Loss

My great-grandfather, John Clyde Campbell passed away last weekend at the age of 95 years old. What a long and wonderful life he had! He was my granny Holloway's father. He was a loving grandfather who was always so caring for his family. As my granny said, although we were mentally prepared for his death, none of us were emotionally prepared. Thankfully, we were in Natchez for my friend Sarah's wedding, as well as Laura and Brandon. We were able to spend time with relatives who came to Natchez for the funeral. Through all of this I learned I am truly blessed to have known four great-grandparents, and still have four grandparents with me today. My family means so much to me and I thank God for allowing me to have them in my life. Please pray for my grandmother and her siblings as they go through this tough time of loss.

New Recipe!

I recently bought a new cookbook from Williams-Sonoma that has some really great and quick recipes. Tuesday night, I tried one of the recipes and we really liked it! So, I decided to share!

Lemongrass chicken & asparagus

Ingredients:

Skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - 4, about 1&1/2 lb, cut into thin strips

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Peanut or canola oil - 2 tablespoons

Green onions - 3/4 cup thinly sliced

Ginger - 2 tablespoons minced

Lemongrass - 1 stalk, bulb part only, trimmed and finely chopped

*If you can't find lemongrass, substitute 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 2 teaspoons grated

lemon zest. Add the juice and zest to the pan along with the garlic and ginger.

Garlic - 3 cloves, minced

Slender asparagus - 1/2 lb, trimmed and sliced on the diagonal

Chicken broth - 3/4 cup

Asian fish sauce - 2 tablespoons

Peanuts - 1/4 cup chopped

Steamed white rice

Directions:

Step 1: Stir-fry the chicken

Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper. In a wok or frying pan over high heat, warm the oil. Add the chicken and stir-fry until golden on the outside and opaque throughout, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the green onions and stir-fry until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add the ginger, lemongrass, and garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the asparagus and stir-fry just until tender-crisp, 2-3 minutes.

Step 2: Finish the dish

Add the broth and fish sauce to the pan and bring to a simmer. Return the chicken and any juices from the plate to the pan, reduce the hear to medium-low, and simmer for 1 minute to hear through. Sprinkle with the peanuts. Spoon the rice onto individual plates, top with the chicken and asparagus, and serve.

Here's how ours turned out!

Landry Warner

Congratulations to our friends Gene and Kellie! Their baby boy Landry was born on Tuesday weighing 9 lbs 5 oz. He is one sweet little baby!

Tagged

Claire tagged me to do this, so I will try to be as creative as possible! Enjoy...

Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real. . .nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. What is your name? Heather
2. A four-letter word: hoop
3. A boy's name: Hayes
4. A girl's name: Haley
5. An occupation: hygienist
6. A color: hazel
7. Something you wear: hat
8. A food: hummus
9. Something found in the bathroom: hairbrush
10. A place: Hawaii
11. A reason for being late: hungry
12. Something you shout: HEY!
13. A movie title: Happy Gilmore
14. Something you drink: hot chocolate
15. A musical group: Hanson
16. An animal: hippopotamus
17. A street name: Homochitto (for Claire and Ashley!:))
18. A type of car: Hummer
19. A song title: How to save a life
20. A verb: hustle

Hayes Larue Mayer

Our new precious nephew was welcomed into the world Tuesday, January 27th! He weighed 7lbs 3oz. Proud parents Brandon and Laura are starting to settle back into the routine, and it sounds like big brother Grayson is trying to figure it all out. Grayson was so good with Hayes in the hospital. It was so fun to watch Grayson lean over and give his little brother a hug! Laura has started a new website for little Hayes (http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/home?ID=459296). Here are a few pictures from the hospital, but there are many more adorable shots of Hayes on Laura's website. Congrats Brandon and Laura! We can't wait to spoil him!

A great start to a new year

What a wonderful December and January! I know I am slacking on my blogging, but we have been pretty busy lately! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Since my last update, we have had Christmas with both families, caught up with old friends, welcomed in the new year, skiied in the snow in Colorado, missed molly, celebrated a birthday, and made lots of great memories!

We went to Natchez for the weekend in the middle of December to have Christmas with my family. My family surprised us with an early Christmas dinner! It was so good!

For Christmas, we were able to go to Fairhope on Christmas eve and stay until the Sunday after. It was so nice to spend more than a few hours there. We had a delicious Christmas lunch with Peter's parents, brother, and grandparents. Later in the weekend, they took us to the Bellingrath Gardens to walk through their Christmas light display. It was beautiful! When we left on Sunday, we left our sweet little Molly with her grandparents. We didn't want to board her while we were gone on vacation. We had a very merry Christmas with family!

I know Peter will like this one!

Our wonderful hosts and Peter's parents

Peter's brother, Zack, and his girlfriend, Laura

On January 2nd, we left for Winter Park, CO with my parents and Rachel. I was very excited about going this year, because it was Peter's first time to snow ski! I was also very nervous because my family and I love skiing so much, and I did not want Peter to dislike it. Peter did his homework, though, and talked to his friends about what to expect. My dad wanted to teach him to ski, so on the first day we started on a little bunny slope. Peter definitely did NOT need it! He picked it up so easily, and he was skiing everything we were by our second day! I am so proud of him! It snowed almost every day we were there, so the fresh powder on the mountains was great. It was pretty chilly every day, but we bundled up! On our last day, the wind chill on top of the mountain was -30 degrees! We didn't stay on the top long! We also went snowmobiling one day we were there. It was so much fun! I have uploaded a slideshow below for some of our pictures. We missed the other part of our family, Laura, Brandon, and Grayson, but since little Hayes will be here in about a week, it was best they stayed home. Maybe everyone can go on our next trip!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Last but not least, we celebrated Peter's birthday this weekend. We had a great weekend together and with friends. Sunday, we met Peter's parents in Hattiesburg to have lunch. We also got our little Molly back. We missed her!

Tomorrow I go back to work and start the old routine again. It has been so wonderful to have a long break from work. Since January 2nd, I have only worked two days! I have been spoiled. I am very thankful for the days I have had off. I think everyone needs vacation to keep them sane!

Whew, what a post that was! Sorry for being so lengthy. Through all of our going and doing, we realized how blessed we are to have such a wonderful family. God is good! Also, we want to say thank you to all of our family and friends who made our holiday so amazing! Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Happy Birthday Peter

Okay, so I know we have been away from the blogging world a long time. I will update tomorrow, but for now I just want to wish my wonderful husband a very happy birthday! You are the greatest husband a girl could ask for and I love you very much!