A few days late, as usual...

I have been such a lazy blogger! I haven't posted in weeks and I've just barely managed to make the rounds of keeping up with everybody else! I suppose I got caught up in all the Christmas craziness and work has been super-busy lately too. By the way, if you have any pregnant friends, you should probably go visit them in the hospital. I'm almost positive that every local pregnant woman has delivered in the last week...at my hospital!

Our Christmas was wonderful, the only thing that would have made it better is if my little sis & her husband had been with us. Don't worry though, she sent us a couple pictures that made it feel like she was there. Ok, so it didn't feel like she was there at all, the pictures just made us cry! Thanks a lot, Laura!

We had Christmas with Mama & Daddy on Christmas Eve and ate way too much. Here's a few pics of us opening gifts.

Silly Daddy!

Sweet smile, Mama!

Uh-oh! He's hooked! (that's an ornament shaped like a fishing lure)

I love my necklace, Sissy!

Then, on Christmas morning, Nathan and I couldn't wait to open our presents so we jumped out of bed at 5:30 a.m. and ran to the living room. Actually, I stumbled in there while Nathan was hollering enthusiastically for me to "get outta that bed!" He likes to be all happy and bouncy (translation: loud) in the mornings while I cringe at the sound of a light being switched on!

Anyway, we huddled on the couch together while Nathan read the story of Jesus' birth from Luke. We prayed and gave thanks for the bounty that God has blessed us with, and then we took turns opening our gifts. Nathan did an amazing job with my gifts. Thank you Sweetie! He got me a gray peacoat that is so cute, an electric Dewalt hand sander (sometimes a girl needs her own tools), and....are you ready for this?...a Canon EOS 50d SLR camera with 2 zoom lenses!!! Ahhhhhh! I cried when I opened it. I had fallen in serious like with my friend Martha's 50d and told Nathan that was the only thing on my Christmas list. Well, we talked about it and decided that since it was not a cheap camera, that we would wait and save for it. So, I had my mind all set that I was not getting the camera for at least 6 months and I tried to shove it to the back of my mind. When I opened up that box and saw it sitting there, I was completely overwhelmed and blubbered out a heart-felt thank you on my sweet husband's shoulder. My Dad chipped in on the camera,too, so I was sure to tell him thank you when we went over for Christmas dinner!

Needless to say, we had tons of fun playing with it that day. I think I have about 100 pictures of each of my living room's decorations since I was playing with all the different settings. We went out to the waterfowl reserve on the Air Force Base and took lots of pictures of the ducks milling around out there. Nathan likes the camera just as much as me, he would hardly let me have it while we were out at the reserve! Check out some of the neat pics we got, or should I say, shot? :)

Let's go, Ashlie!

Every hunter's home away from home

Look at that sunshine!

We spooked them a little

Birds of a feather flock together

Flyin' high

Handsome pose, Baby!

A trail less traveled

I'm lovin' my new camera! I'm half-way through the instruction manual (yes, I'm one of those nerds) and I play with it every chance I get. Oh, and is it just me, or does anyone else feel like they should have pretty nails when they handle a pretty camera? I've painted my nails three times since I got it. I just feel like my hands should be pretty to match the camera! I know, I'm weird. Oh well, at least I'm a weirdo with pretty paws!

I hope all of you had wonderful Christmases. I just took our decorations down this week! Ha! I put them up late, so I felt like they needed to stay up a little later too. Y'all have a great day now, ya hear?