New York New York

I took a Girl's Trip with Jan, Ellen and Martha Jane (my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law) during the first week of December. This was my Christmas gift from Jan and Mason.

We left on Friday morning and returned on Monday night. We saw The Lion King on Broadway and The Rockette's Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. Both shows were incredible! We toured the city by jumping on and off Gray Line Double Decker Bus Tour. It was easy to navigate and we were able to cover so much ground without having to pay for taxis. We went to see the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Little Italy, China Town, and Macy's. We shopped and shopped and shopped some more. It truly was magical seeing New York at Christmas time. The lights were amazing as were the many department store windows.

We stayed in the heart of the city at the Crown Plaza. We were within walking distance to so many things. We were only there for a few days, but we got to see and do all that was on our must see/do list. Jan was the planner of the trip and did a fabulous job. I told the girls I was along for the ride and I was up for anything. It was so nice to go and not have to plan a single thing. Martha Jane was great at looking at maps and figuring out where to go. I don't know what we would have done without her.

Thanks Jan for the trip of a lifetime! I loved being in New York with three of my favorite women.

**picture overload-my blog book would not be the same without these pictures. These pictures were taken by Ellen, Martha Jane and myself.

China Cat

We ended the year by saying good bye to our China Cat on the 31st of December. She was 12 years old and such a sweet cat. She loved the boys so much and slept with them every night. John Lawrence was her favorite person by far. She started losing weight and slowing down and we chalked it up to old age, but we took her in to the vet and realized she was in kidney failure.

She had a great life, but it was her time to go. She will be deeply missed!

Ice Skating at Centennial Park

We always go downtown for a day during the week between Christmas and New Years. Mason is off of work and Aunt Martha Jan (this year she had to work) joins us to go ice skating and eat lunch.We actually had a day free the weekend before Christmas, so we decided to go to the Zoo and lunch. We tried to talk the boys into letting that be our downtown Atlanta day, but they were not buying it. So we ended up going ice skating this week and had a ball! This was our 3rd year in a row going ice skating at Centennial Park.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day started for John Lawrence at 6:00am. Both boys slept with Aunt Martha Jan and she was not sure if she should wake everyone up or wait for Mac. She decided to wait on Mac (thank you so much)to wake up at 7:30. The boys were so excited to see what Santa left them. The boys played with their toys until 1pm and then we went to Grandma Walker's for lunch and then Mammy's house for dinner. It was a wonderful day filled with family.

**JL's favorite gifts or the ones he loving the most on Christmas Day were the Lava Lamp and the Teddy Bear(from GranJan and Pop) and Mac's favorites were the Under Armour Shirt and Shaving Cream. It really is the little things that get them excited.