christmas!

christmas 2008

we celebrated christmas with my family on christmas eve as is our tradition (and since a few of us had to work on christmas night). we started out with a barbecue dinner, then went to the candlelight service at church. we headed home for family pictures at the christmas tree and then got a surprise visit from santa claus himself! after that, we opened gifts in our usual order, youngest to oldest. the little ones went to bed and the adults stayed up to finish opening gifts from each other before we had a chinese gift exchange that ended up having very little stealing and swapping. it was a very merry christmas, and i hope yours was too!

merry christmas from the kings!!!

early christmas and more

a busy sunday

while matt's family was in town for the graduation ceremony and festivities, we took advantage of the time we had together, having something scheduled nearly every day they were here. matt's mom pat, step-dad david, sister heather and nephew miah drove in from ohio and arrived on thursday evening. his dad steven and his dad's fiance jacquie flew in and arrived on friday just in time for the hooding ceremony (there were some delays at the airport that morning!). here's a smal breakdown of the activites:
thursday: dinner with pat, david, heather & miah
friday: hooding ceremony, free time with both sets of parents, some shopping, and then dinner at carrabbas
saturday: an early lunch, presents, graduation, graduation party
sunday: christmas with steven & jacquie before they headed back to the airport, then a trip to the 6th floor museum with pat, david, heather & miah before celebrating christmas with them
monday: matt went to visit his mom, david, heather & miah before they drove out (i didn't go because i was already getting sickly...in the days to follow nearly everyone in *both* our immediate families would end up getting sick!)

the previous posts, of course, have the graduation pics, this post has pics from that last sunday we spent together including both christmases & a few pics around the 6th floor museum in downtown dallas (anyone who's been can tell you that you aren't allowed to take *any* pictures inside) :(

graduation!

on december 20th, at 3:00pm in the UTD activities center the kings, childers, millers, richards, and proctors celebrated the graduation of our very own TWO PhD's, dr. childers and dr. king. our family cheered wildly, much to the amusement of the spectators around us, as first matt, then shari received their much-deserved degrees.
before the party, we celebrated with a light lunch and some gift opening with the immediate family. once commencement was over, we all headed back to the miller's house for a party with food, more gifts, and some really tasty chocolate cake!

Congratulations Dr. Childers!
Congratulations Dr. King!

and in the poetic words of my father (see the pics in the link):
"congrats on your akkomplishment from those of us who can only gaze upon what yew have dunn -- and wunder why you did it!! with much love and mirth from your family"

PhD graduation

PhD hooding ceremony

on december 19th at 1:00pm the family headed to the UTD conference center to see both shari and matt receive their doctoral hoods in a special ceremony. My entire family was able to make it, minus only the proctors, and matt's sister, nephew and both sets of parents were able to come in from ohio for the special occasion. we watched the ceremony then enjoyed the reception afterward before taking a *ton* of pictures with the family, only some of which are posted in the link below! a few hours later, we all met up at carrabba's italian restaurant to celebrate the momentous occasion, because both my sister and my husband were now *officially* PhD's!

Congratulations to you both!

for more of the pictures, follow the picture link below:

hooding ceremony 12/19/08

cookie fest 2008

on wednesday my family got together for our annual cookie fest. we made snickerdoodles, sugar and m&m cookies, toffee and toasted pecans. we finished baking all the cookies by the evening and enjoyed a family dinner together. i hope you are enjoying all the holiday festivities as well!

cookie fest 2008

here's a video of liv getting in on the festivities by singing "rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer," well, her version :)

our anniversary

matt surprised me this week by planning for us to celebrate our anniversary for nearly an entire week!we both worked on our actual anniversary date, the 1st, so we celebrated on the 3, 4, and 5th (wednesday - friday) instead. here's the breakdown...
wednesday: matt went to the store, then made dinner for me (something he's been promising to do since our first date!) we also got to enjoy some of our *very* yummy wedding cake!
thursday: a lazy day by choice. we ate dinner at home, and spent the rest of the night watching movies and not worrying about anything else in the world.
friday: we went and got haircuts (i know, romantic!), then got a couple's massage. we had dinner at uncle julio's then headed to fort worth to go see an improv comedy show at four day weekend (which we highly recommend). we, of course, also hit up a bookstore and had some coffee from starbucks!

1st anniversary

thanks for a wonderful anniversary, and a great first year, honey! xoxo!

ONE year!

a year ago today....




i take you as my friend,
beside me and apart from me,
in laughter and in tears,
in conflict and in tranquility,
in sickness and in health,
asking that you be only yourself,
loving what i know of you,
trusting what i do not yet know,
in all the ways that life may find us.

the first year has been wonderful, honey, and i'm looking forward to all the years to come! thanks for being my dream come true, i love you! happy anniversary!

turkey day

we celebrated thanksgiving this year in ohio, with matt's family. this was very different for me, since i'd never celebrated away from my family, but of course, my extended family made me feel right at home! we had a great time and got a chance to catch up with the whole family and some of matt's old friends. the only downside...no snow until after we left! :( maybe next time.

thanksgiving 2008

matt's birthday

matt's 29th birthday

since matt and i were both actually off work, we got to celebrate matt's birthday on his actual birthday! we started a little after midnight by making waffle fries and cookies and watching national lampoon's christmas vacation before bedtime. when we woke up, we ate a quick breakfast then headed to the movie theater to catch an early showing of twilight. after that we headed to best buy to pick up part of matt's birthday gift - a new cell phone. we then headed to barnes and noble for some shopping fun (it is one of matt's favorite stores!), then to genghis grill for dinner. after that we went to the mall to get matt some new jeans and dress shoes (per his request) before heading to downtown dallas to watch the ad-libs comedy improv troupe perform. the whole day was lots of fun, and matt admitted it was probably his "best birthday since he was 10 or 12" (when he ended up having two surprise parties in one day)! i admitted i'll probably not be able to top that...but i'll settle for second best!
happy birthday, honey, i love you!

christmas time

we're ready for christmas, are you?
since we won't be here for thanksgiving, matt and i decided to go ahead and decorate for christmas this week on one of our days off. we cleaned the house and put up our decorations (with lexi's help) before officially beginning matt's birthday celebration after midnight with birthday waffle fries (per his request!), m&m cookies and a a christmas movie. and don't worry, you still have a little over a month left to shop for us! ;)

is there a doctor in the house?

no....there's TWO! that's right, my older sister, shari, passed her dissertation defense on wednesday, november 19th. her defense was at noon, and my mother, father, matt and myself all were able to attend and support her during her presentation. i wasn't able to stay to congratulate her when she officially passed, but matt got some great pics and the entire family went out for a celebratory dinner (and cookie monsters!) at cheddar's later that night. shari passed at the highest level possible, with no revisions required, so she's pretty much done! now we can have twice the fun after the double graduation in december! congratulations, Dr. Shari Childers!!!!

shari's dissertation defense

november birthdays

it's that time again...when half of our family was born! okay, not half, but my dad, my husband and my niece alia and nephew ben all have birthdays during this month.
ben: 11/30, turned 6
alia: 11/8, turned 7
matt: 11/21, turned 29
dad: 11/17, turned 24 (x2, plus 5...or 53)

on sunday we celebrated with our usual november birthday meal - home made chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and all the fixin's - and actually had a birthday dessert for each guest of honor this year! of course, we had lots of fun and enjoyed spending time with our big family. thanks, mom for the chicken fried steak, and sarah, for the "apple" pie.
and happy birthday dad, matt, alia and ben!

november birthdays 2008

trick or treat!

matt and i decided to go to the proctors' for some trick-or-treating fun on halloween to enjoy the company of our previously featured tinkerbell niece and spider nephew. we had a great time, even though the kiddos are young enough to only visit a few houses and be ready to call it a night. liv was *especially* cute this year since she was able to say "trick or treat" and knock on the doors (see videos posted below). even more cute was when she'd knock on the door and immediately say "is anybody home?"
ahhh, to be 2 1/2 again! enjoy the pics!

trick or treat 2008

"happy trick or treat!"

dallas arboretum & pumpkin patch!

it's becoming an annual family event to go to the arboretum during the last part of october to see the beautiful gardens and pumpkin patch. this year we went sans mom & dad because they were in oklahoma on the lake, but we still took advantage of dad's TI employment to get us in for free on sunday, the 26th. we went with sarah, ray, tinkerbell and a spider. the kiddos were *adorable* but jonah didn't enjoy his hat very much. we enjoyed the chance to be out and about in the beautiful weather before staying in to watch the cowboys game and send the proctors off to the lake to meet up with my parents.

enjoy the pics!

pumpkin patch/arboretum 2008

oh, and here's a video of liv being a cutie and running in her costume (sorry for the shakiness!)

halloween party 2008

hollywood house!


matt and i get into our characters


a pic on the red carpet

every year one of the doctors at my work hosts a huge halloween party, complete with dance floor, live dj, lights, decorations, tons of food, costume contests and a bartender. the theme this year was red carpet/hollywood and there was no shortage of great costumes. matt picked out our costumes (since i couldn't decide and otherwise he really doesn't enjoy dressing up) and we went as a boxers. if you are looking for the hollywood connection: he was "rocky" and i was "million dollar baby" (i know, a stretch!). we had an awesome time, and really enjoyed the chance to hang out with friends and my coworkers. thanks, dr. westerberg, for a great party! happy halloween!!!

WARNING! due to the nature of the adult-only atmosphere, some of the following pictures are adult-only (including, but not limited to, skimpy costumes and fake, exposed body parts!) do not view if you think you might be offended! otherwise, click the pic below.

westerberg halloween party 2008

annual pumpkin carving

on saturday, per tradition, matt, sarah, ray, myself and the kiddos carved pumpkins. unfortunately, since my parents were out of town and shari and her kids couldn't make it, it was just the little group of us, but we enjoyed carving the pumpkins and decorating cut-out sugar cookies. now we're ready for halloween!

see the pics!

pumpkin carving 2008

jonah's 1st birthday

happy birthday, ray!

the one-year old, jonah!


on the 19th we celebrated jonah's 1st birthday with a party at the proctor's house. sarah did a wonderful job hosting, and we all enjoyed the food, the cupcakes, the slideshow and watching jonah open his presents. for those who are curious, jonah's actual birthday is october 21st, but his grandpa proctor's birthday is actually the 19th, so we actually got the chance to celebrate two birthdays. happy 60th birthday, ray & happy 1st birthday, jonah!

jonah's 1st birthday

uncle jared was sleepy during the party, so liv repeatedly had to "wake him up"

sunday funday

on sundays during football season, we typically spend the morning at church then come home for naps before heading to my parents' house to watch the cowboys game. sunday the 12th was no different and these are the pics from the "sunday funday" so you have an idea of what goes on!

winkler wedding

a friend of mine from work, heather delatte, got married on october 11, 2008 to cody winkler and we were invited to join in the festivities! the ceremony was at the alexander mansion in garland, texas at 1:00pm. several friends from work attended, in addition to heather and cody's families and friends. we had a great time, and matt and i both enjoyed that i had a saturday off!

congratulations, mr. & mrs. winkler, we wish you all of God's blessings in your future together!

winkler wedding

all done!

in the previous post i mentioned that matt would have to turn in a polished final draft to the university before he would be *completely* done. just wanted to update everyone that he did that today! he came home from work and told me "I'M ALL DONE!!!!" i can honestly say it was the most victorious, celebratory, relieved expression i've ever seen cross his face! congrats again, honey!

here's a mini-slideshow of matt for your viewing pleasure!

James Matthew King, Ph.D.

matt's dissertation defense

you heard right! after 10 years of very hard work and admirable dedication, james matthew king has completed his requirements and earned his doctorate in humanities (with a focus in the history of ideas). he defended his dissertation on wednesday, october 8 at 1pm on the UTD campus. he had a huge show of support from his friends and family, including his mom all the way from ohio, who were all there to cheer him on as he gave his 20 minute public presentation. the professors actually said it was the largest turn-out they had ever seen for a defense -- with standing room only! after the presentation, the "public" were asked to leave and the 5 committee members and outside reader were allowed to ask matt questions about his research, dissertation and arguments within his work. around 2:48pm matt was asked to step out for a few minutes while the committee discussed what they had heard from matt, before asking him to step back in so they could congratulate him on passing his defense!
matt passed at the highest level possible, with no revisions! this means that he only has to make sure the formatting is up to UTD's requirements and turn in a last final draft to the university and he's done forever!
later in the evening, we got everyone together again to celebrate matt's accomplishment at macaroni grill. although this would have been a great location anyway, it was especially appropriate since this is where, in crayons, i helped matt first outline his rough draft of the dissertation! yes, we actually still have that section of the "tablecloth!" everyone told matt congrats, including the wait staff and the people at the table next to us. thank you, pat, for a lovely dinner!
and, for those who are curious, even though he has completed the requirements, he will not *technically* have his Ph.D. until december 20, when he has the degree conferred upon him by the university....
but to us, he's already DR. James Matthew King!

i love you, sweetheart!

muddy lexi

this is what happens when you leave your white lab out in the rain for an hour. matt had to leave for work and i had to stay late for a meeting, so lexi was accidentally left in the rain (it wasn't raining when matt left). although the pictures don't make her look very muddy, keep in mind this was *after* i cleaned her up. she was so amped up when i finally got home that she wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get a pic of her *really* dirty.

lake texoma

lake texoma 2008

matt and i had the luxury of taking a mini-vacation october 1-3 at my parent's condo on lake texoma. we enjoyed some time with the proctors before they had to head home, then spent the next day enjoying the resort, the lake and having nothing to do! we headed back around 1030am on friday morning so we could get back into the "swing" of things before matt has to defend his dissertation on the 8th. thanks mom and dad for the mini-vacay!

work update

pics from work: me with carrie


my friends heather, alacia and gemma

(matt would like me to let everyone know that) i have recently been selected by my supervisors to be "promoted" to charge nurse. this means that on some shifts, i am responsible for overseeing the flow of the department, making the assignments for the other nurses, resolving conflicts and making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible for the 12 hours i'm there. for those who aren't familiar with nursing, this doesn't mean i won't still work with patients, i simply rotate days as the "charge" nurse with my days as a "staff" nurse where i take an assignment of 3-5 patients (depending on my location in the ER). it's nice to be recognized by my supervisors, but it's also a lot more responsiblity....we'll see how it goes! :)

around the house

when we aren't celebrating, vacationing or putting in new floors, there is no lack of excitement around here. here are some pics from the last 2 weeks that show just what we end up doing between writing dissertations, working shifts in the ER and cleaning the house:

matt hangs the shelves in the living room
(and pretends to be excited about it)


the finished product, a place to store our dvds!


lexi "hides" in the curtain


helping mom clean out the empty PB jar


getting ready to go play softball


matt and i ready to play for my work team
(i had never played before!)