Have yourself a Marietta Christmas!

We had a busy weekend last weekend (it's December, isn't it?) - spending a lot of time celebrating Christmas and Marietta at the same time! A few pictures from our weekend...

Our Marietta weekend kicked off by heading up to the Square on Thursday to wait for Santa to arrive....it was FREEZING and I was not prepared. We stayed long enough to listen to a few choirs sing and then to watch Santa arrive on the square but were on our way to ballet as soon as he finished driving by!

Sitting by the Christmas Tree on the square..


Run away toddler!


Jumping up and down waiting for Santa to arrive - we could hear the fire truck coming from the fire station and Ali, especially, was so excited!!

He made it!

Decorating a gingerbread house on Friday...

Ali was so proud of the gingerbread house and couldn't wait to eat it!

Yay for sugar!!

Ryan and I were on the host committee for the Marietta Pilgrimage preview party/Marietta 175th celebration party on Friday and we had so much fun! We went to a pre-party beforehand with friends and then caught a limo to the square for the celebration!! Thanks to Grandmommy and Granddaddy for babysitting for what turned out to be a late, fun night!!


We woke up on Saturday morning and headed to our church for the "Elf on the Shelf" production! The girls loved it and we got to sit at our table and have breakfast with Libby - an extra treat!

Sitting with Santa after the show....

The girls intently watching the "Elves"

At the end of the show, Ali and Libby went up and walked around/sang the elves - in the back left hand corner...
Ryan and I went to an annual party that night at our friend's house where they fix us a delicious dinner and then we head to the Pilgrimage Candlelight tour and look at 3 of the beautiful houses. This year it was on Church Street & Cherokee Street - right by the square - and we were close enough from the host's home to even walk to the houses. We had a GREAT time with lots of fun friends and can't wait until next year - it is now one of my favorite Christmas traditions!

The next day, we headed to the Country Club for brunch with Santa...

Rhodes and Mimi
Ali decorating cookies with Aunt Ashley
Santa #1 of the day

Rhodes and Mama
Ali and Daddy

A few Christmas card attempts

And, finally, we concluded the weekend with the Poston's annual party with Santa! It was a cold night but so much fun again - another one of my favorite Christmas traditions!

And a few random pictures from Thanksgiving day, I had yet to post!

Ali proud of her very own tree she picked out for the playroom....she picked out everything for it and after we finished decorating it, she looked at it and said "Oh! It is beautiful!"

Long November...

It's been a busy November, but also a long November as our little Rhodes has pretty much been sick since election day. It started with a 24/48 bug at the very beginning of November (that she passed on to the rest of us), that overlapped with a bad cold that turned into a very bad cough - so much that she stopped sleeping through the night and woke herself coughing in the middle of the night. While we went to Ali's Thanksgiving Feast at school, my mom was great and took Rhodes to the doctor - it was the earliest appointment we could get. (Thank you Mom!) They put her on steroids, an antibiotic and a nebulizer which has hands down been one of the worst experiences of my life b/c Rhodes hates it so much. I know it will make her better, but to have to watch your poor baby cry and be pretty much pinned down and breath through a nebulizer is just horrible! Especially because, at this age, she doesn't understand I'm doing it just to make her feel better - she just thinks we're torturing her! :( So sad!! Anyway, after a few days on all of that, things started to look up, until day 5 when she spiked a high fever. Fevers always make me panic so after a day of tylenol, we called the after hours nurse and were just told to keep doing what we're doing. Then, when the fever finally broke two days later - a rash broke out all over her body!! Turns out, she has roseola now! Phew!! I am praying that tomorrow we will all be very very thankful this year for a healthy household and be done with sickness for awhile. Poor Rhodes - she has had quite the month! I like to write all of this down so I will remember down the road and be thankful for good health! Somehow throughout all of this, Ali has (knock on wood) stayed healthy and not caught any of it! Not even the 24 hour bug that Ryan and I got!! I hope I am not cursing myself a week from now b/c I have just jinxed myself! :)

Anyway - despite all of the sickness, Rhodes has been a trooper and Ali has been a helpful big sis (most of the time) and worries/hugs Rhodes when she is not feeling well or when she is being nebulized. :) Here are some pictures of my little girls this month, staying cute throughout it all!

We give thanks this Thanksgiving for our families, our friends, and our health! Happy Thanksgiving!! Love, The Patricks