Holiday Season

This is my favorite time of year. I love the holidays for lots of reasons! My passion for the holiday season must have started when I was really young because there has never been time when I did not LOVE the holidays. This year the holiday holds such a special meaning. This Christmas is the Christmas prior to my brothers deployement to Afghanstan and Wyatt's first Christmas with us as a member of the McDonald family. There are lots of traditions to bring him up to speed on!! Let the fun begin.

One of those traditions is family picutres for our Christmas cards. This year we has a very talented friend take our pictures. They turned out so good...so good I have no idea which one I want printed.

Life Changing

Wow has life changed since my Mother's Day post. Let's recap May; Jared and I celebrated Mother's Day with our moms and had a great day. June was an exciting month for the McDonald's... I got to see my Grammy, Papaw, Diddy and David. It had been way to long since we had been to Baytown and we could not have been happier to be there. We also got to see Natalie and celebrate her recent wedding.Welcome to the family Kevin. You are one lucky man. June of course came and went and the next thing we knew it was time for a vacay from work. Woohoo! We had a nice relaxing summer with a family vacation to Missouri in July. Another fantastic Morrison Family Reunion. We sure missed our other Morrison Family members but completely understood. Welcome baby Mason! We are so happy you are apart of the family.

July was a great month overall. We celebrated Jared's 29th Birthday and let me tell you every birthday I celebrate with him is so special. It's does not seem to matter what we do to celebrate, but as long as I am next to him and I feel his heart beating I am a happy camper (ultra cheesy, I know).  We headed down to Texas once again, this time to Frisco. This trip to Texas began our Life Changing adventure. Jared's work took everyone to Frisco for a work  weekend get away. We drove down on Friday and made sure we left in plenty of time to eat lunch at In and Out Burger. Jared and I love that place and we can thank Ivory and Chris Mack for that. :)  Jared and I enjoyed a nice weekend out by the pool relaxing and meeting new friends.

Sunday arrived and it was time for us to head to Pottsboro. We celebrated Jared's birthday with his parents and the niece and nephews. Nothing like homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and homemade biscuits. Oh and how could I forget, homemade coconut creme pie. Once we got done eating lunch the most amazing thing happened. Wyatt nominated Jared and I to be his legal guardians. What an honor he has bestowed upon us. I still get teary eyed thinking about  it.  We packed up the truck with Wyatt's belongs and brought him home with us. Jared and I had his room already for him. Mom, Dad and Cody were gracious enough to let us use Cody's college furniture. 

Wyatt spent several weeks playing video games during the day and attending football practice. My mom was awesome in taking him and picking up from practice. During this time Jared and I enrolled him in school and took him school shopping. Unfortunately, Wyatt is not a shopper like his aunt. On August 23rd, Jared, Wyatt and I went before the Oklahoma court system and Wyatt told the judge why he wants us to raise him. The honor and the humbleness you feel in a moment like that will leave one speechless. The judge granted us legal guardians over Wyatt.  We are now responsible for getting him through high school, football, his first car, first kiss, senior year, graduation, college, graduation from college, his career and for the rest of his life. Wyatt, Welcome to the awesome house of Jared and Kristen McDonald, we are so happy and blessed to have you here!!! We look forward to your future and your future with us.

Next thing we knew, it was Jared and I's 6 year wedding anniversary and Wyatt's 16th Birthday. We spent the day rock climbing and had a blast. We order pizza from one of our favorite pizza places and came home and watch the season opener of OU football. BOOMER! Since then life has been full of homework, freshman Monday night football games and making memories.

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day Weekend kicked off Friday afternoon at 12pm!! I took half a day off work so I could take my mom to lunch. I left work and went and picked her up. It was a beautiful day in Tulsa, perfect temperature and skies. I wanted the restaurant to be somewhere we had never been. So, I took her to The Blue Rose and we enjoyed a great atmosphere and food.  It's definitely a place we will go back too! 

On Saturday morning we woke up and went to breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast spots, First Watch. Once we were finished with breakfast the boys went there separate ways and mom and I headed to old town Jenks. We spent majority of the day antique shopping. Mom and I were on a mission find several decorative touches for my house. We lucked out and found an old early 1900's milk bottle from Pet's milk. Which by far was my favorite find of the day. Other treasures that we found that day were an old washboard, 1908 jar, an antique glass mirror and a 1924 University of Oklahoma geometry book. Jared loved this book, and it all for him.

When mom and I got home from shopping I had a beautiful present sitting on my front porch!

My brother is so thoughtful. He sent me flowers in honor of Mother's Day!! Being the mother of Chip, Chance and Louis is full time job! Not shortly after I received more beautiful flowers from my wonderful husband. Then I had the joy of taking a Saturday afternoon nap.  Round dinner time we headed to another new restaurant here in Tulsa. Waterfront Grille! It was delicious.

Next weekend we will celebrate Mother's Day with Jared's mom.  We are so excited to have her here and all the kids here for the weekend. They are coming in Saturday morning and spending the night with us. Audrey and I are going to run some arrends with Hannah and Jesse while the oldest boys, Jared and Gary will be building our new covered patio.

Other special women in our life!! Each of you hold a special place in our hearts

Family

Jared and I had such a great long weekend! One of the reason we love our jobs are the holidays! Bank holidays are the best! We were so busy this weekend, that we spent today relaxing around the house.

This President's Day weekend kicked off Friday at 4:30pm, we headed to pick up our sweet Josie Mae. After we got sweet Josie, we went and grabbed a bite of dinner. Jared and I wanted to try a new sushi restaurant. We enjoyed the sushi, but Josie has not acquired the taste for sushi...yet! However, she did enjoy her chicken lo mien.

The next morning we woke up to a sweet girl wanting to crawl in our bed and watch cartoons with Uncle Jared. So that is just what she did!

After some Spongebob Squarepants we got ready and headed to breakfast with mom and dad. We went to our Saturday breakfast spot, First Watch. Josie loved her Mickey Mouse shaped pancake. After visiting with mom and dad, we came back to the house and hung out. We watched more cartoons until it was time to go shopping with mom. Mom and I took Josie shopping for new spring clothes and cute new shoes. Mom and I decided if I ever have a little girl, that we would be in constant trouble with dad and Jared. $$$$$$  She was angel and had so much fun shopping with Mrs. Sheri.  After a busy morning of shopping and running errands we head back to the house. After a wonderful nap we headed to the park. She loves going to the park in our neighborhood. We played at the park until Uncle Jared got home.

On Sunday we woke up really early and headed down to Pottsboro for a day with the family! Josie loves riding in her Uncle Jared's truck. We caught her dancing in the back seat. And of course I had my camera ready for moments like this. I have a feeling I will be taking tons of pictures of our kid, one of these days!

The other great thing about our weekend was getting to see the other kids. We loved very minute we got to spend with them. Jared's mom and dad were really glad to see us as well. The kids were ecstatic to see us but also their sister. We walked in and it was like Hannah and Jesse had not see us in years. We walked down to the lake and spent sometime on the beach. We truly enjoyed building memories with the kids. Hope everyone enjoys the pictures we took. If I posted all of them it would be picture overload!

To us this is what family is all about...building memories and spending time together.

Happines is....

We have finally thawed out from all of the snow. So with that said, we were finally able to celebrate!! We celebrated Valentines Day on Saturday evening and babies during the day.

On Saturday, I helped host a baby shower for a dear friend. Ivory had a great turn out and shower. Baby Mack is not here yet, but already is loved by so many. See you in 9 days Baby Mack!!!



Then I headed off to another baby shower, that was hosted by my former co-workers in the Trust Tax department for another close friend. My friend Stacey will be blessed with a daughter on February 24th. Since this is her second child me and few other close friends will be hosting a sip and see after Mary Isabel arrives!! See you next Thursday, Mary Isabel!!!

For Valentines Day we celebrated Friday and Saturday. On Friday, Mom and Dad took us to our favorite restaurant RedRock. It was such a wonderful evening with the parents. Then on Saturday evening Jared treated me to a romantic dinner. We went to In The Raw, which is a sushi restaurant here in Tulsa. We had a corner table, that was somewhat nestled into a corner. From our table we had a beautiful view of downtown Tulsa. It was so beautiful with all of the lights.  It was perfect. Can ya'll believe it has already been 6 years since Jared proposed!!!!!!! Valentines Day will always be special day for me.

Jared and I are heading to Pottsboro, TEXAS on Sunday to see all of the kids. YAY!!!!!!!! We cannot wait to see them. It has been way to long, if I am not mistaken this is the longest it has been since they moved in with Gary and Audrey.  We cannot wait to celebrate Rowdy's birthday and love on all the kids. They are just to precious to Jared and I.

Blizzard 2011

February started off with a great night out. Jared and I went to a Big Brothers Big Sisters charity event. A Taste of Tulsa was amazing. Great food, great auction items and a terrific amount of money raised for deserving children. We got all gussied up for this terrific event!

So, on Sunday the weathermen began to predict the amount of snow we would receive. Needless to stay, I was skeptical to say they least.  On Sunday the grocery store was ridiculous.  I thought surely, these people really do not think we will get 12 inches of snow.  After that trip I officially decided I hate Wal-Mart. People were so rude to each other.  So the next day I attempted to go to Target after work. That was a mistake. There was no bread, milk, hot dogs or bottled water, but at least the people were nice. The lines were 10 baskets deep. Well the pictures we took tell the story! I should have believed the weathermen. 20 inches of snow is crazy!!!!


View from the front door.



View of the neighbors house.

Snow drift at the back door.

Chip loves the snow, but Chance will not have anything to do with it.

Lucy Girl

Lucy girl...you are so precious. We love you and will miss you so much. We have such wonderful memories of you. We know that you are up there with Opey Boy telling him stories of Trigger, Chance, Chip and Louis.

Adventures

Jared and I are trying to decide what our next remodel is going to be.  We know the flooring is next and maybe a bathroom. We would love to tile the whole house in a ceramic title that looks like wood floors.  I found an inspirational look that I am trying to achieve.  This chair is so perfect. I had to have this chair from the moment I saw it. Thanks to Diddy and a wonderful husband, I got it!! The look that I am in love with is a traditional modern french country look. Without the gaudy floral tassel look that seems to follow the French country style. I love grays, creams, whites, tans, browns, lime greens, turquoise, mustard orange and reds.  This chair has given me so much inspiration as far as what decor is to come!!! 




This pass week we had snowy weather!! Which I happen to love. However, I am not sure I enjoy driving on the snow or icy roads in my newer ride. My car is great and really pretty, however it is not for the snowy conditions.  Thank goodness most if not all of the snow has melted.


Jared and I have been in regular contact with Cody since he moved to Colorado. This has made the move a little easier on his sister. I found myself on Friday really homesick for my Cody! But I know that he has been busy getting settled into his new room. From what we have seen it looks really nice. His view is of the mountains, which I know are peaceful and beautiful. As soon has tells me we can come visit, Jared, mom, dad and myself will be on a plane!




As our nephews and niece get older we want them to know the importance of higher education. Jared and I have decided that with each kiddo we will take them to the 3 colleges of their choice.  Wyatt, who is our oldest nephew wants to look at Texas A&M, OU and Baylor.  We get our first experience come February 19th. We are driving to Texas this weekend to see all of the kids, but also to take Wyatt to College Station. We will be doing a campus tour, tour of the living amenities, and a tour of the School of Engineering. Wyatt's major interest is Construction Science. I will be relieing on my many visits to Aggieland as a kid and to see Cody the last 4.5 years to help us navigate one of my favorite campuses. Trust me when I say Jared will have this all planned and researched out. We both feel very blessed that we can do this for these amazing kiddos. These are the best kids we know.

 

Time Flies

Yesterday I spent the day with my husband! It seems simple and almost like any other day but it was so much more! Yesterday was Jared's 3 year anniversary from open heart surgery. January 8, 2008 is a day I will never forget. I still get really emotional thinking about that day. I feel God's blessing every night when I go to bed and listen to Jared's heart beat until I fall asleep; as well very morning when I wake up and get to see his smiling face. He maybe smiling because my hair resembles Don King's hair, but the point is he is smiling at me. I just love this man!

Later that evening we had Jared's brother and sister over for a seafood boil! It was so great to see the other Chisum siblings. We are looking forward to the next time we get together.Thank you everyone for the wonderful memories that were made!

Yesterday was just a busy day all around! I was able to see my baby brother before he moved to Colorado. As his over protective big sister,  yesterday and today have been tough!  No matter where you are Cody, I will always be here for you! It's ok Cody, sissy's here. Thank you for serving our country and our freedom.  I am proud to call you my baby brother! You are my HERO!!!

Cooking 101

This is the first time in 3 years that I do not have to work tax season!!! I am so blessed by the opportunity that position offered me, but I am also ready to stay home with my husband the first 4 months of the year. What will it be like to do nothing and relax when I get off of work. Well for this once hyperactive kid who could not sit still;  I have come to realize that nothing has changed as I turned 28.  I cannot sit still or not be doing something. Jared tells me all the time to "just to sit down and relax." But I am not sure I know how to do that!

With all this spare time, most people would relax and enjoy doing nothing. Well not this gal.  I need to find outlet. Some people sew (I cannot even sew a button back into place, Jared does that), some people scrapbook, some people are artistic and draw (I barely draw a decent looking stick figure). So I have decided that I am going to COOK.

Jared is the best husband; he bought me my very first cast iron dutch oven to support my new hobby. Mom and Grammy contributed to this new found passion with wonderful Food Network dishes, serving bowls and platters.

This passion has started from the introduction to this amazing cookbook called "The Pioneer Women Cooks." I was first introduced to this amazing cookbook by my boss and then saw the author of the book on Throw Down with Bobby Flay. Which is one of my favorite shows. She has a blog as well that I look at multiple times a week. So for this ADD adult with a new found since of time; Kitchens Beware.

My first dish that I made was homemade biscuits! I was so proud!



This is almost identical to the dutch oven that Jared got me!



My dishes!