Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve! We went over to Nonna's and Pop's for Christmas eve dinner after the church service.  We all relaxed together and the kids had fun playing together and burning off some of the excitement.

After the festivities ended, we went home and prepared for Santa's visit.  The kids and Amy even made some very tasty Christmas cookies.

Christmas in Tunica

This weekend we celebrated Christmas in Tunica with Papa and MawMaw, Zabe and Kristina, and Uncle Burt and Aunt Rebekah.

It was nice to see everyone in the same place, especially since it's a fairly rare occurrence.

 The family visited, ate and enjoyed good company.  Then, it was time for the kids' favorite activity...presents. Elizabeth helped Aunt Rebekah hand out everyone's presents to them.

She also helped people open their presents.

Later, she spent all her time baking cakes with her new playset while Owen wrestled his new snake.

Plus, Owen was enjoying his MS State Bulldog sleeping bag.

 Merry Christmas everyone!

Pre Christmas Goings On

The first bit of December was especially busy.  We have birthday parties and activities and parades and shows to attend.  Again, for your enjoyment, the abridged version:


At the Madison, MS Christmas Parade

Darth Vader even made a holiday appearance.  Although, all he did was force choke one guy and he tried to turn Owen to the dark side.

We also went to Bellhaven University to see their annual singing Christmas tree.

Amy and the kids had a Christmas themed story time at the library.  Here are the kids with Mrs. Lizzy.

Amy and I even took the kids to see a live performance of the Nutcracker.  They made it all the way through intermission without issue but they didn't make it much into the second act. They did enjoy it though!

Finally, Owen had his school Christmas program where he was the best cow anyone had ever seen.

Can you spot him in the cast?

Owen's 5th Birthday

Owen's birthday was this weekend.  Starting at his school and a dinner that he picked out (Mexican place for enchiladas) to pics of his actual party the following weekend.  Here is the forewarned abridged version:

Thanks to everyone who came!  

Fair Warning

As I am a good number of events behind on this blog, I just want to warn everyone that you are about to get an abridged version of the events that occurred from Owen's birthday until January.  


You have been warned.

Owen's Final Soccer Game of the Year

Today was the final soccer game of the year.  This was a good start to the sport and Owen had a good time through the entire year playing. He also made some new friends.

After the game, the team went for a pizza party.  Here's Owen enjoying pizza with his team.

After all of that, Owen was presented with his first trophy.  He was very proud of himself!

Halloween '10

We have had a wonderful Halloween night. The kids enjoyed it as much as the parents.  

Yes, Pop, we see you in the window...


Here's the pumpkin we carved.

Later, we all went trick or treating around the neighborhood. Some of the houses were definitely in the spirit.

State Game '10

We went to watch the Bulldogs play this weekend.  We met up with our friends Jennifer, Michael, and their daughter Ava.  We tailgated for a good few hours before the game and everyone had a great time.

The kids enjoyed playing together.

Plus, State beat UAB so it was a good trip all around! Go State!

Pumpkin Patch Party Crashers

This morning Amy and I woke up and thought that we should take the kids to the pumpkin patch to let them pick out a pumpkin for Halloween.  We later learned that we have spectacular timing!


We show up to the pumpkin patch and walk inside to pay and collect our pumpkin carrying bags.  Then, we head outside to wait for the hayride to come by and pick us up.  The odd thing was, the hayrides normally run one at a time.  This alternating of rides keeps everything from getting backed up.  Today, however, they both began loading at the same time.  No problem, let's go with it.

We began the hayride with a very large group of people but we didn't think anything of it.  We made our rounds around the MS Ag Museum and it wasn't until we finally stopped that we realized that, oops...we were crashing some child's birthday party!  We were among two dozen other people in the old towne section of the Ag Museum talking with a character from the 1860's and not at all knowing how to get out of this situation.

Yeah, we know none of these people.

Owen loved talking with the character though.  He would wander off to find her and ask her question after question.

When our kids were done with the questions and everyone had eaten cookies handed out by the birthday party planners, we made a hasty retreat!  We stopped to pick up our pumpkins and got out of there.  

I have to admit, that was one of the most memorable trips to the pumpkin patch we've ever had.

MS State Fair '10

We went to the fair again this year.  We didn't lose a camera but we did end up with some happy kids. We started with some games.  If you'll notice, this is the same duck game that the kids participated in last year. 

However, there were new things to experience.  For instance, this year, Owen had the opportunity to hold a baby alligator.

Elizabeth had the opportunity to ride a pony.

Owen also had fun riding unlimited rides this year.

But the biggest thrill was the balloon ride.  This ride was certainly Elizabeth's favorite ride.

Until next year, kids...

Our First Camping Trip

We had our first family camping trip this weekend.  Everyone, especially the kids, had a great time.  First, they helped me set up the tent.

Then we all went on a nature walk.

Later, we cooked hot dogs on a stick.  The kids even got into it and helped cook their own.

They even slept the whole night soundly in their sleeping bags.

Okay, they did have a little bit of comfort from some kid shows on the portable DVD player.  But, that only lasted  an hour or so.  They did remarkably well!  They slept through random animals and dogs and other random nighttime noises.


Elizabeth, did you have a good time?

I'll take that as a yes.