Mery Christmas and to All a Good Night

Hi all. Merry Christmas from the Brelands.....Lillis, Charles, Wynne and Bear.
It's been a big year for us. We had a lot of fun times and great trips, and we got to expand our family when we got our puppy in July and then when our little angel was born in November. She has been an immense blessing thus far and has really made it very easy for us.
So here is this year's installment of our video Christmas Card.....which i believe is a tradition in it's 7th year or so.

Christmas Card 2011 from charles breland on Vimeo.

We're so excited for the coming year and all the family "firsts". We wish you all peace and love
Oh, and below a few pics from the year that was.....trips to Belize, Cumberland Island, Breckenridge, Scandanavia and around Atlanta. We couldn't be more blessed and we can't wait for 2012.

last maternity pics of wynne

lil and i walked over to the park to take some pics of her and our little blessing. lillis goes walking around piedmont every day with our dog "bear" and had noticed an AMAZING gingko tree. it had shed many of its leaves, but none had lost their color yet. it's just an amazing site.....the grass is still a dark, vibrant green around the tree, and the leaves couldn't be any more brilliant a yellow. while there lillis (as usual) insisted that i be included in a photo or two, and OF COURSE, her little boy bear had to get his picture taken as well. bear was so well behaved while we took pictures of mommy, and lillis was pretty well behaved as well : ) we're so close to the finish line (or wait, i guess it's just the starting line) with only 5 days until her due date. we are SO anxious to meet our little girl

oh, and here are the rest of the pics, if anyone wants to see the whole album.

hiking in dahlonega

lillis absolutely loves to get out of the city and into the mountains. she has a particular affinity for dahlonega. it's probably where she will go for her next wedding to a taller, more handsome guy. her father is a big fan of getting out of doors as well, and they both love fall leaves. so, whenever he comes to town, they like to try and get up to blue ridge or dahlonega. the fact that lillis was 8 months pregnant was not going to stop her. so we set off for a short hike.

it was a big day for bear as it was the first time he'd ever really been off the leash out in the open. he did a great job staying with us and would never get more than about 30 feet in front without looking back to make sure we were with him. then, he'd come bounding back for some head rubs (or a treat) before heading off to lead the way again.

he wasn't as inclined to pose for a picture, though, so i went ahead and scooped him up for this one.

here bear is doing some major league sniffing against a beautiful backdrop

here's lillis, looking ever so pregnant just 6 weeks shy of her due date.

and here bear and i stop for a minute so mommy can shoot a picture

this was the view from the overlook. no brilliant fall color (odd since we were a week into october) but still beautiful

afterwards we came back home for a lovely dinner. we chose not to go for formal dress. you can see that lillis can't get quite as close to the table as she used to : )