Happy New Year!!

Hello everyone! Happy New Year! 2007 was not a good year for our family so i am declaring that 2008 will be our year. Our family christmas was wonderful. We had a house full of people and really had a good time. Bono and Carti on the other hand were a little upset that they had to share their rooms. Here is a picture of our nephew JR or Junebug as he is usually referred to. Yes, he is a stuffed monkey!!
We usually dont put up a big christmas tree even though i love them because Carti will eat the ribbons and probably just about everything on the tree so we use this vintage jewelry tree that my grandma made a very long time ago.
I just love it! Especially being a jewelry artist it just means that much more to me. So since we didnt have a big tree we all went down to the strip and saw the tree at the Bellagio. They have a new theme every year and it is always gorgeous. This year actually wasn't my favorite but it was still nice. It is fun to see but i dont recommend going to the strip any time near Christmas! It is extremely packed.

This was our first Christmas without my dad. It was hard but we all held up much better than i thought. Just knowing that he is in heaven and that we will see him again gives us so much comfort. I love this picture of him, i am not sure what year it was taken though. He is so handsome! The little bunny egg cup was made by my grandma.
My brother and sister in law spoiled all of us for christmas, they just seem to know what presents will be perfect for everyone. And we are not easy to shop for. My sweet little brother even braved the cold and crowds on black friday and stood in line at 4:30 am to buy me a GPS system for my car. He is such a good brother!

On another subject...has anyone noticed the price of food lately? I went to the grocery store today and everything was so expensive and really no sale items. It was all a little picked over too in the produce area but that is another story. Anyway food prices have seemed to be on the rise and not just at the grocery store, restaurants too. The other day i went to the mall for lunch and one of the girls paid over $9 for a hot dog, fries and a drink. I guess it is just the cheapskate in me that is upset over this. I was so mad when i came home today. Oh, I almost forgot, i wanted to show a picture of my charm bracelet because i love it! Each charm has a meaning and memory for me. The one that has xoxo on it was my anniversary present this year. It took 11 years but i finally got my husband to go to Tiffany's by himself with no suggestions from me. Of course he will probably read this and vow to not do it again but thats ok. I was so surprised and it was the perfect gift. He says it was like that one commercial where the guy is in a gas station and just grabs a card without looking at it and the girl gushes over it and cant believe how "sensitive" he is. He told me he was in there all of about 3 minutes. But i dont care in my imagination he poured over the cases to find just the right piece!