And this is how it ended...

2013, that is. Several of you have chastised me for only having one post this year (so far) and also for not really explaining why I skipped over the end of last year. In the spirit of keeping it simple, here's a snippet of what was going on:

 At the end of the summer, Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, so the fall was kind of a blur.

She had surgery to remove the cancer, a rough bout with chemo, and is currently wrapping up her radiation treatments. She is doing so well and we all feel really blessed that they caught it early, and that it was treatable. I am especially thankful to be staying at home now which allowed me the opportunity to go back home and to help out. 

My talented cousin Ashley Ray hosted a benefit painting party for Mom. We had so much fun discovering our inner artist and proving that laughter really can be the best medicine. 

 G turned 14...

...and played volleyball for her school. 

Diva turned 18...

...and was accepted to TROY University!

 Smalls enjoyed playing in the festive Fall decor after church.

We had Cousin Kayla's wedding...

...and Smalls' first experience with a sparkler!

We played Barbies!

We supported the TROY Trojans!

Smalls joined the cheerleading squad!

The cutest little T-I-double grrrr-R ever!

 Husband and I (bravely) hosted the Thanksgiving Family Reunion at our house for the first time!  

(With only a 3 day notice!)

There are A LOT of people on Husband's side of the family...

...but I'll go on record saying that I'd do it again this year! 

I think a good time was had by all! 

We finished Thanksgiving just in time to have Open House at the Glass Studio! 

Vickie and I finally got our angels this year!

(After all the heckling we gave Husband over the years, we're just thankful we had wings and not horns!) 

Smalls got her own angel this year too, and she was proud that we let her hold it!

Grandpa had a stroke in October, so we're thankful that he is feeling better and was able to host Open House this year. 

I also started keeping this little fella a couple of days a week. I like to call him "Z" and he's six months younger than Smalls. 

We took the kiddos to the town's Christmas parade, but they weren't very impressed. 

We sold the OLD house and are forever rid of renters!!!!

Christmastime was lots of fun this year!

Smalls was at the perfect age to be amazed by everything, even though she really didn't have a clue what was going on. She just thought it was fun! 

And she loved the choo-choo!

This was from Thanksgiving/Christmas on Mom's side of the family, and it just makes me smile!

This little sleepy head was slow to wake up on Christmas morning...

...but perked right up once the Sisters came back!

Santa came!

And so did Honey and Papa! 

They didn't want to miss out on the fun, and Mom had just finished up chemo and was feeling up to the trip!

It is always a fun time when all the family can be there!

Well, there you have it. 

It was a crazy and emotional season of life, but it helped me to take a step back and really evaluate what is most important to me and to be thankful for all of God's blessings in life! 

Valentine's at the Glass Studio

Holy Cow!!! What's up with February!?!? Whether I like it or not, this month came and managed to skip right to the middle without even asking! I'll admit that I've been in denial about February. If I didn't acknowledge it then surely my sweet, precious, angel won't turn one. Right?  Well....

Perhaps the first few weeks slipped away from me because I was busy working at the Studio to help get ready for our Valentine's Party. We swept, dusted, polished, and rearranged to get everything ready for last Sunday's big event.  Meme and I worked on the displays while Husband and Grandpa soldered their little fingers to the bones on the new items. (such as these amazing TROY logos!)

Oh, and baked. I...yes, I...BAKED! Twice actually. Grandpa wanted tea cakes, coffee, and punch for the party, and that inspired me to try out my Little Grandmother's tea cake recipe that I have framed in my kitchen. After calling her twice, I finally talked myself into breaking out the measuring spoons and getting dirty! (You're just going to have to take my word on this. There was too much flour to break out the camera.)

Friday night- batch one. I tweaked the recipe and used Splenda instead of sugar...and I may or may not  have made the cookies a little too fat. (Husband, who likes thin/crunchy cookies said a LOT too fat) They tasted good, but they were far from pretty. In fact, they looked more like biscuits. Which lead to...

Saturday night- batch two. I went with the real deal sugar and made the cookies out thinner this time. These looked much better and didn't crack like Friday night's. People ate them at the party and lived to tell about it, so I call it a huge success!

In the end, the party was a blast! We had a great turnout and everything looked great if I do say so myself. :)

Adams' Glass Studio Open House

Well, hello there! Thanks for not giving up on me. We've been A LOT busy lately with the glass studio and preparing for the grand opening and open house. CeeLo and I have been living there during the day and husband has been there burning the midnight oil. We set up a pack-n-play and CeeLo and her cousins had a big time :)

After long hours of hanging glass, sweeping, dusting, placing, replacing... WE DID IT!!!!

The candy kitchen was open and in full swing AND we had delicious fudge and divinity samples for everyone to taste!

Husband even squeezed in a tiny bit of Black Friday shopping and grabbed a few poinsettias for decoration. 

 I am so proud of how everything turned out and so thankful for everyone that helped to pull everything together!! 

 Including my parents! Mom came down to help watch my girl while dad and I were busy hanging panels, while Husband and my father in law were tucked away in the basement creating these stunning pieces!

TaDaaaaaaaaaaaa.....

Whatcha think? These old doors were jazzed up with paint to create a place to display these paintings. 

Just looking back at all these pictures makes me so excited! So many people came out to support us and celebrate this long year of rebuilding. I feel blessed to be a part of such a special Open House. 

And in true spirit of Open House tradition, this dynamic duo created the 2012 angels. 

Brittany and Shep

Henley

Here are a few of the other items on display at the new Adams' Glass Studio:

Let us know if you see anything you'd like. I'll be glad to take orders from here :)

Here are some angels from the past....

...and some of the grand kids that they represent! (With Meme of course.)

Now we are gearing up for our official Grand Opening this Thursday at 1pm. If you are in Troy we'd love for you to come join us for the official ribbon cutting!