shortage of volunteers and since neither of us has family in the area I though it would be a nice thing to do on Christma
s. Devin and I were the only ones in the nursery and between the two of us we fed all of the squirrels, bunnies, tortoises, turtles, and Devin also took all of the tortoises for walks and sharpened all of the knives in the kitchen. It was a nice but very busy way to spend the morning.In the afternoon we took Grant to the beach to enjoy the warm weather and waves. BothDevin and I had a lotof fun running Grant up and down the beach and Grant had a big smile on his face. While Grant and Devin were playing I made a s
and/snowman. There were a lot less shells on the beach than last year and it was much harder to find buttons for him. Both Grant and I were completely soaked by the time we headed home so we gave Grant a shower as soon as we got home. After the beach we took a nap and spent some time relaxing and reading.In the evening Cate and Andy came over and we played my new
Nightmare Before Christmas Jenga. Andy was really good and kept making the stack really unstable. They are both doing
very well and I w
as really interested in hearing about how grad school was going for Cate. At the end of the night we were all tuckered out and I slept really well.
couple of weeks. He gave me the rest of his presents - more clothes from Charlotte Russe - and he "unwrapped" his bicycle. We finished decorating our tree which I think tur
ned out awesome. It has white sparkling lights on the inside, colored lights on the outside, white and silver snowflake ribbon wrapped around it, silver beads draped between the layers of ribbon, and of course lots of ornaments. The tree is so tall that the snowflake tree topper is slightly crooked from hitting the ceiling. After everything was setup I made Devin and Grant pose for lots of pictures. I tried to get the rats in the picture too but they just moved too much.
a yummy rum drink. It has been a long time since I've seen the Pizza Gallery people and it was good to see them again. Devin was at the poker table most of the night dealing. I was there for 3 rounds before I lost all of my chips and went to join 
the people playing Rock Band. I am obsessed with that game. I almost want to get an Xbox 360 just so I can play Rock Band. I had tons of fun playing. They also did a white elephant gift exchange and we ended up with a MLB teddy bear. I had originally been planning on stopping just for a little bit and heading home early because I wasn't feeling that well but after I started playing Rock Band I was hooked and I didn't leave until 2am. Very nice holiday party.
rs work in the nursery with the songbirds and squirrels). I got to carry a pelican outside (which of course pooped on me) and restrain some pelicans as Heida changed the bandages on their wigs. The trick to grabbing pelicans is to wait until after they try to bite you because afterwards they can't bite again right away and you can gra
b their beak. You have to make sure their beak stays open a little bit because that's how they breathe. In addition to pelicans there were also coots, a eastern screech owl, a barred owl, some kind of duck, and terns. The terns were ready for release and at the end of my shift I got to take them to the river and set them free. It was great to see them go back into the wild.
y nice although none of them were just right. I liked a short asymmetrical dress with beading but my mom liked the dress that had a really flowing, dance-like, skirt. We also stopped at Elda's and very briefly at Aurora Unique Bridal Boutique. Dress shopping is exhausting and I wish I could find "the dress".
for our Thanksgiving feast. Devin made a turkey, sweet potato soup, roasted vegetables, squash rolls, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, french silk pie, apple pie, and pecan pie. I made the veggie/fruit platter, a gingerbread cake, and I helped my mom make nadifka (czeck version of stuffing). Dinner and dessert were absolutely delicious and I was stuffed. After the dishes were done we went for a nice walk to work o
ff some Thanksgiving dinner calories. After it got dark me, Devin, Mom, Dad, and Devin's dad drove through the Space Coast Lights Festival and then picked out a Christmas tree. Devin's dad spotted the perfect tree with really full branches. I am so happy and thankful to have my family together.