastic time! On my actual birthday, Kevin treated me to a spa day - seriously, best Spa experience of my life!!

Here we are on the balcony of our hotel in Fort Lauderdale...look gorgeous beach...love.

A week after we returned from our trip, we learned that the twin were BOYS!!! How exciting!!! For weeks after that just saying things like "My boys and I," "When we do --fill in the blank-- with our sons," brought tears to my eyes. As I mentioned before, this has been quite the journey for us so we already had names picked out - we had such a wonderful time telling our friends and family that Connor and Grayson will be here in April!! Even now, I tear up writing about the experience. I'm just so thankful God chose me to been a Mom to these two precious little boys!!

November ~ we went to Maine (Kevin's home) for Thanksgiving!! I just love Maine, it's such a beautiful state. We had a wonderful time and were able to take a picture of all of the 'Rooney' cousins. It was sooo amazing to be with his whole family!!

...Do you see those baby boys in the picture??? Those are our nephews that Kevin's sister had last December (2010). So, our little boys will have twin boy cousins to play with - SO PERFECT!!

December ~ Our first snow of the season!! I was eager to 'play' in it - even if that meant scooping. Ha!!

And, of course we took our Christmas card pic - and you can see my little baby bump!

What a fabulous 2011!!

I can't believe all the amazing things that happened in 2011 and I know God has even more amazing things in store for us in 2012!! Most of all, Kevin and I can't wait to meet these two wonderful boys...

Connor

And Grayson...he's waving 'Hi' ;)

Love these boys so much already...isn't it crazy how that works?!?!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a fabulous 2012!! May it be your best year EVER!!

Merry Christmas!

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

Luke 2:15-16

2011 Christmas Home Tour

Ok, so I know I'm pretty late to the Home Tours at Kelly's Korner & The Nester but, I'm kinda going with the 'better late than never' idea. ;)

I wish I could invite all my blog friends over for a tour and a chai latte...hope you enjoy this vital tour just as much!

Our entry way, with our nativity scene - I just love that it's the first thing you see as you walk in the door.

I like to keep our Christmas cards out on this plater. I keep thinking I need to make a Christmas card tree...maybe next year but for now, I like them on top of our piano, right next to my adorable little (faux) pine tree.

Here's our 'big' tree - even though we have several smaller artificial trees, we always like to get a big real pine tree and it always goes in the formal living room...just kinda one of those traditions Kevin and I started and I just love it! This is the tree we put all of our 'keepsake' ornaments on, it's been so neat to have some of our ornaments from our childhood on our tree.

Each year I get one of Hallmark's 'Our Family' keepsake ornaments, they are my absolutely fav because each has a place for a picture as well as the year. It's so fun to look back to see how Kevin and I have changed, this is our 6th Christmas together - which is just CRAZY, time sure does fly when you're havin' fun!! Here's our ornament from this year, my twin baby bump had just started to show - yay!! It's beyond wonderful to know that next year, our picture will have our two precious little boys, Connor & Grayson, in it!!

Our poinsettia...ladies, I feel so bad for this poor plant, I don't have a green thumb whatsoever and this little guy has not done well. Maybe it was the repotting??? I don't know, but I just love the little lime green planter!! Ha!! That candle next to the half-way living plant...yeah, I have those everywhere! I love, LOVE Christmas candles! The best scents come out at Christmas!!

I love all our Christmas trees but I have a special place in my heart for my little kitchen Christmas tree. I mostly decorate it with small cookie cutters, it's the perfect place to sit with a hot cup of tea in the mornings! Side note ~ I just love how our kitchen flows right into our family room - perfect for us since everyone always gathers in the kitchen! Ha!! ;)

That's most of it! I feel like there are tons more little detail decorations but...I should probably check on my little patient...

So sad, huh?!?! My poor little Molly!!! My heart just breaks for her! Saturday I noticed she was squinting and had some drainage from her left eye but it wasn't anything too abnormal. By Sunday morning, it had gotten much worse though. So, after church we took a trip to the emergency vet, where we learned she has a pretty bad scratch on her eye. So we were given a few meds and a cone...the cone because, she just won't stop pawing at her eye. Oh geez, I just feel soooo bad for her!! I hoping and praying for a quick recovery!! I certainly don't want her to have to spend Christmas in a cone!

One more pic...here's the beautiful view of the family room from our couch. That's our 'little' tree, it's decorated with silver, blue and green ornaments (not that you can really tell in this lighting though) - the same colors as our family room.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!!

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

ISAIAH 9:6

Christmas Card Carousel

I just LOVE this blog event! It's definitely my favorite yearly link up!! It's such a neat way to share Christmas cards with all your blog friends!!

As always, the fabulous Courtney, at Simply Said designs, designed our card. She sent us these two incredible designs...

While we loved both designs, we chose this one! Just gorgeous!!

I'd love to see your Christmas card too!! Just head over to Faith's blog, Walk With Me By Faith, and link up!

Merry Christmas Friends!

Today in the town of David, a Savior is born; He is Christ the Lord.

~ Luke 2:11

Oh What Fun It Is to...Cook

Today I'm linking up with Molly, from Dutchess of Fork, for this fun holiday link up!

Christmas Eve

Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner is usually pretty simple (because we know we'll be eating TONS on Christmas day - ha!!). This year, I'm thinking about making this Baked Tortellini recipe ~

Christmas Day

Where do I even begin?!? Here's some yummy treats I've found on Pinterest that I know will be making an appearance in our house this Christmas

Pretty sure this is what we're doing for breakfast...yummy, simple and easy!

Carmel and Chocolate dipped pretzel rods

Hot Chocolate Peppermint Chex Mix, in my opinion, chef mix is one of the most perfect snack foods, EVER. ;)

Candy Cane Bark...I don't know why but I'm soooo into peppermint and chocolate this year. I think it might be my biggest pregnancy craving.

Like our hostess, Molly, my Christmas treat list wouldn't be complete without this yummy baked cheese dish. I love, love, LOVE baked brie!!

~ All these recipes can be found here, on Pinterest ~

Can't wait to see what everyone else is cooking up this holiday season!! Be sure to link up!

Merry Monday!!

What's 'merry' about today?

C U P C A K E S !!

I cannot get enough of them! Before this pregnancy, I didn't have much of a sweet tooth but wow, it sure seems like these babies loooove their sweets!!

We went home to Oklahoma City this weekend...which was were the cupcake extravaganza began...1st up, Cuppies & Joe.

Here's their website

their menu is uh-mazing!!!

My favorite flavor is their Boom Boom Pow ~ it's a vanilla bean cuppie w/chocolate buttercream, caramel, and sea salt. It's beyond delicious!!

We may have had to take a few home...ya know, just a few. ;)

Ok, so when I imagine what Heaven will be like, it's definitely a version of this place. Pinkitzel is every 'Girly Girl's' dream come true. They manage to combine an upscale boutique (complete with clothes, baby girl clothes and home decor) with a cupcake and coffee bar. Seriously friends, it's heaven.

Here's their website

While I was down this weekend, my best friend, Christina, threw me a baby shower...AT Pinkitzel!!! Yes, it was perfect. Truly, there aren't any other words to describe it. Here's a picture of the room where the shower was held. This pic is from their website...I'll be doing a baby shower post soon with lots more pics. Believe it or not, the room looked soooo much cuter for the shower. LOVE the antique circus theme!!

On our way back to Omaha, we stopped at the Plaza in Kansas City. After doing a little bit of shopping, we had to stop at KC's well-known cupcake place.

It was just a small store front...small but adorable! Here's their website

Super yummy & fun flavors!! My favorite was their seasonal flavor 'Peppermint Hot Chocolate,' it was delicious!!

Now that we are home, I'm still craving cupcakes. Luckily, I went to a Christmas Party tonight that was right next door to Jones Bros. Cupcakes!! Pretty sure it was meant! Ha!!

Here's their website

If you're ever in Omaha and are looking for a place to grab a tasty cupcake and cup of coffee (or a glass of wine) I highly recommend Jones Bros.