Favorite Moments & Posts of 2010

What a great year we have had! Here are my favorite moments and blog posts from 2010.

1. Hosted my first linky party this year. It was fun! Thanks to each one of you who linked up and participated. I loved reading about all of your wonderful family traditions! If you missed it, you can click here to read everyones Christmas traditions and start planning for next year.

2. Vacationed in beautiful Mexico with Josh. It was perfect. We are already planning our next adventure!

3. Noah didn't like Santa this year, but Josh did.

4. I started a new blog. It is a collection of all things that inspire me on a daily basis. Are you following along? Hope so!

5. My favorite Noah moments: here, here, here, and here.

6. Noah was involved with his very first Christmas Program this year. Have you seen the video? Oh goodness, it is cute!

7. One of my favorite posts about Einstein.

8. Noah turned two this year. Sigh.

9. Need a little help with your blog? Check out the tutorials I posted this past year. And for those of you who have used one or two or several of them, I hope you found them very helpful!

10. I met the fabulous Bakerella in Dallas this past October! And I gave away one of her signed Cake Pop books! Definitely one of my favorite giveaways!

11. I made my first batch of homemade play-dough {super easy!} and Noah loved playing with it.

12. Noah dressed up as Buzz Lightyear for Halloween this year. It was his first year to go door to door; he loved it! Really, I think Mommy and Daddy loved it just as much as he did. What fun we all had!

13. I got creative and made some printables this year. Hope you enjoyed them!

14. I signed up for Home Ec, so I could teach myself how to sew. I have loved every minute of it! Some of my favorite projects were the tote bag, the NoNo Monster, and the gift pouch.

15. Noah goes to school for the first time.

16. My sister got married this year! Many thanks to the wonderful, Chriselda, for giving Abby memories she will be able to look back on forever.

17. Experienced my first Black Friday. Was it worth it? Nope, don't think so.

18. My favorite post about Einstein and Noah. And this one is definitely runner up!

19. Oh, what a sweet, sweet sound!

20. My submitted picture to the iheartdesserts challenge was picked top ten! Such an exciting moment for me!

21. God provided.

22. Did you know my hubby holds the title of "Oreo eating champion?"

23. I had the amazing opportunity to go to Jamaica on a mission trip this past summer; what a blessing it was to be a part of God's work there. I'm embarrassed I've only posted this about the trip, but regardless if I end up posting about it or not, it was a life experience that will always be etched in my heart. And guess who is leading a group to the same place I went this past Summer? Josh! So excited for him!

24. Sorry ladies, he's all mine!

25. I was nominated for i am mommy's "Awesomest Overall Blog" award! We were so very close all the way to the end, but ended up in second place. What an honor, regardless! Thank you for all of your votes and support our little ol' blog.

26. Snow? In Fort Worth?

27. Noah transitioned to a toddler bed! So proud!

28. What fun we had at Mayfest this year! Definitely want to make it a family tradition.

29. How could I forget? Still makes me cringe just thinking about it.

30. Josh's one post this entire year. He got busted!

31. I have made so many amazing blogger friends this past year and I am so thankful for each one of you!

Happy New Year Everyone! The countdown begins...

Merry Christmas

I can't think of a better way to start our Christmas weekend.

As Noah and I snuggled on the couch this morning to watch this video,

Noah kept signing something to me that I couldn't understand at first.

Then it hit me.

He was signing "Jesus" every time he saw the baby.

There is nothing that blesses my heart more.

Truly it is all about Jesus.

Hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Traditions Linky Partay

Seriously, Christmas is in four days.

Four days!

My favorite month of the year has come and gone

so quickly just like I knew it would. Sigh.

So, anyway, since there are lots of

Christmas parties going on right now, I

thought I'd throw my own blogger partay!

Wanna join the fun? The more the merrier, right?

I love reading about family traditions, don't you?

I have come across some really great traditions over the

past month in Blogland and I just can't get enough of them.

Whether it is a family tradition passed down for generations

or a new tradition recently started, I love to hear about them all!

So, I thought, how much fun would it be for all of us to

share our Christmas family traditions with each other!?

I hope I'm not the only one excited about this? Ha.

So, I'll go first.

For as long as I can remember, my Nana has carried on the

tradition of the Grab Box. It is my absolute favorite tradition we have in

our family and I look forward to it each Christmas we are with her.

The Grab Box goes all the way back to when my mother was a little girl

{actually it may even go back to when Nana was little.}

My mother's grandpa {Nana's dad} would get a big ol' box and he would

wrap a bunch of small little presents and tie a string around each of them.

Then he would throw all the gifts into the box, and would attach each of

the strings to the outside of the box.

My mom told me the gifts were really more "necessity" type

things like a toothbrush, a roll of toilet paper {ha!}, or a pack of gum.

Each person around the Grab Box would take turns pulling a string

until there were no more gifts left.

Nana has continued the tradition of the Grab Box with

her grandchildren to this very day. She revised it a bit

by picking out small little gifts {instead of "necessity" things}

she thought each child would like. Things like lip gloss or a slinky.

Sweet, thought out little gifts from our Nana.

She would put each of our names on the outside of the box,

so we would know where to pull our strings.

Most of us are either in college or married, and

we still beg Nana for the Grab Box every Christmas.

{Noah's 1st Grab Box experience- Christmas 2009}

So, I shared with you one of my favorite Christmas

family traditions, now it's your turn!

I will post a linky party thingy at the bottom of this post,

so if you have written about your family traditions in a blog

post, you can link up. This is a great way to get your blog

out there for others to come visit.

For those of you who don't have a blog or those of you with one

but haven't posted about any of your Christmas traditions, then you

can just leave a comment below sharing them with us!

Here are a couple requests I have:

If you are sharing your traditions with us in a blog post,

would you please either link back to this specific post

{not just the main blog} or grab the party button

below so we can spread the word to others.

The more people who join in, the better!

And mingle! :) Spend some time visiting others

and leave some sweet comments on their blogs!

Make some new friends while you're at it!

Oh, and also, if you are linking up below,

make sure and link to the specific

blog post where you wrote about your

traditions, not just to your main blog.

Grab the Party Button:

<a border="0" href="http://libby-bonjour.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-traditions-linky-partay.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd257/libbon/buttonforblog-1.gif" /></a>

The party will continue through the new year!

{So, if you'd like to write a blog post about your

traditions, then just link up when you've posted it.}

Let's have fun with this! :)

Come party with me!

(What happened to my linky thing?!)

Santa Claus!

This weekend we took Noah downtown to see Santa Claus.

He was definitely not a fan of the big guy in red.

But Josh was.

Right before we left, he went up to Santa and said,

"You're the most realistic Santa I've ever seen!"

And Santa looked at him like he was crazy and said

with his jolly voice, "Oh... well, thank you."

So funny.

p.s. Happy birthday Dad/Granddad!

We love you and hope your day is wonderful.

Anxious to see all of you this weekend!

The Bonjour Elves

Well, I spent way too much time playing

around on Elf Yourself tonight.

I get suckered into this silly thing every year. I just can't

help myself... I love watching us transform into dancing elves.

So, without further ado, I present to you the Bonjour Elves!

Love it! Makes me laugh every time.

Have you ever Elf'd Yourself? If not, you

should try it out. It is too much fun.

Off to Lowe's

This year we went to good ol' Lowe's to get our Christmas Tree.

We planned on going to Flower Mound's Christmas Tree Farm, but

we changed our plans at the last minute for the following reasons:

a. Our little Toyota Camry

+

a big ol' Christmas tree

+

a 45 minute drive home

= a very nerve-wracking drive home.

b. We have a toddler who doesn't care where we buy

our Christmas Tree. Lowe's has everything the little guy

could ever want: twigs, branches, rocks, dirt...

c. Lowe's is two minutes from our house.

So, the decision was made, and we were off to

Lowe's to find the perfect Christmas Tree.

Josh was my Christmas Tree handler...

Overall, he was patient with me.

Not to say we didn't have the conversation we

have every year when we're out looking for our tree.

And Noah, well, he was being his little toddler self, and was all

over the place interested in everything but the Christmas trees.

He sure was looking cute doing whatever he was doing.

Sweet picture of Noah and Daddy.

It wasn't too long before we Mommy & Daddy found the perfect tree.

What a wonderful evening we had together as a family. We love our Christmas tree!

I Did Something Crazy

And no, I didn't get a tattoo. :)

Although, there have been a few times

I've toyed with the idea of getting one.

I'm too much of a chicken though.

And it's just... so permanent.

Anyway, that has nothing to do with

what I wanted to share with you today.

So, guess what I did?

I created another blog, which means

I now have two. Yep, two.

Crazy, huh?

The main reason I created another blog

is because I am easily inspired by many

things I see on the Internet everyday

{and I love sharing those inspirations with you!}.

So in an effort to mainly keep our family blog

about, well, our family and what is going on in our lives,

I created an "all things pretty" type of blog, with the

focus being only to share with you anything and

everything that inspires me on a daily basis.

I will update often, so if you are interested

in following along {and I hope you are!},

then be sure to bookmark it along with all

of your favorite daily reads. :)

I am currently working on a button for the

new blog to display on the sidebar, but for now,

you can just click here to check it out!

What do you think?

My Very Random Thoughts...

Christmas is in twelve days! Can you believe it? I have a feeling December will come and go just as fast as November did. :(

Guess what I made this week? I pulled out my Bakerella book {love it!} and made some Santa hat cake pops. They were pretty sorry looking... a lot more lumpy than the perfection Bakerella wows us with. So, I'm off to Hobby Lobby tomorrow to get me some more candy melts, and I'm starting over! I have confidence the second {ahem, third round} will be picture worthy.

I rented out the Canon 50 mm f/1.2 lens today to play around with and see if it is worth the $$$$. Anyone have one of these beauties? How does it compare to the 1.4? I'd be interested in your thoughts.

I love watching Christmas movies. But you wouldn't have guessed that last Christmas... I don't think I watched one. So sad. But this year, we are making up for it. I guess we've been in a Jim Carrey mood, because the two movies we've watched so far were ones he acted in: The Christmas Carol and The Grinch who stole Christmas. Loved both of them! Tonight when Josh gets home from work, we are going to watch Home Alone {love that movie!}. Have you watched any lately? What are your favorites?

I really wanted to make this wreath to add to my Christmas decor this year... but I'm guessing it's not going happen. Maybe next year? Have you noticed the trend? I kind of have a thing for wreaths.

Josh finally broke down and let me buy a candle that wasn't a $2 cheapie from Target. Not that they are bad, I was just going through them every other day. So Josh finally gave into my pleas for a longer lasting candle, and we went to White Barn Candle Company in the mall the other day. And guess what?! They were having a sale! Lucky me, right? :) So we ended up buying two of them. Josh picked one out {can't remember the name of it} and I chose the Eucalyptus Spearmint candle. It smells aaamazing!

Oh, oh, oh guess what else I got? Can't believe I haven't told you yet. A new iPhone 4!!! My in-laws were planning on surprising me with it for Christmas, but they ended up getting it for me a little early because Radio Shack was having an awesome discount on the iPhone. I am loving it!

Speaking of the iPhone, all you iPhone users out there, have you heard of the 99 cent app called Cuptakes? It is an app full of custom designed wallpapers for not only the iPhone, but also the iPod touch, and iPad. There are already like 60 something to choose from now, but they say they are working on many more. You must check it out here. I love my new background!

Not long ago, we opened up a new bank account, and it wasn't long before my debit card came in the mail. I hadn't even taken it out of the envelope and guess who put it halfway through the shredder. Let me give you three clues. It wasn't Josh. It wasn't me. And it wasn't Einstein.

And last but not least...

Someone asked me today if I was engaged??? Can someone explain that one to me?

Happy Birthday!

That is one good looking man right there. :)

So, guess who has a birthday today?

Mr. Muscles up there is celebrating his 27th!

And we are gonna celebrate all day long

because he doesn't have to go into work!

Partyyy time at the Bonjours!

Your main man Noah and I love you sooo much

and we hope you have the best birthday ever!

Good Gravy!

Have you ever heard of Good Gravy Designs?

Well, if you haven't, then you can thank me for introducing

you, because you're about to see the cutest note cards ever.

Noah's tricycle note cards arrived in the mail today from Lelan,

one of my sweet blogger friends and owner of Good Gravy Designs.

When I saw I had a package from her, I let out a squeal of delight.

I couldn't wait to see the note cards I knew were on the way.

I love the clean and simple design of the note cards.

And the colors-- just perfect! Can you tell I'm excited?

And Lelan, Noah took a picture just for you today

with his new note cards. He thinks they're pretty cool.

He was pretty preoccupied so the only way I could

get him to look at me was to tell him to say cheese.

So there you have it-- Noah's "cheeeese" smile. :)

Still need to do a little Christmas shopping?

Check out all of Lelan's designs here.

And her blog, love it!

Definitely one of my favorite daily reads.

She makes me laugh every. single. morning. No lie.

Happy Friday!

Mexico, baby!

Ahhhh Mexico, how I miss you.

Our recent getaway to Puerto Morelos was absolutely perfect.

Perfect in every single way.

I never thought I'd say this, but it was just as

fabulous as our honeymoon in Jamaica.

I don't even know how to describe how beautiful

our resort was. Maybe a good description

would be heaven on earth...

Oh, how I miss the sun in my face and the sand between my toes.

But probably the thing I miss the most is waking up

to the sound of the ocean as the cool breeze filled our room.

The time we had together, just the two of us, was wonderful.

It was such a refreshing trip for our relationship and marriage.

I just wish I had taken more pictures.

Guess I was too busy having fun!

We will be returning soon.

Josh just doesn't know it yet. :)

Our Thanksgiving

A few weeks ago, Noah and I drove to Oklahoma to

spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family.

We enjoyed every minute of it, but we sure missed

Daddy. Wish he could have come with us. :(

I'll let the pictures do most of the explaining

because there are a lot of them.

Mommy and Noah

Noah's Grand-Nana had all sorts of

fun things for him to play with:

Lots and lots of cars...

puppets...

{cuteness overload!}

and she even had poker chips!

My Nana has a baby shower coming up soon, so

she got cousin Madison busy building her cupcake stand.

Time for family pictures! Yay!

Noah getting some major tickling from his

Great-Uncle Rich. He loved every minute of it.

In fact, he kept pulling up his shirt for more! Ha.

Of course, our evening wouldn't be complete without

playing some games. Yes, that is right. We were

wrapping each other in toilet paper. Haha.

Hurrrrrry!

Noah was in heaven. He loved rolling around in the

toilet paper. It was great entertainment for all of us.

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of

our wonderful food. Probably because I was

stuffing my face in it. It was sooo good.

The next evening we helped my parents

put ornaments on their tree. It was fun hanging

all of our old ornaments we grew up with.

Definitely getting into trouble...

Samson and Delilah hanging out and watching

us hang ornaments on the tree.

The finished tree. It was so beautiful!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend full

of good food, relaxation, and family!