Merry Christmas 2011

Okay, I want you to close your eyes, and imagine that this is December 25th.  Because I promise I had every intention of posting this on that day :)... but you know how it goes, this wonderful life sometimes gets in the way.  And I'm so very happy it does.



Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!  Wishing you joy, hope and love on this toasty, Christmas morning!  And while we're at it, Happy New Year!!!!!

Love,
Heather, Nicholas and Bowden

Christmas Card 2011

He's Here!!!

He's here!!!  My bestie had her baby!!!!!!  And I am just one ecstatic Auntie!  (okay, well he really arrived December 14th, but I'm trying to hurry up and blog everything in order before the new year rolls around.  Plus, I'm still just as excited as the day he arrived!)

Let me just tell you, I swear this is the cutest, tiniest, most precious little baby boy I've EVER seen!  He melts my heart EVERY time I see him.  And I'm already trying to spoil this little cutie the best I can.  I have to live up to my Auntie duties, you know.

So let me introduce you...  This is  Carter Michael...

This is when we visited little Carter at the hospital.  I fell in love right then and there.  He was a whopping 6lbs 8oz!

Getting to love on him when he arrived home.

 Christine's boys.  Colt is the sweetest puppy around him.

Haley's Graduation

As I'm typing this, my parents are helping my sister unload the u-haul truck in Florence, Alabama, Haley's new place of residence.  We now have a Physician Assistant in the family!!  And we've got to get her settled just in time for her to start her 1st job as a PA in January.  

Earlier this December, we made the trip up to Birmingham to celebrate Haley's graduation.  It was such a great and needed mini-vaca with the family!  Although we did get lost... quite a bit in fact, we were still able to do some sightseeing around town before Haley's big event.

Hiking up to Vulcan Park 

 The McLaughlin's (Please forgive my car-hair!)

 The Bishop's

 Haley and I with the Grandparent's

After running around town, enjoying our family time together (AKA getting lost!), we went back to the hotel to get prettified, just in time for Haley's graduation.  Haley's class only consisted of about 40 students, so instead of the typical pomp and circumstance kind of ceremony, they opted to have an intimate dinner.  I LOVED it!  It was so much more meaningful to sit around the table with your family and listen to the different Professors and speakers (one being Haley, woot woot!), than to go to the civic center and barely even see your family member.  It was really special.  

 Haley definitely surprised us when she walked up on stage to speak.  She even made me tear up a bit.  

I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of my sister.  She is one determined girl.  She followed her dream of becoming a PA and she got it!  She has a huge heart, and she is going to touch so many lives doing what she loves.  Plus she's got a nurse-sister, so I just know she's going to be sweet to all of the nurses she works with, right, Haley?!!

We are so, so proud of you, and I can't wait to come work with you some day!  ;)

The Tree

We found it!  We found the most perfectly shaped, fresh and green, strong scented, marvelous in every way, Bishop Family Christmas Tree!  And it probably only took a whopping 30 minutes this year.  I think that's a new Bishop record!

We carefully drove it home, with the majority of it sticking out of our tiny trunk.  We unwrapped it from the plastic wrapping, and I swear, a light shone down on it as the branches fell into place, and you could hear the angels singing joyfully.  It was that pretty. :)   Nic, being the manly-man that he is, put it in the tree stand all by himself, and we went to decorating.  Boy, it makes me giddy just looking at it!  Have I mentioned that I love Christmas?!  And cute little Bowden, well, let's just say he's adjusting to the new living object in the center of the room just fine.  He does try to bite a branch off every now and then, but he hasn't touched the ornaments yet, so we're in good shape.

It's beginning to look like Christmas in the Bishop household!

Lowe's has never let us down with their trees!

"How about this one, babe?"

We found it!

The Bishop Family Christmas Tree 2011

And because decorating the tree is one of the highlights of my year, Nic put this little video together (video idea from another blog I follow, So Shay)  so that you can share the magical experience with us!  (am I sounding cheesy yet?  good!)

Mt. Dora Wedding Weekend

Last weekend we celebrated the marriage of Nic's best friend Chuck to his bride, Hollie.  Since it was out of town we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it.  Let me tell you, it was so needed and so relaxing.

We left town after my shift on Wednesday night and headed to Lakeland to visit with my Grandparents.  We went shopping, caught up with our family and just chilled (which was necessary for Nic and I).  But my favorite part of our time with them was going to the theater.  Seriously, not much is better than good musicals, right?  Well, it did get better because it was a Christmas play!!  Oh how I love Christmas music... plus, they had fake snow... score!  So we kicked off the Christmas season before Thanksgiving, just the way I like it!

After a couple of days in Lakeland we travelled to the cute little town of Mt. Dora for the wedding festivities to begin.  Seriously Mt. Dora is adorable!  We checked in to the Historic Lakeside Inn.  It was such a cozy Inn overlooking the lake and just a few steps away from all the antique stores, restaurants and most importantly, the ice cream shop!

Hollie and Chuck are a beautiful couple, and they really had a gorgeous wedding.  I believe it was the first wedding Nic and I attended as an old married couple ourselves, and it made the weekend so much more romantic and sweet.  And if you know me well, you know that I ADORE anything and everything about a wedding.  I love the flowers, the food, the dresses, the love story, the families and THE DETAILS!!!  So without further adieu... the details...

The Trolley picked us up from the hotel and brought us to the church and then to the reception.  Such a convenience for us "out of towners."  And Chuck made the Trolley signs.  I was pretty impressed.  

The Garden Gate Tea Room, where the reception was held.  Such a cool, unique venue!

Cocktail hour in the courtyard.

 Shabby-chic?  I think yes!

 One of my favorite "details" was the typewriter.  Instead of using the traditional guestbook, they had an antique typewriter set up for the guests to type a message to the bride and groom.  Then you placed your message in the basket of the bicycle.  

 The seating chart.

 Instead of a grooms cake, Chuck wanted a candy bar!  And believe me we stocked up on some goodies!

Beautiful music, very long hair.  :)

A gorgeous wedding cake, and it had lights in it.  How cool! 

 Wedding favors were tea bags.  So original and went perfectly with the venue.

 The Reed's!!

Congrats, Hollie and Chuck!!!  It was a beautiful day and we were honored to celebrate with you!