The LaPrade Lifestyle

Merry Christmas! Jesus is the reason for the season!!
Glory to the newborn KING!!

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:17-20

I hope that everyone has a great holiday with their family and friends
enjoying love and laughter all year long!

Parker got his Christmas card in this week!!
He loved it! Grandpa Creel always sends Parker
a Christmas card and as the picture shows Parker
reads it and enjoys the holidays too!

Jack joined the girls for girls night this week at sushi!
He was a blast! Jack was a big flirt with the waitresses who
thought he was super cute!

Ross made a fire in the apartment!
He did a great job! Nothing caught on fire and
we stayed nice and cozy!!

Tyler GRADUATED!!!
He completed the Orange County fire academy program
in California and moved back to TX!
He is taking December off to go hunting with Dad
but will soon be looking for a fireman position in the area!
We are so proud of Tyler and excited for his future!
Tyler is holding the cookies and cream cake I made him
for his graduation lunch when he came over!

We had Tammy's birthday celebration at Fogo de Chao!
Tammy, me, Britt, and Meg!

Madrigal dinner! Nora got Lorin and I tickets
to see Mckinney Highschool Madrigal dinner
performance! It was such a fun night full of
good food, cider, jesters, singing, and Christmas carols!

This weekend Memaw Hogan and Aunt Penny stopped by for a fun girls weekend celebrating Christmas all together! They came in on Friday afternoon and we made a few goodies including crock pot candy, magic cookie bar, and buffalo chicken dip!! yummy!! Then we went to FBC Mckinney and saw the Christmas Journey! It was so much fun! Memaw and Aunt Pen had not seen it before and they both truly enjoyed it! Aunt Pen took pics of every scene and of course every animal she could see!!

On Saturday we lounged around and talked about everything under the sun! We always have a great time when we are together! On Saturday evening Memaw's brother Mike
invited us over for dinner and then to go see Prestonwoods Christmas play!

Aunt Penny, Memaw and Mom

There was this gorgeous sign on the road near Prestonwood
that said Rejoice and I just had to get a pic!

Me, Mom and Memaw ready for the play to start!
We were on the third floor and it was amazing!
We could see the flying angels, flying santa, and
hear amazing voices in the choir praise his name!!
I think my favorite song of the night was " A Baby changes everthing!"

Sleigh bells ring!

Santa Claus is coming to town!!
Santa flew in on his sleigh on this one! (so cool!)

It's a little late but here are some pics from Thanksgiving!!
Ross and I headed over to my parents house to eat lunch with the Creel's
and the LaPrade's! It was a blast! We had tons of amazing food
and we all had a great time!

Everyone on Thanksgiving

The ladies in the kitchen!

Our dessert table! yummy!
We had Italian cream cake, German choc. cake, Apple pie,
and seven layer dessert!

Our lunch table Ross and I
Our 2nd Thanksgiving

Mom kept feeding parker if he sat or did his up trick! He followed her around all day!

Last week Mom and I took Parker to the shops in Allen to see Santa!
They had everything decorated for Christmas already!
There was a gorgeous tree decorated with lights that changed
colors every five minutes! Parker loved being outside and
seeing all the little kids seeing Santa!

Mom and Parker! After we saw Santa we walked over to
Moo-ya burgers and had great burgers outside!
Parker was treated to a few fries from Mom.
He begged for every little fry she would give him.
He slept like a puppy that night!

The huge tree!

Parker and Santa! He loved seeing Santa and Santa loved seeing a
cute little dog! He gave him a big hug before we left and we had a great time!

On Saturday night I worked until 9pm and was craving Cheesecake...so we went out to Cheesecake Factory! When I got home Ross was passed out on the couch with Parker. I had to wake them both to get ready for our little late night adventure! Ross is not a big fan of cheesecake but he was excited to get to spend quality time with his wife!
Ross and I enjoyed out late night date talking and eating amazing cheesecake!
It's great to spend time together before it gets wild and crazy with black friday
only a few days away now! Here are some fun pics I took of our evening!

Ross was not ready to have his photo taken but he was a very sweet date!Our amazing Reese's cheesecake...all gone! :)

We were being cheesy and took a self photo of us in our little booth!

A few weeks ago Ross and I went rock climbing in Carollton at a place called Exposure! Ross planned the day and we both had a blast! I am afraid of heights so it was a rocky start for me!! haha! Once I got the hang of it I was doing great and going to the top every time! Here are some pics from our fun adventure that day!

Most the the rock walls have harnesses that you attach to for safety and then on the other side of the place there was an area of rock wall that you could do a free climb without a harness. We did not go very far up but it was still fun to see what we could do! I was really nervous about not being attached to something in case I fell but there was a huge landing pad beneath us in case anything happened!

Rock Climbing Nov 2010

Recently I have been a little obsessed with cupcakes!! They are so cute and delicious! Ross and I went to The Cupcakery a few weeks ago in Frisco and had a great time! Ever since I have looked up cupcake places in Dallas and all around to have the little bite of sweetness!! I wish I could have one every day but I think I would have to start running about 10 miles a day!
I thought the holiday cupcakes are so cute!
I am not very skilled at decorating the tops but maybe
someday I will develop that creative skill!
These are something Ross would love!

This is super cute! I saw this at bed, bath, and beyond the other day and thought how fun...Ross said we are not shopping for you today so it stayed at bed bath and beyond. But how cute is it that you can make a giant cupcake and decorate it any way you like!! Any holiday style, any flavor, and it's big enough to share with everyone!! Well, that's if you like to share! haha!
mmmm now I am craving a little cupcake...I will have to start baking something up today!

A little wish list that I have started began with these two items! A jewelry box this one is from pottery barn and can be engraved with my initials!! umm love it! And the garmin below for running of course! It tells you how many calories you have burned, how far you have gone, time, heart rate and so much more...oh how i would love to use one of these on my runs!!

This weekend I had off and it was just lovely. On Saturday I got to help Nora shop for new clothes!! It was such a blast! She has recently lost weight and needed help finding cute outfits for work! I helped guide her in the right direction and made sure to tell her about the rule that no one buys purple pants and wears them in public! We went to JCPennys where she got some pants and a gorgeous blue ruffle cardigan and then we headed off to Dress Barn where she got a few more tops to add a flare of color with the new pants for work! (side note: she also bought a great pair of dark denim pants and looks amazing in them!! ) Way to go Nora!


Also, on Saturday Ross and I took our holiday pictures in downtown Mckinney
with Melanie Johnson! We took a variety of shots in front of vintage doors,
by funky brick work, barn sides with trees, a door with 7 up labels, and steps to make sure we had a wide range to choose from for our holiday cards! I just love working with her and seeing the pictures that she takes! Her work truly amazes me and she is so talented!! We have already decided she will be our photographer for life!!

Saturday night I hung out with the girls brit, meg, and tammy.
Tammy recently got engaged so we celebrated her exciting moment!!
We headed out to shops at legacy for a nice night out.

Sunday was very relaxing and enjoyable! I went to church and then Ross was able to meet up with his parents and I after work for lunch at El Chico! It was a great time to get to hang out with Ross' family with all of us there to
enjoy each others company!
Ross and I had a very lazy afternoon where we caught up on
Glee and Project Runway!
Meg and I were able to hang out as well and it was a good time
at the nail salon where we were pampered for over an hour which we had no complaints about!

Also, on a very important note LSU won!! Yea baby!
The tigers are currently ranked # 9!
Keep it going!!

(p.s. sorry for the lack of photos I left my camera at home this weekend..
more to come next time! love to all!)

LSU play the Florida Gators on Sat Oc. 9 at 6:30pm. Game on!!
(KC this is for you! ;) we will see what happens on game day!! love ya!)

A recap of the fun weekend we had together! :) On Friday we went to McKinney's Oktoberfest in downtown. It was really cute and even though it was sprinkling there were a lot of people out and about. We walked around the square observing the turkey legs and unique costumes but decided on a nice dinner date at Sauce! It was great! We were still able to hear the music and people watch which is always entertaining! Of course I got a big bag of kettle corn that I enjoyed at work all week! The best part for me at least of Oktoberfest!

On Saturday night we hung out with Britt, Joe, Tammy, Taylor and
a few new friendly faces! We went to Dodie's in Allen and we were able to
watch the LSU game (which they won!) and UFC fighting
which is a big thing at Dodie's and it takes all the tvs except for
one that they left on the LSU game...they must have known I would
have made a scene if they changed it!! haha!!

Joe, Britt, Erica, and her husband

Ross, Me, Tammy, and Taylor

On Monday evening we celebrated my Dad's birthday!!
We all went to Papa Deax for amazing seafood!!
Dad got a new phone so Ross was trying to show
him how to use it!! haha! Dad got an
Academy giftcard for all of his fun hunting items
this deer season! We love you Dad and hope
you had a great day!!
Happy Birthday!