NOT A SUSHI FAN...

I am so sorry to those of you who love Sushi but it is NOT FOR ME. After Ted's family get together we decided to make our way to Melissa and Chris' house one more time to hang out. We wanted to down load a few TV shows onto my new IPOD and while we were downloading onto ITUNES.... we decided... let's get some dinner. So Melissa and Chris wanted us to try our first ever Sushi. THEY LOVE SUSHI. So, we said SURE!

Melissa ... knowing the blogger that I am said "Let's go eat Sushi and you can blog about." She knows how to get me to eat RAW FISH. Just kidding... we ate the cooked stuff but it all taste like SUSHI to me.

TOKYO... this is where we went in Beaumont, Tx

Is this what we are suppose to do with these sticks? I think I smell raw fish.

Ain't they cute? Meet Melissa and Chris.

TNT... waiting on that Sushi.

I asked, "What about the kids?" to Melissa and her and Chris said "Oh, our kids LOVE sushi"... and the Ancelet kids.... NO WAY. They took one bite and were gagging.

This kid is STINKIN' CUTE! Zane had me at HELLO... well, he doesn't say hello but you get my point.

First taste.... So what do you think??

I had the California roll, the Crunch roll and the Hawaiian roll... and they all got the same rating. But the best of the 3 was the Crunch roll. Wouldn't you know it would take Sushi to be fried for me to like it.

Heading to Texas...

We stayed the night with Ted's parents (see post below) and then headed to Texas (about a two hour trip) to see Ted's sisters. We had a great time at Nanny Beck and Uncle Tommy's house. Nanny Gwen lives two doors down so being at Becky and Tommy's is like being at Gwen's too. Which is great!

The first night we were there we had a great dinner (Italian). Then I went to visit with my best friend, Melissa. We've been friends since Junior High. So... we figured it's been 20 years that we've been friends. WE ARE OLD. I visited with her and her husband Chris and got to see their three beautiful children.. Chloe, Zoe and Zane.

The next day Ted and I got the day OFF! The kids spent the day with their Nanny Beck and Nanny Gwen. They went to the dollar store, to McDonalds, and bowling. How much fun in one day. THEN, they came back and had fried chicken and watched Shrek 3.

Ted and I got to hang out all day. We had lunch with Chris and Melissa (all of our kids were not with us... so it was like a double date). We ate at Chili's. Then Ted and I went to the mall (where we met... haha... it really is where we met. We met at Central Mall. We both worked there in 1992.) That evening we ate dinner with a precious couple... Newly and Carrie Hunt. I met Carrie in college but then we started talking through e-mail because we had something in common... both Carrie and I are the same age and both lost our parents in our 20's. We have just kept up through this bond that brought us together. It was so fun to be with her and her husband. After dinner, we went back to Tommy and Becky's and watched a movie with the kids.

On Saturday we had a family get together. Lots of Ted's extended relatives came over for lunch. We had a Mexican themed lunch for Christmas. GOOD FOOD! It was so good to see everyone. Some people we had not seen in many many years!

Beloved Nanny Beck.

WORLD'S GREATEST AUNTS!

Bowling with Nanny Beck.

Nanny Gwen won the game and Avery came in second.

Aidan at the bowling alley.

This bowling alley is connected to the BINGO HALL (it's closed now) that I worked at my Jr and Senior year of high school. It was my first job and it's funny because I sometimes have dreams that I am working there again. NIGHTMARES! just kidding... it was a great job.

My precious friend of 20 years.... MELISSA!

Chris... Melissa's husband with two of her three kids... Zoe and Zane.

NEW POSTS... MORE TO COME

I did several new posts tonight from Christmas and I'm not done :-) I will finish tomorrow... Thanks for visiting our BLOG! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Off to Mawmaw and Pawpaw's House

We drove the day after Christmas to see Ted's parents. We got to Louisiana about 7:30pm... after being in the car for 12 hours. It was a good trip though. Our kids are TROOPERS! We were SO THANKFUL for the DVD player and I was thankful for my IPOD and my 11 episodes of the Office... I LAUGHED REALLY HARD!

Ted and I took turns driving. He did most of it though. We only stopped for "pit stops"... that was it and we barely did that. Our kids have amazing bladders! haha.

We got to Ted's parents and enjoyed a bowl of gumbo... MY FAVORITE! It was SOOOO GOOD!

As soon as the kids got their PJ's on they were told they could open their presents from Mawmaw and Pawpaw... so they were EXCITED!

Aidan was so pumped about this gift. It's a Spider Man web shooter DELUXE.

Avery got a Little's Pet Shop Play House.

Avery loves craft time... this should last her a while!

Princess Addie got some dress up stuff to add to her collection which is great because she didn't have any of the things Mawmaw picked up for her.

Addie got a Cabbage Patch kid. She of course is calling it baby Abel. SO SWEET. She is so in the "little mommy" phase in life right now. She loves her baby dolls.

This is the blanket we gave Ted's mom and dad. We also made them a picture calendar for the year with pictures of the grandkids.

Christmas Dinner

So... traditions we are still building in the Ancelet household!!! One that we never have done the same in all our years here in Knoxville (or before that even) is where we go on Christmas day. We celebrate with whoever is willing :-) (or invites us!). This year, we had the Randall family over for Christmas dinner. What a relaxing EVENING! We had a steak dinner (grilled by none other than Ted!). Christy brought over some DELISH sides and we enjoyed a GREAT DINNER.

The Randalls have 5 kids. Their girls are one year older and one year (almost) younger than Avery. Aidan and Bruce are a year apart. Molly and Addie are a year apart ... and then they have sweet Sammy... He's the baby I am always HOGGING (I got to hold him for 2 HOURS while he napped). He is just a few months older than Abel :-)

For those of you who have not experienced Ted's grillin'... IT IS GOOD! (I can brag... I'm his wife!). But please, let us have you over to grill. It's a treat for us and for whoever comes over (haha!.. no pressure right Ted???)

Bruce (holding Sammy) and Ted .... bring on the GRUB!

Aunt Charli (aka Charlotte) came over later in the evening bearing gifts.

I didn't get a picture of Charlotte but here are the kids waiting to tear into their gifts.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

I didn't take pictures of the kids opening their gifts but here the gifts are all set out for them to open on Christmas morning. It looks like Aidan got the loot there in the middle but the box had these HUGE dinosaurs in it....(thanks Traci :-) They were all pretty equal and all pretty pumped when they opened them. It was such a sweet morning! Our kids waited so patiently until everyone was up and then they tore into them. We had such a relaxing morning.

Ted and his mom got me an IPOD for Christmas (THANKS!). So I got to figure out exactly what I wanted to go onto my IPOD... We had the best time just sitting around the living room enjoying FAMILY!!

Christmas with the Cruzes

The past 5 Christmas Eves we've gone to Granny and Papaw Cruze's house. They are so sweet to include us in their family tradition of Christmas Eve. WE LOVE being with their family. We laugh a lot, eat yummy food, open presents and this year... WE EVEN DID SOME PUSH UPS. Last year they started a contest to see what guy/girl couple could do the most push ups. Well, this year, Ted and I entered the contest. I SHOULD HAVE PRACTICED. I thought... surely I can do some push ups... A PUSH UP IS HARD!!! I did 13 and the only reason is because I had an audience of a LOT of people. BUT MY STUD OF A HUSBAND DID 81. We didn't beat Charlotte and Kyle though. They were the winners again this year. There is always next year.
I won the door prize for the ladies... a one hour massage... YES!! (thank you Granny and Papaw).
It was a FUN NIGHT!

Addie found her a lap to sit on :-)



Avery opening a gift!

Handsome boys!

Kelsey... those glasses are the perfect assessory for your outfit!

OH MY... Sweet Charlotte... She's special

I love this girl!

Miss Debbye! Snugglin up with Addie

Granny... she's the Queen of Christmas Eve

PapPaw doing his push ups

Christmas Eve Service

We had a candle light service at church on Monday night. It was a sweet service of singing, a Christmas message and a candle lighting.

Tori, Audrey, Avery and Addie (not the best picture of Addie)

Aidan and his buddy Bruce

Christmas with the Cards

We celebrated Christmas with the Cards on Sunday. We went over to their house and ate a yummy dinner (Thanks Cindy) and opened gifts. The best part was just hanging out with them. We enjoy our time with the Cards. It was a great night :-)

Sunday before Christmas

The kids sang on stage at church on Sunday. Well, Avery and Aidan did. Their classes learned Away in a Manger and Joy to the World. It was PRICELESS... oh my :-)

Christmas Lights!

We went out to the Cove park tonight to look at Christmas lights and also went on a horse drawn carriage ride. It was a good time! We met friends out there and went on the ride, saw the lights and then let the kids play on the play ground. It's such a fun event. We usually go out every year. It's fun running into people we know too. I'm realizing how much Knoxville really is home...