Baby Max is here!

As some of you may know, my step sister Samantha was due on Christmas Day to have her second child. I'm proud to report that baby Maximus James Shoffner arrived on December 26, 2007 at 3:16 a.m. and weighs a whopping 9 lbs and 5 ounces! He's 21 inches long. Sam just sent me these adorable pictures that I just had to share! My new little nephew is SO CUTE! I can't wait to meet him. Sam and little Max are doing great, despite an emergency c-section! Congratulations Sam and Mann!

What a little chub!

Fine Holiday Fun at the Thomas House

Emily T challenged me to this little Christmas traditions questionnaire so here goes. If you're reading this, you should do one too!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? definitely bags (They have to match the tree though, if they don't then I go with paper)

2. Real or Artificial Tree? Artificial, I'm afraid that I'd let a real one die before Christmas day.

3. When do you put up the tree? Week after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? Around the first week in Jan. Sometimes the second depending on how lazy I am feeling :)

5. Do you like egg nog? Yes, I like the low fat kind mixed with milk and nutmeg

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Anything associated with Barbie

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes

8. Hardest person to buy for? My mom! She has everything!

9. Easiest person to buy for? Me!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, and I love the Christmas cards with pictures!

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A lump of coal. J/k. I think I've liked everything.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? I have two... Elf and Christmas Vacation

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? November

14. Have you ever re-gifted a Christmas present? Absolutely

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Honey Baked Ham

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Either. I've never really travelled for
Christmas but it sounds like it might be fun!

19. Can you name all of Santa's rein deers? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen , Rudolph! Ha! I'm good huh!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning!

22. Worst thing about this time of year? The month can almost be too jammed packed and then I am unable to focus on what is truly important.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I LOVED my tree this year! It was so pretty with all the multi- colored ornaments and white lights. It looked like a party! I almost don't want to take it down!

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Honey Baked Ham, Turkey, an assortment of casseroles and desserts of coarse!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A baby!

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Everyone I hope!

27. Who is least likely to respond to this? My mom! She never looks at my blog!

28. Going to Midnight Mass? Nope, not my religion, I will be going to church at the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

29. One Christmas tradition? Opening one gift on Christmas Eve and going to my aunt Sheila's awesome Christmas Eve party. She always has the BEST holiday food! I look forward to it every year!

The Dance

I was asked a little over a month ago to do a ballet overture for a play that a lady in my church wrote and produced. As many of you may know, I did take ballet back in the day when I was at BYU and younger but I haven't done any type of dance in the last 3 years! She went on to say that she wanted John to be a part of this dance, John having never danced a day in his life! ha-ha! I hesitantly accepted and quickly enrolled in a ballet class to get back in to shape (the best that I could in a little over a month anyway!)
Thursday night was our first performance and we had one more performance on Saturday night. I'm definitely glad it's over and I think I'll retire the ballet shoes after this! I'm almost 26 years old, I'm getting old! Anyway, here are a few pictures that were snapped of the event in case you are dying to see!









A little earlier that day, we picked up Robert, John's brother who just got in town and will be with us for Christmas. John's parent's and sister are coming next week and we will be having Christmas at our house. I'm excited for everyone to come! Nelson, Marlene, and Emily, here's a little preview of what you can expect when you come. Here's a picture of John and Robert being goofy. I couldn't resist posting this one!

I Am Legend

John and I just saw I Am Legend, the new Will Smith movie. We really liked it! It was sooooooooooo intense, sensational, and utterly frightening! Will Smith was brilliant in the movie! I'm anxious to here what others think about it. It's received mixed reviews. I've read a few of them and I think this one from CNN was pretty fair.

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/13/rev.legend

If you love action packed thrillers that have you on the edge of your seat the whole time, you'll love it! I dont recommend this movie to those who have high blood pressure or heart problems because it was pretty terrifying! Despite all this, I really liked it! I think Will Smith is a fantastic actor! Has anyone else seen it? If so, what did you think?

Insomnia

Well, it's the middle of the night and I am WIDE AWAKE! This is very unusual for me as many of you know, I sleep like a baby every night but tonight, I woke up with a nagging headache (probably sinus) that wouldn't go away. The only pain reliever we had in the house was Excedrin, which is loaded with caffeine. So needless to say, I'm wired! But at least I don't have a headache anymore. I've been up for about an hour and a half, and have caught up on my emails from work and have made comments on just about everyones blog! So now you know why I've been making comments on your blog at 3am!

Anyway, last night we had our Elegant Dinner enrichment activity at church which we have every December where all the ladies can set up a table with their fine china and we eat a delicious dinner and watch a play put on by members of our ward. It was a lot of fun and oh so elegant! I set up a table with our wedding china since we've finally accumulated 6 place settings! Here are a few pictures that I took...

A Winter Wonderland


My table


My friend Sarah


Me and my hubbie, who was a server in the buffet line last night along with several other men. Shouldn't it be like that every night!


Me and Daisy with our matching skirts! That was unplanned in case you were wondering

The Nutcracker

Isn't it funny how after you get married, you rarely go on dates anymore! That's how it's been with us anyway, but last night, we went on a date to a really nice restaurant in Jacksonville called the Wine Cellar and then we went to see the Nutcracker. It was so much fun! I absolutely LOVE the Nutcracker and I haven't seen it since I was 17! I had to twist John's arm a little because the Ballet isn't his favorite thing to watch but I told him that this can be my Christmas present from him. That did the trick! Here are some pictures from our date night, as well as some pictures I found of the Nutcracker ballet. If you haven't seen it, I'd definitely recommend it! Great holiday fun!

Families can be together forever

This past weekend, Daisy, one of my really good friends was sealed to her husband in the Orlando Florida Temple of our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In our church, when we are married in the Temple, we are sealed together for time and all eternity. What a wonderful day it was for Daisy and her family! Their five year old daughter Romy was also sealed to her parents that day. It was so sweet! There wasn't a dry eye in the room! I just love going to Temple weddings, especially ones in the Orlando Temple because it brings back so many wonderful memories of my wedding day.
I was able to escort Daisy through the Temple her first time through and it was such an honor for me to do that. Here are a few pictures from their special day...

The tree

This year has been all about change for me so I decided that I am going to change the theme of my Christmas tree this year from formal (what it was last year) to multi colored and fun! My cousin Kristin and I went shopping for new ornaments and worked on my tree last night til like 2 a.m.! What a great cousin huh! Thanks Kristin! Well, here is the finished product. It reminds me of a party! Maybe I'll have to have one now...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I can't believe it's almost December! Christmas is right around the corner so I decided to change up the blog a little for the holidays. Next step is to decorate my house!

Thanksgiving in Tennessee

We just got back late last night from our Thanksgiving vacation in Tennessee. I'm a little hoarse today from belting out songs from Sarah McLaughlin unplugged during our 9 hour drive back to Florida but it was a lot of fun! Especially for John, he just loves listening to me sing!
We had a great time in Tennessee with John's parents and it was so nice to see the beautiful fall leaves and feel the crisp fall air that we rarely have in Florida. While we were there, we went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which is about two hours away from Knoxville. It was so much fun to walk around the cute little shops and charming restaurants. It was really nice to visit with John's family, eat delicious food and watch good movies and marathons of I love Lucy, one of my all time favorite shows! What a cozy Thanksgiving holiday we had! Thanks Marlene and Nelson for showing us such a good time! Here are a few pictures that we took from our trip.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're off to Knoxville, Tennessee tomorrow for Thanksgiving with John's parents. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday full of good food and even better company! Don't forget to feed your pets a special treat too!

And I just realized that Emily tagged me like a week ago, so now I am supposed to share 6 facts/ habits about myself. Here goes....
6 facts/habits about me:

1. Embarrassing Fact: I cried last night while watching the season finale of the Bachelor! Poor little Jenni! And poor Deanna for that matter. He didn't choose either one!!! What kind of crazy is he???

2. Fact: I LOVE baking heart shaped cakes for my husband who thinks I'm a great cook! (Even though I'm not!)

3. Fact: I love my dog Molly.

4. Fact: My favorite holiday movie is Elf. That movie just keeps getting funnier every time I see it! Will Ferrell is so hilarious! Fine holiday fun!

5. Habit: Without fail, I hit the snooze button at least three times every morning. This drives my husband crazy! I would lay in bed til 10 am if I could!

6. Habit: I have a tendency to be a little on the late side sometimes. My concept of time is definitely what we might call a "development opportunity".


So there you have it! Now I tag anyone who would like to share 6 fact/ habits about themselves with the world!

Black and white wedding photos

I've been meaning to post these for a really long time now! Better late than never right! Enjoy!

Tribute to the "402 Girls"

This post goes out to Emily, Sarah, Michelle, Lisa, and Nicole- The best college roommates EVER!

Before the husbands, children, and "real jobs" came along, these crazy college girls spent their days laughing, watching old episodes of Friends, and getting into trouble! Oh how I loved the days of midnight Maverick runs, end of finals week breakfasts at IHOP, Woody's Fry Night, hanging out with "the boys" (Sam, Andy, Biehl, and Woody), our Vegas trips, Mill Hollow ice cream, intramural tennis, leaving Taco Time with empanada sugar on Sarah's ear (and Charlie brushing it off for her an hour later ha-ha!), shooting clay pigeons with Woody, $1 roller skating, snowboarding class, and most importantly, seeing my best friends every day!

I love and miss you guys! Let's get together for another reunion soon!
Love, Linds- your crazy old roommate that would leave half drank glasses of water everywhere in the house and was always the first to fall asleep watching a movie on the couch.

Football fun in the snow



Halloween



The night we stole the boys Play Station game



Vegas trip



Easter basket from Sam- Ben & Jerry's for all!

Boating and the zoo

This weekend, our friends Russell and Julie took us out on their boat. It was tons of fun! We cruised around the St. John's river and saw about 15 or 20 dolphins! We boated across the river and ended up docking at the zoo. The zoo was decorated really cute for Halloween! There were pumpkins everywhere and they even dressed up some of the animals (see pictures below). I haven't been to the zoo since I was like 5 years old! Russell and Julie's adorable and extremely well behaved kids were with us and a good time was had by all. We saw Jaguars, monkeys, apes, and we got really close to this enormous gorilla! So of coarse I took pictures...