Something To Be THANKFUL For

This year for Thanksgiving we had Jamie's family and Jodi's family over to our house. It was such a fun time!

We ate too much, played too long, and laughed waaayyy too hard! But it was so much fun to be together and just to relax and enjoy each other's company.

This is the serious picture of the kids. (As serious as they can be...)

This is the "freestyle" pose of the kids.... this is what we USUALLY deal with...

This is the SERIOUS pose for the sisters.... bah ha ha.

We sure do miss having the whole family together. But it was great to at least have these two with me, even if it was just a couple of days. SO MUCH to be thankful for.

Pop's Big Day

On November 4th, Daddy turned 75 years old! We couldn't be down in Mississippi for his big day - so we traveled down to Nashville on the 13th... and the Southern part of the family traveled up from Mississippi, Alabama and Memphis... and we met for lunch at a steakhouse for a surprise get-together.

Daddy has a BEAUTIFUL family....if I do say so myself! The kids are all so precious!!

Rachel loved giving Jr. a bottle.... she is absolutely a snuggle bug and loves to cuddle.

This is my absolute favorite picture of these three! I LOVE IT. They all look fabulous!!

It was a great day - and such fun to celebrate the MAN in our lives. He is such a joy to be around and is such a great example for all of us of self-less love.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

A Blast From The Past

Some of the best memories I have as a child were the times that we spent as a family with our "extended" family at Cane Run Baptist Church. I don't have a single childhood memory that doesn't involve some (or all) of these people.

Over the years we have all drifted our separate ways...and some of these folks I haven't seen in 20 years!

Earlier this year we lost some of our very dear friends. As we all began to reflect on those years together, Cynthia and I decided it would be a FABULOUS idea to get everyone together for a REUNION! So we planned a super fast, impromptu gathering at our building.

It was a great time to get together, share a meal, sing some songs... and catch up on the past 25 years of our lives!

It was also fun to get all the kids together to meet...there were more kids than there were adults! :)

Here are Mom and Dad with the "YOUTH" that were present.

Here is a shot of everyone I could rally together...sadly I think there were a few more people that already got away! :)

Rachel Turns EIGHT!!

It doesn't seem possible that Rachel is now 8 years old. She was the "youngest" of the children to come home... only 15 months old at the time. When we first saw a picture of her, she was only 4 days old.

I still can't believe she is 8!! For her birthday we ate dinner at Steak and Shake (her pick, of course!). She was sooooo excited. New jazz shoes and a new leotard. (a little disappointed that this one didn't have jewels on it... but oh, well)....

For her birthday with Mamoo and Papoo, we ate lunch at Joe Bologna's in Lexington. The kids thought that this was super cool. They think that pizza should ALWAYS be served in a church-like setting.

Aunt Jamie, Uncle Chuck and Briana were there - so it was a perfect day! (only more perfect if we had our out-of-towners with us!!)

The food was DELICIOUS! No one will ever be able to say that my kids don't eat well... they are the best!

It really was quite beautiful there! The kids really enjoyed it - and I always love when we can spend time with the family.

It was a special day - to celebrate the life of a special little girl! Happy Birthday Rachel!!