Christmas 2010

Enjoy our Christmas Video.

Girls Night

I was able to take Amelia out for a girls night as a last date before the baby comes.  A friend and I set up this event in October.  We took our girls to Greenville to see Disney on Ice, classic princess edition.  It was so much fun.  We took the girls to Applebees first and then to the center where the show was.  Neither of us told our girls beforehand what we were going to do, so you can imagine their excitement when the lights went down and Mickey and Minnie skated out to announce the show!

Thanksgiving

Realizing that Christmas will be here soon, I wanted to get in a blog about our wonderful Thanksgiving.

We started off with the very untraditional Thanksgiving traditions of tamales and guacamole as we celebrated with my ESL class!

ESL class

Followed by the more traditional and yet very messy feast with our Mommies and Little People group.

Then we celebrated some birthdays: Sarah-3; Kaleb-5; Tucker-4; and David, well the pies say it all!

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We were very happy to share this Thanksgiving with David's grandparents from Washington State.  Here they are with a portion of their great-grandchildren.

The 1st Thanksgiving re-enactment cast

In Pa's defense there were 8 pies!

It was a wonderful time of celebration for us all!

David's Church Birthday Party

Instead of our normal Wednesday Night activities this week the church gave me a special 30th birthday party.  You must check out the song!

This is what happens when your mom posts pictures of you on Facebook

David talking with Nathan... cool birthday banner in the background

Judah enjoying some cake.

A putting green for the toilet... what every Pastor needs.

Yoda vs. Crayfish

Yesterday I made two discoveries in my drive way.  The first was a gift from our cat, Abby.  I did not realize this but there are crayfish that live on the property next to us.  And I thought that standing water was only good for breeding monster mosquitos.

The second discovery was a tiny Yoda toy that had washed into a crack in the drive way.  The crayfish and Yoda had to battle each other for the honor of the coolest find.

Abby

Why aren't there any birds at the feeder this morning?

Abby is a good cat-look at the way she lets Amelia carry her!  And today Amelia gave Abby a "bath" in the bathroom sink.  Abby came in the other day sneezing and for the entire day whenever any of us would see her she was sniffling and sneezing-I avoided her thinking-"I'm not catching that crazy cat cold."  Well, by late afternoon Amelia announced that she knew what was wrong with Abby-that she had a piece of grass in her nose, to which Daviid and I said "ok" and were thinking "yeah right." (being the very loving parents that we are :))  After we put Amelia to bed for the night, I finally got the nerve to expose myself to feline flu and picked Abby up to investigate, and sure enough there was a piece of grass sticking out of her nose.  As I pulled at it-she reacted protectively and I realized that this was no small piece of grass.  Better prepared, I grabbed the grass and pulled and out came a 3-inch blade of grass!  That grass must have been wound all around in her little sinus cavity-it was crazy.  Amelia was right, Abby's feline flu free, and yes cats do need people to take care of them.

Annalise Marie

David and I have decided on a name for our daughter, who is due January 30th.  Annalise means grace or favor and Marie is after her Aunt Mary.  I usually avoid the camera when I'm pregnant but a friend and very talented photographer offered to do some pregnancy photos for me, so I thought I'd give those of you who don't see me on a regular basis a glimpse into the pregnancy.  By the way the girl who did the photography is not yet 15!

Fall Fun

We have enjoyed this fall from every angle possible.  We have been apple picking 3 times, visited a dairy farm, a cotton farm, and meandered through 2 corn mazes.  The children have ridden 4 hayrides so far this fall.  Oh, how we love the fall!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Birthday Fun

Amelia's good friend Emma celebrated her 5th birthday this past Sunday.  We all had a great time and later Amelia said " I wish Emma was my sister."

Little brother, Ethan, watching his big sis on the computer

Wedding

David officiated his first wedding this past weekend.  It was his first time wearing a robe during a service.  Doesn't he look nice?

Later at the reception I was able to take this picture of Amelia and her friend Stephanie, who has just recently gotten the "circle" hair-cut so that she could look like Amelia.

M&LP Apple Picking

Our Mommies and Little People spent some time in a local apple orchard owned by 1 of the families in our group.  It was such a great morning being outside and exploring the orchard.

Quick nap time!

What kind of caterpillar is this?

We found this guy in the backyard.  Anybody know what he is?

Apple Picking

One of our favorite ways to welcome in the fall is to take a trip up to Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock, NC.  It's beautiful and we always have a wonderful time enjoying the view and the apples.

Surfside

We have just returned from a wonderful time at the beach.  I always love the beach-it makes me feel so small!

Worn Out!

At Murrells Inlet with family friend Grace Brown

 The little cousins at Build-A-Bear

Celebrating Kathleen's 10th birthday

My favorite shot:  the moonrise over the beach-ah, the sea, the sea (only really big Lord of the Rings fans will catch my quote from Legolas!