A RYAN's Holiday

My family (Pogue-side) started a new tradition this year at Ryan's Grill in Elizabethtown. Since my family is in BG and our other relatives are in Nicholasville and Louisville, E-town is a convenient medium. My grandparents decided not to have Christmas at their homeplace in Louisville this year. They headed south for their Florida pad. I can't say that I blame them. The holidays can be overwhelming and have been difficult for my grandparents (and all of us) since my uncle Mark's death 10 years ago. He was the "life of the party" so to speak. I love seeing my extended family and couldn't stand the thought of not seeing them this Christmas. SO, we all put our heads together and decided on Ryan's in E-town. I'm hoping we can make it a new tradition with no cooking and NO CLEAN-UP. Hooray--win, win.

Here are some fun photos from our event:

The Pogue/Deaton/Wilson/Maglinger/Mastin fellas

The Pogue Girls

Dad and Uncle Jackie. Baby Miles has fortunately survived among the STREP victims at our home. Karson and Isaac stayed behind in BG due to their illness.

Evan taking photos. It's was a photo-frenzy that evening.

My cousin Lyndi who is expecting a baby in February and looks FABULOUS, me and Brittany (my "best" cousin). I don't have any family memories that don't include Britt. From the famous Button Your Fly shirts, Barbie and the Rockers, our band WINK, selling squashed berries as nailpolish, severe burns, etc., etc., I love this girl like a sister.

My oldest cousin Lori and youngest cousin Lauren.

Family photo minus two.

Kenton (aka BEAN), Jackie and Brittany.

My grandparents came through BG earlier this month and got to visit with us.

ICE

Ice, Ice Baby
VANILLA Ice, Ice Baby

All right STOP, we went down to Nashville
Saw Grinch on Ice surrounded in Who-Ville

Wore some ugly parkas, froze our hind ends
Can't wait 'till next year so we can do it again.

Our family went to see The Grinch on ICE in Nashville yesterday. It was a freezing (9 degrees) good time!

The CREW

The Ice Slide that I couldn't resist.

Two blue Who's!



Our little papoose.

The Letter R

That's not a neon green booger on the chair, just a rubber dinosaur. I won her dress on eBay for .99 cents which didn't include shipping. I love eBay and have purchased several things on there this holiday season.

Karson had her preschool Christmas program last night. I was very proud of all the children. There's nothing easy about being on stage in front of TONS of people and singing. Most of the children had speaking parts also. Karson's class spelled out CHRISTMAS. She was the letter 'R'. R - is for the rustle of Angel wings. That was her line. Ms. Laura told me that she could quote everyone's line after hearing them one time. What can I say, the girl doesn't forget much. We filmed her (at home) after the show saying each part. My mom told me that when I was little like her, I would tell her what she forgot on the grocery list. My little girl is growing up quickly. I'm very proud of the child she is becoming each day =).

Two proud grandmothers.

A few proud uncles.

Her bff's Tucker and Kennedy.

Some boogery brothers. Isaac is sportin' his green Ninja Turtles shirt which is about 3 sizes to big. He's the pickiest child when it comes to clothes. It MUST have a character of some sort. Miles is eating two cookies at once. We had to bribe him with food to get him to go. Sitting still is not on his agenda these days.

Time for Tag

In honor of the holiday season, Dana has presented us with a new TAG.
You know the rules, so here are the questions:
What is.....
1. Your favorite Holiday Movie? Elf because "Smilin's my favorite."

2. The best Christmas present you ever received? Matt got me a Swiss Army watch a few years ago and I love it! It's endured A LOT.

3. Your favorite Santa memory? My Dad played up Santa by placing boot imprints in our fireplace and leaving jingle bells from the reindeer outside.

Do you prefer...
4. Colored or white lights? no preference, I like both. Our tree has white lights and Matt strung up colored lights outside.

5. Artificial or real tree? Real, but we have an artificial tree. Once the kids are older and can control themselves around open-water, we'll get a real tree.

6. Prelit or stringing your own lights? Pre-lit.

Do you...
7. Bake anything special for the holidays? Roll out cookies which we devoured in about two days, chocolate covered pretzels, mainly desserts in our house.

8. Put yor tree up before Thanksgiving? Saturday after Thanksgiving.

What is your...
9. Favorite Christmas food? This year my family from Louisville/Lexington is meeting in E-town (a central location for all of us) at Ryan's Steakhouse. We will celebrate Christmas five other times as a family. It's hard picking out a favorite Christmas food due to MUCHO over-eating. It's basically potluck everywhere we go.

10. Favorite festive place to go? We really don't go anywhere festive. We're thinking about ICE at Opryland this year, but Miles may be to small. We may try Beech Bend too.

11. Favorite Christmas Carol? Carol of the Bells

12. Favorite Christmas Album? BGHS Acapella Choir from "A Taste of Christmas".

I tag Larie, Melissa D., Karen and Melanie.

Santa's in Town

Ho, Ho, Ho who would know? Ho, Ho, Ho who would know-ow? Out at the mall-all, snap, snap, snap, SantaPlus made our photos just like that. We took the kids to see Santa this afternoon. Karson wanted to put on her Christmas dress for the occasion and told Santa that she wanted a teapot castle (or house that goes with her Ponyville set). It's a good thing Mrs. Claus-Deaton already purchased this coveted treasure back when Toys R Us was giving away all their free gift cards =). Isaac told Santa he wanted a T-Rex. Mrs. Claus-Deaton again translated this into Imaginext Spinosarus which, too, was purchased a few weeks ago. *He already has the T-Rex.* The kids did GREAT with Santa. I was quite surprised.

The Christmas Photos Are Here

Melissa D. took the kids Christmas photos last Monday. It's next to impossible getting a good shot of 3 kiddos at the same time, but I thought Melissa did a SUPERB job!

Matt and Debbie Celebrate

My husband and mother-in-law had birthdays this week. Debbie celebrated on Monday, and Matt celebrated yesterday. Debbie left a message for Matt on my phone yesterday beginning her sentence like this "Good morning my wonderful son...". It's a wonderful feeling knowing that you're completed loved, accepted and even tolerated by your family. I'm very fortunate having the Deaton's in my life. Their family has taught me MUCH! Matt and his parents model God each day. I like to think that our Father looks down on us each day and begins with the sentence "Good morning my wonderful children, I hope you have a blessed day".