Family Pictures

Since it has been 3 years and 1 child ago since we got family pictures done, we went and had them taken yesterday. Aaron was his usual stoic self. He doesn't smile well for strangers. He just sits and looks at them like they are from another planet. But that's ok, at least he wasn't cranky and crying. You never know with an infant.

Christmas

We had a very busy year this year at our house. With the addition of Aaron and having my parents move here and having Jeff and Susie come out, we had plenty of family around. Christmas Eve was the usual deal. We went to Cara's Aunt Dolores' house for the annual Christmas Eve party, ate the usual food that we all look forward to and did the gift exchange between the cousins. The adults actually did one too this year. That was a lot of fun and then from there we went to the late night Christmas Eve candle light service at our church. It was really nice. Aaron actually stayed awake the whole church service....he was so tired! Christmas Day we did our morning tradition of presents and Christmas donuts! Yummy....Aaron enjoyed his first Christmas donut! Then the family came over and we opened more presents and then had a great Christmas buffet of ham, turkey, meatballs, baked macaroni...and followed it up with pumpkin pie and ice cream for dessert! Yum!

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas, and we were so blessed to be able to spend it with so much family!

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving holiday! We went with my parents and Pat's dad to Grandfather Mountain to camp for the holiday weekend. It is located just outside of Boone, NC (about 4 hours from home). The campground was right at the base of Grandfather Mountain. There were gorgeous views everywhere you looked! It was quiet and peaceful and we had a wonderful time! Yes, we even cooked a turkey (well, I should say my parents cooked it)....and it was yummy! It worked out well in the campers actually! The kids had a blast exploring every nook and cranny of the campground and even went gem mining! It was quite cold a couple of the days....really made us feel like the winter season was upon us! We had a great time being together and enjoying the beautiful mountain views all around us!

Thanksgiving 2007

Our All-Star

Taylor made the Holly Springs All-Star soccer team and is in the midst of a tournament this weekend. She played very well. The girls are 2-0 with a shutout in the first game and a 4-1 win the second game. Tomorrow they play two more games to finish out the round robin seeding and hopefully they will make the playoffs. It looks good so far. The team is playing awesome especially given the fact that they have only practiced together 3 times over the past two weeks. I'll post the final results tomorrow. Go Holly Springs!!

UPDATE: The girls ended up playing 3 more games on Sunday. They won the first two in tough fashion to make it to the finals. They lost in the finals to the team from Wilson, which is where the tournament was held, by a score of 4-0. It seemed as if some of the girls ran out of energy. But not Tay, she stayed strong the whole tournament. That is the one thing that every coach has said about her. She hustles all the time. On a side note, we all found it very interesting that the teams from Wilson won every division of the tournament. Conspiracy, I think not!

Halloween 2007

We had our first Halloween in our new house this year....it was also Aaron's first Halloween. He was a Hershey Kiss, and the cutest one I have ever seen I must say! Taylor was a pirate girl, Shain was a crypt master, and Abby was a witch....Nanny and Grampy and Grandpa and Grandma came over along with Aunt Maureen and Alexa. Taylor had her friend Nykesha over to treat or treat with us, and we had our family friends, the Meeks (Allen, Mary, Jacob, Aly, Nate, and Silas)....we all ate pizza and then took the kids around the neighborhood. Of course, they scored way too much candy but that's the fun of it, right? The kids looked great, and we all had a good time. Quite a walk around our neighborhood! Enjoy the pics!

Getting Big!

Aaron is now officially 8 months old! How fast time flies when you are having fun. He sits up on his own really well. He still isn't crawling. He just lays on the floor and rolls around until he gets what he want's. I am fine with that. Once he is on the move, look out! I can't imagine it. He has so much energy and it will be a constant chase to keep up with him.

Abby's new hat

So it's getting cold around here lately. Especially in the morning. I guess Abby talked Nanny into making her this cool new beanie (or taboggan as they call them around here). She has been wearing it all night so we took her picture.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Cara, happy birthday to you! Wishing Cara a happy birthday. I went and had lunch with her today at Olive Garden and we will be spending birthday dinner with her parents and mine at Phil and Jeanne's. It's nice to have family around for these special occasions! The kids made her some extra special birthday cards. They are so sweet and love their mommy! As for her present from me, she bought it herself a few weeks ago. A new I-pod. She's so spoiled, but worth it! Now tonight I will have to show her how to use it.

Is fall in the air?

It looks like it might finally start showing signs of fall. Today we had some much needed rain, the drought has been terrible around here. The leaves are changing colors and starting to litter the lawn and blow around the streets. Can't wait until I have to blow them and pick them all up. Although it is fun to get them into a big pile and let the kids run through them. I remember doing that when I was a kid. What a blast!