Birthdays, Christmas Programs and SNOW!!

~We had such a great few weeks! Hanna had her Gingerbread Christmas program, they sang some adorable songs and had refreshments and Santa on hand. She told me she was going to sing the loudest and she was right! Everyone heard Hanna- I have no idea were she gets it from;) I loved it, that's my girl- no doubt about it.

The weekend before we really enjoyed our first snow and all the fun that comes with it! We made snow angels and snow slushie's. This weekend came even more snow and we all had fun as a family trying to clear our driveway-whew- it took us a while after the 6+ inches of snow fell.

We also celebrated Joe's 30th birthday this weekend!! Hanna and I baked a cake and made him steaks on his birthday. I let her choose his present and she loving picked out Whoppers, Fruity Pebbles and Twizzlers...these are Joe's favorite things;)

Saturday we headed to Terre Haute for his adult birthday party. We had such a great time complete with Maurizio's pizza, karaoke and great friends! While we were in town we actually found a great car for him too! It is exactly what we needed. We bought a Saturn Ion, 35 mpg, and brand new tires. Joe is relieved now that we have that off of our list. We have had some fun times the past few weeks!! This week we are planning on making Christmas cookies, wrapping loads of presents and taking Hanna to the Children's Museum for Jolly Day's.

Sad news....

We found out a couple of weeks ago that Home Lumber is closing it's doors. With thes harp decline in the housing market, they have not been able to recover. The opportunity came for them to be bought out, and they seized it, after 45 years in business. Operations and the continuing lumber business are being taken over by Truss Manufacturing Co. Joe was a lucky one. He was offered and accepted continued employment with the new company. However, nearly all the other employees, Joe's friends whom he has worked side by side for almost 4 years, all lost their jobs.

We are thankful he still has a job--there is but one catch. The new location will be in Westfield. Approximately 45 minutes north! He will also loose his company truck tomorrow. This all means that in the next few weeks we need to find the money and the time to buy a second car for him to once again start commuting.

This all makes me so angry....I am trying so hard to understand why this would happen.
I wish for simplicity and being settled. I am wondering why we always seem to make the wrong decision, no matter how right it seems to us. Should we have not made these decisions....? I am tired of thinking what if...? It is getting so hard to be the happy, funny one. Is my fake smiling wearing off.....

How Tall?!

We took a trip to nearby outdoor Metropolis Mall for some shopping and were so excited to see they had covered their water fountain with this gorgeous tree! Hanna loved it so much and Joe was so proud he was able to snap this picture with the entire tree in it, I had to post for all to see!

Chirstmas time is here....!

We have had a great time the past couple of weeks getting our Christmas things out and decorating the house! Our tree was up on Friday after Thanksgiving as usual and Hanna was just so interested in everything this year. She and Daddy totally ganged up on me and made us put rainbow lights on the tree this year :/ (not a big fan). Oh well, she thinks it is the coolest!



Last weekend we traveled to The Kopetski's for Evie's first birthday and had a great time with friends, Leah just had her second daughter literally days before Evie turned one--she has Irish twins!! So we enjoyed meeting Ellynor Kopetski for the first time as well. And somehow or another Leah and Pete pulled off a fantastic party and she already looks like she has lost 20lbs! Wonder woman I tell ya!

This weekend I am really looking forward to all of my college girlfriends and their families coming over to The Walker house for our annual Woodsie Christmas dinner. I love when we all get together, we all have such a a special bond and it is so great to see us all growing and changing with marriages and families.