house update

We have been away for over a week and went to the house this afternoon for the first time in a while. Let me just say how excited I was when we pulled onto our street. When I envisioned how I wanted our house to look, I can honestly say that it (so far) has exceeded my expectations. It is going to be a beautiful house. The bricks, the rub under the porch, the design on the porch, and the brick inside are absolutely beautiful....and our trim carpenter is doing a great job with all my many requests:) These past few weeks have been stressful for me hoping that everything would look right. I am so pleased and thankful for everyone who has helped us on this journey. I know we still have more decisions to make, but I can at least put the stress of what has been done behind me knowing that it is just like we wanted.
standing in kitchenstill working on fireplace in keeping

cubbies in hallway from garageliving room fireplacefoyerlaundry room

jack-n-jill bathroomgarageofficemaster closet

Christmas Eve in Water Valley

We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house in Water Valley. After going to the candlelight service at church, we went back to mom and dad's for hot chocolate and some gift giving. It was strange me being the only "Caulfield child" this year. Barry is still in Iraq and Lloyd couldn't get off work since ski season is at its busiest during Christmas. Me-Mama and my cousin Jeannie came over too:) We also spent some of the night watching It's a Wonderful Life and Rob's favorite, A Christmas Story. so apparently I had the sizes off when I bought these coveralls for my dad:(

Cute Cohen

Rob and I went to see my dear friend Kelley and her son Cohen on Christmas Eve in Water Valley. They were getting ready for their candlelight service so we had to cut our visit short. Cohen is so darn cute and has grown so much since I saw him last!! He showed us his toys and demonstrated his jumping skills on his new trampoline. It was so great to see Ron and Kelley and little Cohen! We love y'all!

more house pics!

almost there

back of house looking into dining room, butler pantry, and kitchen

the amazing SHOE wall!!!

feet on vanity in guest bathroom (aren't they cute?)

jack-n-jill bathroom

bricks!!

The house is finally starting to look like a home! About 10 workers starting bricking yesterday and this is where they were about 1 pm today. I think it is looking great! I was kinda worried about it...picking the brick was tough. The brick on the outside of the house is a new brick called "Old Town". We are having some interior brick inside the house on the fireplaces and arches and it is OLD! I am nervous about how it will look. It is old brick from buildings in St. Louis. Isn't that the coolest. I actually didn't even realize it was St. Louis brick until I paid for them and the man told me. I thought that was neat since Rob is such a fan of St. Louis! I also have some pics of the crown moulding that I selected. I am going back out tomorrow and will update the pictures then.

Christmas party

Rob and I have been very busy this holiday season. Between work and house stuff, I don't know how we have managed to attend several Christmas parties..but we have. Thursday night we went to Carol Anne and Daniel's house and had a great time. I am so blessed to have my best friends in Jackson...we always have the best time together.

Thanksgiving

We were very busy during the week of Thanksgiving. We had already made plans to attend Rob's great-grandmother's 100th birthday party in Missouri, so we decided to make a vacation out of it. I had the whole week of Thanksgiving off of work, and Rob just had to take off a few days. On Tuesday, we left Jackson on our way to Branson, MO. We left after Rob got off work, so we stopped in Little Rock that night so we could break up the drive. Rob's parents met us in Little Rock on Wednesday morning and we followed each other the rest of the way. We had a good time in Branson. As soon as we arrived, we went to a dinner show called the Cowboy Christmas. Afterwards we took a drive through the Trail of Lights. It was amazing all the work that is put into it. I have never seen so many Christmas decorations. We spend Thanksgiving Day just exploring Branson. We went to the Titantic museum...which was really good! That night we went to the Dixie Stampede. This is a dinner show that was started by Dolly Parton. Rob and I actually went to the one that 's in Pigeon Forge, TN last year when we celebrated our first anniversary. It was really neat, so we wanted Rob's parents to get to see it. When we saw that Branson had one too, we decided to get tickets. On Friday, we packed up the cars and drove to Lake of the Ozark, MO. This is where the birthday celebration was held. I had a great time meeting many Hembrees. The party was a surprise to Rob's great-grandmother, which can never be good if you are turning 100...but it turned out great and was very sweet. The Hembrees have a wonderful family with such a rich Christian heritage and I'm so proud to be a part of it!

The City of New Orleans

The week before Thanksgiving, I took my first trip on the Amtrak! I went with some co-workers to New Orleans for the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association's annual conference. We probably spent more time walking around Jackson Square, shopping, and finding great places to eat than actually attending our meetings:) It was fun!

Amelia turns 2

I am a little behind on my posts. These pictures are from sweet Amelia's 2nd birthday party that was a few weeks ago. We had lots of fun! As you may can tell, Valerie is pregnant again and we are getting really excited about having another member in our "family".