Happy New Year

Wishing all my friends and family a wonderful and Happy New Year!

 Today, my family and I went to Sky Meadows State Park in Virginia.  It was in the 50's and was a beautiful sunny day, so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and get out of the house!   We also thought it would be fun to play with our new camera.  I snapped a few shots to share with all of you!

 This was an old house that was next to the visitor center. 

 As we drove into the park this is what it looked like.

 We passed a small stream.

 As the sun was beginning to set I snapped a pic.

 Here is Kailey.  The younger two really didn't want anything to do with getting their pictures taken. lol!

 We also went to Bluemont Va which is GORGEOUS!!  Lots of pretty estate homes on super large lots with rolling hills and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance.

 Kailey and Kourtney

We stopped off at Foster's Grill for a nice, warm, and juicy burger.  We looked up near the cash register and found the below picture amusing. lol! ;)

Have a wonderful and Happy New Year! 
Goodbye 2010 and WELCOME 2011!!

XOXO ~Liz

Santa "caught" on the view finder!

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!

 This is the picture that we saw in the camera view finder Christmas morning. We had a special motion sensor hooked up to the camera. Apparently, Santa is able to break down his molecular structure which allows him to move so fast and fit through anything.  Our Girl's went CRAZY when they saw the picture above ;)

 Christmas morning was a yummy breakfast.  I found a "cloned" recipe for Cracker Barrel's potato and cheese casserole, and also made an Ortega Egg/Cheese Casserole.  It was so yummy!

 I put jalapeno on a small portion and left the rest for the kids.

 The kids enjoyed playing with their new toys. 

And Kailey kept her feet nice and toasty warm in her new slippers! =)

 The dolls hung out and told stories from Christmas past. ;)

 We stayed indoors all day, and I got my Christmas wish....snow!  Dinner was a delicious - Prime Rib.  We took horse radish, olive oil, garlic, Herbs de Provence, and Cajun seasoning and made a rub for the top of the prime rib.

 My hubby took care of the prime rib and I did all the fixings. 

 We had a spring salad with balsamic vinaigrette, fresh green beans, Yorkshire pudding, and potato's.  The prime rib was out of this word!!

We had a glass of red wine with dinner and the kids had sparkling apple cider.  It was a wonderful day. 

I can't believe Christmas is over.  I knew how much work was ahead of me in taking it all down, so I got  busy and boxed everything up yesterday.  Sniff, sniff!!  I REALLY miss my trees, the glimmer and sparkle of lights at night, but it had to be done.  If I didn't get it done, it would feel like a big black cloud hanging over my head and I want to enjoy the rest of the week with my family without stressing over Christmas decor and boxes.  Are any of you the same way?  My house looks NAKED and I always have trouble remembering how I had my house decorated before fall, Halloween, and Christmas.  Thank goodness for my blog, so I can go back and see how I decorated before the holidays rolled in.

I have a question for all of you...how do you decorate after the holidays?  Do you go back to the way things were decorated before, do you embark on a shopping spree to bring new things in, or do you have a winter theme you go with?

I feel like I've lost my touch.  I tried decorating and changing things around yesterday, but wasn't satisfied with the end result. Do any of you feel this way after the holidays?

Well, my next post will be to show you some decor items I got for Christmas.  My hubby shopped at HomeGoods and got me some cute things.

More to come...

XOXO ~Liz

Merry Christmas

~*Merry Christmas*~

 To all my dear friends in blogland, may you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!  I appreciate each and every one of you and thank you for your friendship this last year.  This was my first year blogging and it was so much fun! 

 My girl's are so excited for Santa's arrival.  I keep finding each of them sitting beside the tree trying to guess what is in each box. ;) lol!

 We did a little baking this morning!!  The girl's love wearing the aprons.

 Tonight we are going to have Pork Loin for dinner with all the fixings and pie for dessert.  For Christmas dinner we are going to be having Prime Rib...yum!! Tonight we will get in our jammies early, put the fireplace on, and watch Christmas movies together. I can't wait!

Come back and visit me after the new year.  I will be painting some rooms in my house...change is on the way!! =)  Enjoy the holidays! Lots of ((Hugs)) & Love, Liz

Northern Virginia Homes

It's Monday, and I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! Northern Virginia has some of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen.  I love the look of Traditional homes and wanted to share some gorgeous pictures of homes decked out for the holidays.  Come and join me on a tour...just pictures today!

Can you see the little doggy through the front door?

 On another note, I finally got my new camera....thanks Dad!!  I LOVE IT!!! We got the Canon EOS 60D.  I used this camera to take all the above pictures and I have A LOT to learn.  Do any of you have this camera, and if so, how do you like it? 

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO ~Liz