New Traditions

I have always wanted to make a gingerbread house for Christmas. This year Hunter found us a kit and we put it together yesterday. Here are a few pictures of our creation. I hope we can make different ones each year!

Here is Santa on his Candy Cane sleigh complete with landing strip on the roof. We also added lights around the roof.

We also added a doggy door to the back of the house.

Christmas with the kids

Terri, Will, and Sydney came in for the night on Saturday. They were ready to open presents right when they got here! They had already found their boxes with their names on it and made piles for each person. I've missed them since my stay in October.

Sydney got some American Girl clothes (an outfit for her and the match for the doll) and Coconut which is a dog for your American Girl doll. It is also a Westie like Skeebo. He liked it too!

Skeebo was excited to see Piper again since she also made the trip, but I didn't catch a picture of her. He and Lucy send their "Thanks" for the treats!

Hunter got a Gamecocks shirt. Like Terri said, you can never have too many of those. I got a great new black bag (you know me and my bags!) with some surprises inside!

Dad was decked out in his new Dunes Club gear and is ready to hit the course with new golf balls and Gamecock tees. Mom got a cozy sweater and a gift card. She loves it!Will got games for his Wii which was also a Christmas present he asked for this year.

Syd was also excited about her new WebKins which she named Flash.

Here she is reading her e-mail letter from Santa.
Will was super excited about his gigantic Nerf gun. It came with an attachment piece that can be a separate gun. Bet ya can't guess who played with that one...
Hunter of course! He was just as excited as Will. They played "war" in the house and then outside. Piper liked the foam bullets as well. I think she got a hold of a few of them!

Sorry it was such a short trip, but it was GREAT to see you all. Billy, I hope you are feeling better soon. Sorry you couldn't come!

Recovery Entertainment

After my surgery Hope came over a few times to see me (Thanks for the milkshake!). Last weekend, Hunter came home and Hope brought her Wii for us to play. These are pictures of Hunter and Joe boxing. It was quite entertaining to watch and made me feel much better. Thanks guys for cheering me up!

Hope had foot surgery this past Tuesday. She is doing well and goes for a follow-up today.

Christmas Party

Thanks to Casey and Otis for having us over for a great party. We had so much fun meeting all their friends and seeing their house. I hope you both have a wonderful First Christmas! There was lots of great food which I ate plenty of since this was right before I had my tonsils out.

Engagement Announcement

Here is our announcement for the Augusta Chronicle. We are the last one on the page. I had a different picture for the NA star, but they only show the type on their website. So I'll try to scan it in later.
Click Here: Engagement Announcement

Day 11

I went to the Dr. today for my post-op appointment. My ENT is a man of few words. All he said was, "Still looks raw back there. See ya in a year for your checkup." The End. I didn't even get to ask most of the questions I had since I half forgot and half felt like I was being pushed out the door. I did ask about my adenoids. The good thing is that I feel like I can breathe so much better through my nose. He said that they were huge and was glad we got them removed. So, that made me feel better. I am still having a lot of pain and it feels like everything I eat just burns. I've lost weight though. If you ever want to beat those holidays pounds, I guess this is one way to do it. I have been craving Pizza Joint pizza for 5 days now. I could eat any pizza really, but they have the best. I hope to be able to eat next week! The only thing that helps is warm tea. Water doesn't even feel that great. It's weird how it seems to have changed my taste buds too. Everything taste different. I hope that changes once my scabs heal. All in all I'm glad I did it, but I am so ready to be able to eat again!

Day 5

Well today is when they said I should be feeling the worst. I don't feel great, but the "referred" pain started Wednesday with ear pain and headache. Today it is very painful when I swallow, but bearable. I hope to feel better by Sunday since it's our Rhoden Christmas Dinner.
Our engagement picture did come out in the Star this week. The picture and article look great. It will be in the Augusta Chronicle on Sunday, so look for that if you get it. I'll try to post the link once it is available.

T&A

Monday I had my tonsils and adenoids taken out. Don't feel left out if you didn't know about it because it was a last minute thing. I had gone to my ENT on Tuesday of last week for my annual visit. I have always had issues with my tonsils since I was young and always had strep. About five years ago, I noticed that my tonsils would create "concretions" that would come out of these pockets in the back of my throat. It basically causes a bad taste and bad breath. So he mentioned that this would happen forever and not get any better until I had them taken out. Since December is my month off from rotations, this was the ideal time for the surgery and recuperation. To which me informed me that everyone else had already been booked for December and that I should have seen him in October if I wanted it done. So the reason it was such short notice what that someone canceled their surgery for Monday and I got it. Everything went well and my ENT said that I made a good decision to have them taken out after he saw them. Now I'm resting, watching movies, and staying hydrated. The fifth day is supposed to be the worst, so we'll see.

Update

So my fifth rotation is over and only three more to go. I have December off which means I will be busy with the final wedding details, invitations, and thank you notes. I will also be spending time working on my seminar project and going to some job interviews. Hunter is in Salt Lake City for work right now and is busy with different projects set to "go live" in the spring.
If you are in town, our engagement pictures should be appearing in the North Augusta Star and Augusta Chronicle soon. I think it will also be online for the Chronicle if you can't get it in print. I will also try to post it when it comes out. I already have to pictures and will turn the forms in this week! As of tomorrow, only 4 months until the wedding. I cant' believe it! I thought a 13 month engagement would be way too long and now I don't think I could have done it any faster. I'm very excited, nervous, and anxious about everything. Hunter is ready for it to happen and is very excited. Thanks to everyone for all your love and support!

Holiday Shower

Jessica Scott and her mom gave me a Holiday Shower this past Sunday. It was such a great idea! I got ornaments for our tree, Christmas china, and other home decorations that will make our first Christmas perfect. I also got pieces to a village I started.

Here we are with my corsage still on. After a few hugs I think I did it in.
Here are a few of my great gifts. Thanks to Miss Nancy for taking some pictures for me. Miss Nancy also did all the flowers, including my corsage.

All the Pharmacy girls. Me, Tina, Lacey (roommate), Kim (roommate), and Casey. Gillian was also there from Summerville, but she had already left. Lacey and her mom came from Laurens. Thanks for making the trip! It was so special to have you all there!

J1 and J2. We got these names from her daddy!

Thanks Miss Susan and Jessica for all your hard work in making this such a special shower. Your house looked AMAZING and the food was DELICIOUS as usual! Now I need Jessica to come to Lexington to decorate the house with all my new stuff :)!

Mottel Fest 2007

Or to most people it is known as Thanksgiving. I stayed in town this year for Hunter's family gathering. This is a once a year event where all the Mottel's, about 50 of them, get together. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Me and the girls. This picture, along with about ninety others, was taken by Haven who is a true photographer at her young age.

Hunter's family with Grandma Carole and Grandpa Bill

All the grand and great-granddaughters. I was a stand in for Krystal who ran to the store. Haven is the little one in pink at the bottom. So from left to right is Grandma Carole, Amelia, Laura, Hope, Haley, Me, Jennifer, Kimberly with her daughter Katherine, Lauren, and Haven. Hope I spelled everyone's name right.

Here is Krystal and Laura at dinner. Didn't want
to leave her out.

Hornsby family picture.

While we were making memories, the guys were watching football...imagine that.

Here is Hunter with his Mottel Turkey Fest shirt on. Here is a picture of mine for the full effect. Usually everyone plays kickball, but the weather didn't corporate this year. Red shirts for the Indians and brown for the Pilgrims.

Friday, I went with Hunter's family to pick out their Christmas tree. We went to the Christmas tree farm where I always went as a child. It was so much fun. All 6 of us and Lucy loaded up in Hunter's truck to find the perfect tree. We drank hot chocolate and roasted marshmallows. Thanks for letting me tag along! Sorry I don't have any pictures of the tree.

Puppy Love

Here are some pictures of the "love/hate" relationship my dogs seem to have. Lucy loves to aggravate Skeebo and Skeebo hates it.

This is them playing tug-a-war over Thanksgiving.

They finally gave up and decided they could both have an end to chew on!

Football is Over

I'm not exactly sure what we will do now that our season is over. Here are some pictures I never posted from a few games.

Joe and Hope

Mike and Haley

Me and Hunter

Us at Mike's parents tailgate for the Clemson game. Thanks to the Comer's for bringing us some great food and warm chili. It was a pretty cold game and my last game as a student! Next season I'll be an alumnus.

Home and Garden Shower

At the beginning of the month my Aunts hosted a Home and Garden Shower for Hunter and me. It was great to see everyone and we are both glad you could all make the trip. We got lots of great gifts for the yard, bathroom, and kitchen. Hunter has already put a few to good use. He is very excited about all of his new gadgets.

There are lots of pictures since most of the family was able to come. Thanks to everyone for all the hard work and effort to make our first shower GREAT! From planning, organizing, cooking, and decorating, you all did a fabulous job. We both love you all very much and appreciate everything that was done. Thanks to Aunt Marilyn for sending me these pictures (I never even got my camera out of my purse)!
Now it's time to get started on those Thank You notes!