New Year's Day

On New Year's, Joe and Anne had us over to eat traditional New Year's food. Joe cooked hog jowl (icky!), turnip greens, cabbage, black eyed peas, and fried potatoes. We had another birthday cake for desert. Follow that up with a game of Mexican Dominoes and you have one long, tiring day! Here are pictures:

New Blog

I have started a new blog in which I will attempt to blog 365 (okay, 366) pictures this year. Part of my New Year's Goals was to learn to use my camera properly. In an effort to do that, I am taking a fellow scrapbooker's challenge and working on the 365 challenge. I promise I will not neglect this blog, but the new blog will be more personal and more about me than Ava. So if you are stopping by to check on Ava, my 365 blog is probably not the place for you. I welcome you to check it out though and make a comment every now and then.

Here is my blog : http://tiffanyfreemanrogers.blogspot.com/

And here is the challenge link: http://scrappingangelsuk.typepad.com/365_days/

Here are 2 other photo sites that I think are cool: http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/

http://photojojo.com/content/guides/19-new-years-photo-resolutions

Anyway, enjoy and don't worry, I will still be posting Ava stuff HERE!

Happy New Year!

Hello to everyone. Hope you have had a great New Year and are getting back into the swing of things. I started back to work today for just a half day. Students return tomorrow and I all prepared and set up. Bradley also returned to work (they were off yesterday and half day NYE) and I know we are both exhausted. I tell you, the last 2 weeks have flown by too fast and I am more tired now than I was at the beginning of vacation!

Once again, we hosted a New Year's Eve party/Bradley's birthday party here at our house and just had a great time. Attending this year was Nana, Pop, Aunt Bethany, and our friends, Jonathan, Stacy, and JonThomas. We rang in the New Year with full stomachs, sparkling grape juice, and sparklers. Ava passed out at about 10:30 and being moody for quite a while. She has been struggling with a cold/fever/runny nose/a horrible cough, but on Monday, I bought a vaporizer for her room and her cough is almost gone. Ahhh, the power of vapor. We played Battle of the Sexes (which proved women are the superior sex!), Catchphrase (my personal fave), and Family Feud. Let's just say that I am not one to put on the Fast Money Round! Stacy baked Bradley a cake and my man is now 32 years old. Time is really flying! So here are some pictures from NYE! Hope yours were all fantastic!

Sausage Balls - recipe from Freeman Family Cookbook

Ava and Stacy

Squiggles

Joe and Anne (aka Nana and Pop)
Stacy, Jonathan, and JonThomas
Anne, Joe, and Bethany
Bradley and I
Here's to fresh starts!

Holiday Round Up

The Christmas decorations are put away and order is being restored in our day to day lives, so I guess this is my last Christmas related post of '07 unless someone else sends me some great photos. We had a wonderful holiday season and I am already looking forward to next year's 25 Days of Christmas. There were a lot of things we didn't get to do that I wanted to get done, but we had a great Christmas. I had more fun than I have had in years and even though Ava is still too small to grasp what is happening, just seeing things through her eyes was inspiring. Now to look forward to the new year!

Here's wishing you more happiness,

Than all our words can tell,

not just for New Years Eve,

But for all the year as well.

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
traditional gaelic blessing

Happy New Year Ya'll!

Christmas with the Rogers Family

On the 26th of December, the Rogers family gathers together at Aunt Mary's house to celebrate Christmas. We always have a delicious dinner and play one of the worst games ever invented, Dirty Santa. Now for all my family who doesn't know what Dirty Santa is, it is a game where everyone brings a gift, draws a number, opens a gift or proceeds to steal from others. I had never played Dirty Santa until moving to TN and the people here are Dirty Santa addicts. Seriously. There should be a support group. But I play, but I only play at this particular gathering. I boycott all other gatherings where Dirty Santa or any other rendition of the game is played. Love the holidays. Yes. Love Dirty Santa. No. But I played and Bradley and I got 2 very nice gifts. To explain myself, I don't hate, hate the game itself, I just hate feeling pressured to bring a $10 gift to every party. One year, I was invited to 5 holiday parties where they all wanted a $10 gift. That's $50 for me and $50 for Bradley, and I would just rather go and visit with people then have to waste money. So, now you know and I will get off the Dirty Santa Soapbox... until next year! ;)

Anyway, it was a good time, great food {Thanks Uncle Timmy for the recipe for Spinach Artichoke Dip}, and Ava got some great presents.

Ava thinks the chair lift remote is a telephone.

Ava with Aunt Bethany

The Rogers Family
Uncle Johnny and Aunt Helen, Nana and Pop
Everyone
Dewey (LeaAnna and Josh's dog) in his Christmas finery