Best photos of 2009

As the calendar year draws to a close, I give you my third annual 12 best photos of the year:

Downtown Wichita sky, January

Rural Arkansas, January

Dallas golf course, April

Wichita backyard, July

Rural Kansas field, July

Wichita sky, July

Backyard in Wichita, August

Kansas City wedding, August

Hot Springs, Ark., September

Petit Jean State Park, Ark., September

At home in Wichita, September

Backyard in Wichita, October

Click to see my "best of" collections from 2008 and 2007.

Doggone funny

Brian & I watched his mom's Cocker Spaniel Molly yesterday, and we hunkered down and watched the movie "Up" -- very cute, by the way.

Molly especially liked the animated dog characters, as you can see:

Homemade coffee sleeves

I try each Christmas to make at least one homemade gift. This year I found a pattern for reversible reusable fabric coffee sleeves that I really liked, so I brewed up a whole bunch to give to some of my favorite women. I added a few of my own touches, specifically some freehand machine quilting to give the sleeves a bit of decorative loft.

It was a fun pattern and a neat quickie project that was a big hit with the gift recipients. I found the disposable coffee cups at Target and filled them with goodies.

If you decide to tackle this project yourself, let me know. I tweaked the pattern slightly and would be happy to share my secrets.

Christmas festivities

Christmas Day was a long, fun, white, beautiful day. Brian & I celebrated at home in the morning by making our traditional cinnamon French toast (this year we used yummy bread from Great Harvest Bread Company) and exchanging gifts. He surprised me with a gorgeous locket that I'll soon be able to use to showcase a photo of our little one. I surprised him with a Drew Brees jersey ... and coordinating infant onesie.

Then we headed over to his parents' house for a whirlwind day, which ended with dinner for 13 with grandma, aunts & uncles and cousins who drove from out-of-town and flew in from out-of-state. (The cousins and grandma are pictured above.)

See if you can spot a theme to our gifts this year:


We gave Brian's brother Eric a frame that says, "Uncle: Like Dad, only cooler" with a framed sonogram photo. He may have had the surprise gift of the day, though, with a set of KU baby accessories he sewed (with some help from a friend) that included a bib, hooded towel and burp cloth. He was very proud of his work, which was cute. (I think he's warming up to this uncle thing.)


And, because we'd like a written documentary of our child's great-grandmother's life, we gave Brian's grandma the book "Grandmother Remembers: A Written Heirloom for My Grandchild."


And we gave Brian's parents the book "The Grandparent's Book of Shared Memories."


We had "Grandma's Kitchen" embroidered on an apron for Brian's mom.


For his new office at work, we gave Brian's dad a Three Generations frame filled with family photos.

We were pleased to receive many baby items, including memory and photo albums, clothes, a mobile, books, the glider we had registered for and more. (You can't tell this family is excited for May, can you?!)

Even the pups had a wonderful day:




What a blessed Merry Christmas.

A Christmas carol for our little angel

As a little gift from our family to you, click below to listen to "The Last Christmas" by Sixpence None the Richer, the song that has become the theme of our Christmas season. Then follow along with the lyrics.

Merry Christmas!



I feel your heart beating inside my own skin
And I think of Mary in Bethlehem
That night in a stable our Savior was born
Yes, we have so much to be thankful for

On the last Christmas
The last Christmas
The last Christmas
Without you

We're choosing the colors, preparing your room
For one day midsummer the advent of you
Together we wait for our heavenly gift
Is winter a wonder? Enchanted that this is

The last Christmas
The last Christmas
The last Christmas
Without you

See the stars shining from above
Hear the seraphim singing
Praise to the Giver of life and love
Maker of beautiful things

I feel your heart beating inside my own skin
And I think of Mary in Bethlehem
When darkness was shattered; the dawn of God's grace
And the journey'd begun to the first Easter day

On this Christmas
The last Christmas
The last Christmas
The very last Christmas
The last Christmas
The last Christmas
The last Christmas
Without you

" ... the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name."
-- Luke 1:49

Crazy Christmas lights

Brian, his parents, his grandmother & I piled in the car last night, made a quick stop at Starbucks and then went on a self-guided tour of some of Wichita's craziest light displays. It was fun ... at the expense of others footing what have got to be some huge electric bills this year!

Brian's grandma was so cute. When we placed our order at the Starbucks drive-thru ("tall Caramel Apple Spice" ... "grande Peppermint Mocha, non-fat, no whip"), she said she'd never heard of such things and must be old-fashioned. It was fun to have her along. She'd say, "Oh, for goodness sake!" at the elaborate light displays we found.

Grandma & Janice

Janice & me

Brian

John, a.k.a. the tour guide
(I asked him to pose for his photo, and this is what he did. Can you tell we were being silly and having a good time?)

Should you choose to take a similar adventure, take a look at an interactive map of Christmas light displays that I helped with for Kansas.com. If you only have time for a few displays, I'd suggest checking out:

• The two homes near 1428 N. Coach House Road
• Candy Cane Lane, 1050 N. Azure Circle
• The home near 21st and Park streets (Check out the photos of the home with the nativity on the roof near the end of this blog post.)

Check out photos from a few local light displays.




"Is your house on fire, Clark?"
"No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights."
-- Christmas Vacation



Brian was quite pleased to see a home with a leg lamp lit up in the window, a la "A Christmas Story."

"Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window."
-- A Christmas Story

See more Christmas photos in my Facebook album.

10 things that make me happy

Kennedy, my cousin Evan's wife, fellow quilter and author of the fun blog Trying to Catch a Breath recently tagged me to list 10 things that make me happy. I'm thankful that I could list many, many more than that, but here are a few on my mind:

Baby profile, 20-week sonogram

1. Anything related to a certain little bundle of joy, especially the movements I'm feeling more frequently as the month progresses. On Dec. 5, I felt several subtle motions like popcorn popping. Since then, I've felt slightly stronger movements. And once last week I felt what seemed more like ripples. I can't wait for them to get strong enough for Brian to feel! (The above photo is in addition to ones I posted on my blog on Friday night.)

Rural Fayetteville, Arkansas, January 2009

2. Sunsets and sunrises. I find them calming, inspiring and enlightening. What a breathtaking way to start or end a day -- and to help keep the big picture in mind. I spotted this sunset while on a trip to visit my sister earlier this year.

3. Fuzzy socks. Nuff said.

4. Singing in the car. It's one of the best places to belt it out.

Backyard, August 2009

5. My hammock. I've always wanted one, and Brian surprised me with this one this summer. It's been a nice spot for reading, reflection ... and naps. Ahhhh.

Feburary 2009

6. Special homemade meals. Brian makes me a lucky woman for countless reasons, including that he likes to cook for me. He made these Rich Raspberry Sour Cream Pancakes for our Valentine's Day brunch at home.

7. Discovering yummy non-alcoholic drinks. Since I'm doing my best to avoid sugar, caffeine and high-fructose corn syrup, the options are pretty limited. Among my favorites: Silk's soy nog, Stash Moroccan Mint Green Tea and cranberry tonic.


8. Quilting with Mom. We've made beautiful projects and lovely memories while sharing a favorite hobby.

9. Playing the drums on Rock Band. I can play on the expert level ... for most songs. It's a great outlet, especially when Brian joins me on the guitar. (My favorite character is Ruby Red. She rocks.)







10. My silly pets. It takes little more than a wagging tail or kitty yawn to make everything right with the world.

And now I'd like to tag my friends MaryBeth, Jennifer, Sarah and my sister Jen. Ladies, what 10 things make you happy?

Have yourself an early little Christmas

My sister Amanda & her husband Kurtis were in town this weekend, so my family got together Saturday to celebrate Christmas. Mom had the house decorated, dinner cooking, the gifts wrapped and everything ready for our early party.




Kaden was a wee bit grouchy when Mommy woke him up from his nap for dinner.


Auntie Amanda and her poodle Toby helped cheer him up in no time.

Amanda & Mom

Jen & Ryan with their special Christmas decoration.

Mom opening her surprise gift from the whole family ... a Singer serger sewing machine.

Kaden and his fun new gear game.

Jen & Mom

Me & Brian

It was a wonderful party with lots of thoughtful gifts, homemade sweets, love and laughter. And just to think Christmas is still five days away!

See more Christmas photos in my Facebook album.