CC and Charles's Christmas Recap

Happy News Years to my loving family. Charles and I hope you all had a very nice Christmas with your "out-laws".

Here is our recap and highlights...

Charles and I hosted Christmas Eve at our house. As part of our Christmas Eve gathering, we (Katherine, Mike, Julia, Brady, Susan, Luke, Charles and I) all attended a children's service at the Duke Chapel. Duke Chapel is a big church on Duke's campus that has a very similar look as Myer Park Methodist where we got married and where the Sumners grew up in. 3 narrators told/sang the story of Christ's birth with children dressed up as all the members of the manger. The congregation sang along all our favorite Christmas hymns. The service ended with a bag piper. Back at Dolwick Estates (our house), we feasted on snacks and egg nog as we watched DVD of The Christmas Story!



Christmas morning, we drove over to Katherine and Mike's just in time for coffee and bailey's and a big breakfast of breakfast casserole, fruit and sausage. As the kiddos napped, we opened each others gifts. The Sumners also did a gift exchange between the siblings and significant others. Charles grew Katherine's name and I had Susan's name. The day ended with dinner cooked by Mike and lots of chatting over egg nog.

Lisa drew Charles's name for the Christmas exchange. Here he is opening up his Joe Boxers, Java gift card, a java mug and a gardening journal.

Maria drew my name, so over Thanksgiving she gave me some Jammies and a Java gift card.

Katherine's pictures include the Sumner gathering in Charlotte, Christmas Eve at our house, Christmas at their house and a few pictures from Enfield (where their grandmother lives).

Cheers to everyone! Happy New Year to you. Happy 2008!

KKlub 2007 South Haven

Hello everyone,

Here is the fun from the KKlubKristmasParty at Filbrandts' in South Haven on Sunday.

It was very windy and cold so I included a shot from the car down at the beach of the icy
lighthouse.

made by brady

hey everyone this is brady

well my mom probably told you guys that i had winter formal last friday nd she told me to put some pics. up about it...

well im sure you can tell that thats me in the middle nd thats my "danceing" partner on the right shannon rease. the ones on the right are brittany nd tanner some of my other friends..

in the pic on the left this was me black on black before i went to pick my jake nd josh up to go to formal it was really fun but i wasnt ready for the picture soo i wasnt really smileing i also wasnt really liking the whole idea about taking pics all by myself..=]

well love yah

tootles

brady

Raisin' Ole Tannenbaum

Cronley Christmas Living Room

Here it is, in all its surrounding glory. We got and decorated the tree on Saturday, then finished the rest on Sunday. Dad had to put up the exterior lights in a bit of a chilly sprinkle. Nice to have it all up for you to enjoy. Pictures of the kids next to it are on the way. Make sure you click and drag in the image to see all around the house.

Ice Storm 2007, Again?

Hey everyone, just a quickee post, it's been a long time since I've posted on our family blog. Probably the last one would have been when Momma visited in August! Life's been busy, as you all know, most of it accounted for with my new job. I'm doing this post at 8:10am. Normally I'm out with my running buddies on some trail in the Ozarks. As you have guessed, I am not doing that today. The main reason is that I'm interviewing on Mon-Tues this week for the permanent dept head position at work. My interview was scheduled for Wed-Thurs but they moved it up due to inclement weather (because someone else was scheduled Mon-Tues and can't get here). So, instead of having 4 days to get ready, I have two (this weekend). So I worked all day yesterday on my notes for questions that people may ask me, as well as my presentation to the entire faculty. I called dad for some advice and we talked for an hour and a half! Here I sit again, Sunday morning getting started on revisions and new ideas for the presentation.

The other reason for this post is about weather (see the header?). We are expecting another ice storm today and tomorrow. I'm posting a couple of pictures from last January's ice storm that kept us in the dark for 14 days. This one isn't expected to last that long, but I sent Jay to Walmart this morning for supplies. Here he is from last January hauling up water from the creek so we could flush our toilets.
The other is a taken from my office window at work...isn't that amazing.




So, word of warning, we may be high and dry again for the next couple of days...and if so, then my interview will be moved to later in the week! If not, then send me positive energy Mon-Tues for my interview. Love you all. Kelly (and Jay)

Testimonials/Anniversaries/Birthdays

Hello all,
Just wanted you to check out the beautiful testimonial Boog Cronley wrote on his blog about his dad on Joe's birthday 12/2. The comments that the siblings wrote about their dad were also a great statement on the love shared for him. I hated to add to the private time by a posting but feel just reading it is a blessing. Aunt Mary's 70th birthday party was a huge get together. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall at that party.
Just had lunch with Marcia and she reported that Kelcee is pregnant with her 2nd child due in April, a girl.
Our Chaz is due for a birthday on 12/12. Hippo Birdie Two Ewe.

Tis the Season to be Merry

Hi Everyone. The picture was taken at Charles's office Christmas party at his boss's home on Saturday. We missed this party last year, because it fell on the same weekend as Lauren and Brian's wedding. They served lots of appetizers and then we had dinner.
Our weekend was jam packed with holiday events. Friday night, we went to a friend's house were she hosted a holiday dinner party. Talk about being the hostess with the mostest, she printed out and framed the menu for everyone to see. Her party will leave me with a lasting impression of the ultimate host as she grilled flank steak in a cocktail dress and heels! What a way to "man" the grill!

Sunday included more holiday festivities as I attended a complimentary Pottery Barn holiday decorating class with two friends of mine. The class was a great spark to get ideas and your mind going. Later on, Charles and I got our Christmas tree. The tree is our biggest one yet! Our manger is up, our mantel is dressed and the tree is trimmed!