Holiday Cheer...

Mark's favorite dessert is pecan pie, so for Thanksgiving I went to Paula Dean's website, and got a recipe for Mystery Pecan Pie. We took it to my Dad's and when I cut into it, it was like soup in the middle, so this time, I deleted an egg, put in less corn syrup, and cooked it for an extra 30 minutes, and they turned out PERFECT! Mark says it's the best pie he EVER had!!! I've gotten really good at making the crust too! It really is worth the extra work to make the crust from scratch, and I figured out how to make the edges pretty too...we took one to Mark's grandparents house this past Saturday, and they LOVED it; the other we took to my cousin, Bridgett's, party later that evening, and it was a hit. Mark also made his wonderful stuffed peppers!!! (MY FAVE!) We had a ball visiting with Mark's Mamaw & Papaw...they are a funny couple, and so sweet, and they act like they REALLY like me, so I enjoy hanging out with them!! We brought a guitar, and sang them a few songs, and Mark's G-Ma said "well y'all are very entertaining", it was cute! She fed us bar-b-que sandwiches, and Papaw showed us his antique electric guitar, and his very first acoustic guitar he learned on... then we headed over to Bridgett's party. My Dad was there, and my brothers, Jason, and Matt. My cousins Semie, and Shelly, and lots of kiddos. Bridgett has three, beautiful, smart, funny ones, they are 1,2,and almost 4... they all adored Mark, and he was playing with them all most of the evening. We got to watch the Cowboy game with my family, and we had the best time; it was nice having time to actually hang out and talk and not be in a rush to get home...my Dad and my brothers are really funny, and we have so much fun, and laugh til we cry...even the drive home at midnight wasn't too bad. I drove, and Mark got us some snacks and Mountain Dew to keep us awake; we talked ALL the way home, and laughed like we were two kids on a date... the whole while Chance was asleep in the back... yesterday, we went to Mom and Ron's and had band-practice. Susie, Todd, Tony, Brad, Ron, and Tony's son were all playing, and singing; it was loud, and we danced like it was the prom... we just had an amazing weekend! Can't wait to see the rest of my family on Christmas!!!