Christmas time pretty baby

Well another Christmas has come and gone and this year it really snuck up on us. It is our first Christmas together in California and it turned out to be a pretty good one. To get into the holiday spirit I decided to spend a Saturday morning baking different types of cookies for our neighbors and some friends and family that live close by. I tried to trick everyone into thinking that I am super crafty (because I actually really wish I was :) Kevin's contribution that day was getting our Christmas tree and hanging lights up on the outside of our apartment.

Ever since Kevin and I were dating we have created our own little tradition of watching "It's a wonderful Life" on Christmas eve and opening up one of our presents. This year along with that, kevin took me to Naples Island to look at all the Christmas lights. Apparently this neighborhood is known for their decorating. There were even people handing out hot chocolate! It was a lot of fun and I tried to take some pictures but a lot of them didn't turn out.

On Christmas morning all of Kevin's family met up at his parents house. We had a wonderful meal together and just enjoyed eachothers company. I can't believe I didn't take one picture over there :( I hope everyone had a great Christmas that found you surrounded by family and stuffed with good food!

My Dinga

Some of you may know that I recently lost a good friend of mine to suicide. Sometimes I still have to be reminded that he isn't here. You just never think that this is something you will ever have to deal with. Feeling as shaken as I do, I realized that I don't know how I would feel if I were his mother or sister or any family member for that matter. How are they going to get through this? So...I gathered up every letter that Deane ever wrote me and every picture I could find with him in it and I made them a scrapbook (I wish I had a picture of it). I spoke with his poor mother on the phone yesterday and it broke my heart. She has lost her baby. She thanked me for the book and said it really helped out. I thought maybe some of you who knew deane might want to write his family as well, but just didn't know their address. So here it is if you want to send them a card or something.
The Blakeslees
8126 Wesley
Boise, Idaho 83704

Deane,
I remember the first day I met you. From the first bite of your giant sandwich I knew we were going to be good friends. I will always remember our little inside jokes and the way you could make anyone laugh. I will miss your dancing and singing and your goofy rubber chicken tie. I just hope that you know just how much your friendship means to me and that I love you. I know you are looking down at all of us dressed in your cargo shorts, baseball cap and your bright yellow t-shirt.

Love Always,
Heather*

And so it begins....

Hello family, Hello friends...I have decided that the shaw family should participate in the world of blogging. Now that I live SOOO far away from my family I thought maybe this is a way that I can keep everyone updated as to what we have been up to. I thought I would start off by sharing what we did for our year anniversary. I can't believe it has already been a year. It went by so fast. We had a lot of changes. We moved to California, started new jobs, made some new friends (and caught up with some old ones), etc. etc. etc. To celebrate our one year mark we went to Las Vegas. On our way we stopped and ate at Bob's Big Boy. If you are from the south like me you probably haven't ever seen one of these restaurants. I only recognize "Bob" because I happened to watch Austin Powers one to many times and saw Dr. evil fly away in a rocket that looks like him :) When I saw the worlds tallest digital thermometer I just HAD to take a picture by it. The

main attraction of going Vegas for me was going to see the "LOVE" show. It is a cirque du soliel show that is performed to nothing but Beatles

songs. I LOVED IT!!! It was visually stimulating and for anyone who is a Beatles fan it is a real treat. Overall it was a great trip and if what they

say about the first year of marriage being the hardest I think this next year

will be a breeze.